Institution Outreach

Fatherless children are more likely to resort to gangs for guidance, drugs to escape the reality, crimes to support the dependency or survival, and often violence to express their pains. These behaviors make them 85% more vulnerable to incarceration.

In 2007, 744,200 of state and federal prisoners in the United States were fathers to 1,599,200 children. The childhood experiences of these prisoners are now becoming the childhood experiences of their children. This absence now makes their children more susceptible to follow their footsteps thus creating an endless cycle with the opportunity to grow more than 50% each generation.

At Operation Redemption, it has become our passion to diminish this growth by first leading these men to Christ as we are called to do in “The Great Commission,” (Matthew 28:19-20). Thereafter, opportunities for participation in life change groups are recommended and resources made available. These life change groups comprise 3-5 men who meet on a regular basis, grow in the Gospel, and reaffirm their commitments as a father to their children. As “Iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). 

As these men mature in Christ and in their relationships with their children, so does their passion to share the Gospel and their commitments to fatherhood with other prisoners. These groups begin to multiply throughout the institutions, children begin to reclaim their fathers, and more importantly, His Kingdom magnifies.

Many of these men will eventually be released back into society. As they return to their cultures, they will be provided opportunities to transform those they encounter through an expansion of this church planting. All of these men have a story, and when it ends with praises for Christ changing their lives, the impact on their cultures will be reclaimed one generation at a time.