This is the first blog in our 2024 Lenten Blog Series.
This Lent, we are going to share with you excerpts from Keeping Hope: A Resource for Families and Friends of the Incarcerated.
Written by Karen Henning Heuberger and Ron Zeilinger
“Outmates”
Your loved one may have gone to trial, or may have taken a plea bargain. His or her arrest may have been quiet, or may have made the headlines. The general public may know of your situation, or maybe you have told no one.
However your situation unfolded, the fact is that when a loved one is sentenced to prison, the family faces a sentence of their own. Sometimes called “outmates” because of their own experience with the correctional system and their loved one’s incarceration, families face unique challenges from the time of the arrest until long after the loved one is released.
When you first experience the incarceration, you may not know where to turn. Because of the stigma associated with the situation, you may not want anyone else to know. So how do you find the support and direction you need at a time like this?
For those of you less personally connected, such as a pastor, teacher, prison ministry volunteer, or other concerned person, the book can be a resource. It can give you an understanding of the plight of families of the incarcerated. It shares first-hand knowledge of the emotional strain and physical consequences of having a loved one in prison. It can offer ideas for how to support those in your care.
Remember that yes, there will be challenges, but there can also be healing and hope.
Please continue to follow us this Lenten season as we be share varying excerpts from those who have experienced the heartache of incarceration.
May God bless you.
