Group ministers at Malvern prison

While most volunteer organizations in the area provide needed services to the community at large, one organization is reaching a different part of the population — the prison population at the Ouachita River Unit in Malvern.

Kairos Prison Ministries International is made up of over 35,000 volunteers in 37 states and nine countries around the world involved with over 500 correctional facilities. Headquartered in Florida, the faithbased organization creates materials that are used in each location to ensure that every participant goes through the same process.

Started in 1976, little has changed about the program.

In Arkansas, there are about 70 volunteers who can be called upon to participate in two weekend missions per year to the state prison in Malvern. Teams ranging from 24-36 members will enter the prison and fulfill the Biblical mandate from the Book of Matthew 25:36 when Jesus said, “I was in prison and you visited me.”

“The program is geared toward helping the inmates understand the love of Jesus Christ and to make their own decision in that regard,” said John Nichols, chair for the Kairos Ouachita River Unit Advisory Council.

On top of their semiannual four-day weekend events, they go into the prison weekly for a “prayer and share” with about five to 10 volunteers to help reinforce the inmates who have completed the weekend programs.

The first visit to the prison took place about 20 years ago in the early 2000s. Since then, Kairos has regularly visited the Ouachita River Unit, but was not allowed to visit during the pandemic. That’s when the group started praying every Saturday morning outside of the prison, with the permission of the warden and chaplain.

Not only does Kairos work to help men and women inside prison, but they also extend a helping hand to the women impacted by incarceration as well as teens. The ministry as a whole is divided into three programs, Kairos Inside, Kairos Outside and Kairos Torch.

While Kairos Inside is for prisoners, Kairos Outside is a two-and-a-half-day weekend program held twice a year for women affected by an incarcerated loved one or who did not go through the Kairos Inside program while in prison. Likewise, Kairos Torch is geared toward incarcerated youths aged 25 and younger with a similar weekend program.