I think we all feel a certain reluctance to befriend someone with a criminal record.  We wonder:  Is it safe – not only for us but for our loved ones, our children?  Can we trust this person?  Is he or she going to take advantage of our kindness, our good will?  Is she being honest? What if he loses his temper?  Wouldn’t I be foolish to let my guard down?  Can this person really change?

Our reluctance is understandable, commonsensical even.  The only problem is that sometimes what appears to be common sense is actually fear, and both can be at odds with the example Jesus set.  Jesus befriended prostitutes, tax collectors and other outcasts.  When asked why he did so, he responded, “It is the sick – not the well – who need a doctor.”  Jesus didn’t make the distinctions we often do between public and private wrongdoing, except that he condemned those who pretended to be righteous – “whitewashed tombs” he called them.  By God’s standard of goodness, all human beings fall short.

I, for one, would hate to be labeled for the rest of my life by my mistakes, my failures.  Thankfully, God gives me a clean slate day after day, and it’s not just me – He extends the same grace to everyone who puts his faith in His Son.  His forgiveness knows no boundaries. In fact, one of Christ’s final acts was to extend forgiveness to the criminal who hung next to him on the cross.

The promise of forgiveness and new life is the basis for the work taking place within the ministries of the Union Gospel Mission. Men and women coming from prison are often receptive to that message because they recognize their need. The experience of being incarcerated has brought them face to face with the dead end to which their choices have led, and when they get out, they’re ready to make changes.  Only they don’t know how or they don’t have the resources to do so. Because of your partnership, we are able to provide them with a fresh start – an avenue for re-entry by which they can become God-dependent, contributing members of society.