Wilson was “exposed to drug crimes of violence at a very early age,” he told ChurchLeaders. He also wanted “to be accepted and loved and valued” and got involved with the wrong crowd. He ended up serving four years in juvenile corrections at age 15 for a robbery charge. But when he got out, he returned to the same way of living.
“God tried to get my attention by blessing me with the son,” said Wilson. However, he “wasn’t ready to be a father.” He ended up in prison again at age 19, this time serving three years.
“While in prison, that’s when I realized that if I didn’t change my life, my son would end up walking in the same steps that I had laid before him,” Wilson said. “I realized that I couldn’t repair the past, but I had an opportunity to prepare for my future. And that’s when I cried out to God. I said, ‘God, I need help.’ And God sent forth Prison Fellowship in my life.”
Wilson got involved in Prison Fellowship Academy, where, he said, “God got ahold of my heart from the inside out, changed my perspective, my mindset, and he turned my prison cell into a classroom.”
RELATED: Cedarville Students for Life Prepare To Join Thousands at March for Life in Washington
Wilson said, “When I realized that God is a God of restoration, I cried and asked God. I said, ‘God, I want my family back.’” Through the Angel Tree program, Wilson got the “opportunity to be present in my son’s life during the Christmas season.”
The Angel Tree program partners with churches to offer a “pathway for strengthening and restoring relationships between incarcerated parents and their children,” said Wilson. “And when an incarcerated parent signs up their child to receive a gift, the church presents the gift to the child on behalf of the incarcerated parent.”
“It starts with the gift. But it’s much more than the gift,” Wilson explained. “It gives the church an opportunity to minister to the child as well as the caregivers, provide opportunities for the children and the parents to get involved in their church community.” This “opens the doors for parent programs, the vacation Bible schools, [and] sports camps, depending on the area.”
Rice-Minus said that Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program is the “primary entry point” for churches to get involved in partnering with Prison Fellowship. “A lot of churches, they want service projects around Christmas time, and so it’s a natural entry point to say, ‘You know, would you take on kids who are local to your community, who have a mom or dad behind bars?’” she said. “‘And would your congregation step up, provide gifts, not on behalf of you or your church, but actually on behalf of their incarcerated mom or dad.’”
Church volunteers provide the gifts on behalf of the incarcerated parents, wrap the gifts, and include a message from the parents. Then the churches either host a party for the children or deliver the gifts to the children’s homes.
