What do you want to be when you grow up? A prisoner?
No child grows up wanting to be a prisoner. Yet, on any given day in America, 2.3 million individuals – 1 in every hundred adults – is behind bars. The U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics show that 70% of the children of incarcerated parents will follow their parents’ example and will be incarcerated. Generational incarceration and a 67% recidivism rate (released prisoners returning to prison) have resulted in the burgeoning numbers in U.S. prisons.
Other studies have shown that the most critical factor in reducing recidivism is a genuine religious experience, with appropriate discipleship. It follows that the power of the Gospel is a significant factor in reducing the rate of second or third generation incarceration.
It is into this world that CEF has introduced the What Went Wrong? program. Inmates have the opportunity to enroll in the Truth Chasers Club (formerly the CEF Mailbox Club™) and to enroll their children, so they all receive age-appropriate Bible study lessons by mail. Committed volunteers check the lessons, pray for the students, and write encouraging notes to be sent back to the students. This introduction to the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ has the potential to change future generations of these high-risk families.
Do you want to help the children of inmates? Visit our donate page and designate your gift for prisoner's children (What Went Wrong?)
Many of the inmates themselves want to join the CEF Truth Chasers Club but can not. Find out why
