Just after accepting the VISTA position with Cornerstone I had a chance to volunteer for a week, giving me a chance to learn about the organization and my job duties before actually assuming the role of VISTA.

I have always enjoyed volunteering. It seems I get more out of it each time than I give. Volunteering is funny that way. Give a little and you get a lot back. One of the days I volunteered I received the privilege of visiting the Welcome Back/Tarrant County program, a ministry for prisoners just about to be released from prison.

I’ll be honest, I was nervous. But my my boss, Carolyn Ayres, Network Development Director for Cornerstone, suggested I take the opportunity to learn a little about one of Cornestone’s programs. Such knowledge is helpful if I am going to communicate to effectively to potential volunteers.

So I went.

We have certain stereotypes of prisoners and ex-cons. Much of that comes from Hollywood I’d imagine. Turned out, almost none of what I thought would be true, was true.

That said, not many of them looked like me, but that I was prepared for. Tattoos were the norm, but I’ve learned enough in my life not to judge someone by skin color or tattoo markings. What I wasn’t prepared for was the incredible witness this ministry is to prisoners about to enter the real world again after their incarceration. The day I was there, five former inmates gave their testimonies. All have have steady jobs. All have homes or apartments of their own. All have family or church support systems. All have accepted Christ.

There stories of sacrifice and hard work were a lesson to me, even though I have never been to prison. They made a choice to completely walk away from their former life. If that’s not a walking advertisement for Cornerstone I don’t know what is.

That was the day I really understood what this ministry was all about. The goal, plain and simple is to change lives. In each ministry offered here, the goal is to have our clients walk away self-sufficient and changed for the better.

Praise God.

Until next time,

Ryan