Some notes about the Author
Hello reader, whoever you are and wherever you are, my name is Ken Mainey.
Some years ago, for about five years, I was a volunteer member of the Chaplaincy team at Gloucester Prison here in the UK. During that time I met a wide selection of men, some moved on to other prisons while others, after being found not guilty in Court, were then released.
The thing I remember most about those who I got to know on a personal basis is that many of them didn’t really like themselves; they wanted to change from the person they were but didn’t know how too. Many were searching for some sensible purpose to life.
Some, like the Prodigal Son in the pigsty, had come to their senses but, unlike the Prodigal Son, they didn’t know where to go. Those who did believe in God thought that they were far too bad for him to ever love and accept. I had to explain to them that the greatest barrier between themselves and God's love was not the bad things that they had done but their hard and proud hearts that would not admit their faults and seek forgiveness. I also had to add that God’s love has no conditions attached and that he does not love us because We are good but because He is good.
I’m glad to be able to say that after hearing this and other Good News about Jesus, often for the very first time, some did soften their hearts and start to receive God’s healing and transforming grace. Some of them are still in prison and have joined up with the many other Christian prisoners inside who, under adverse conditions, still manage to live lives worthy of the name Christian.
Currently, I’m no longer involved in working face to face with prisoners but I have built, and now maintain, three Prison Ministry web sites, this one and two more. The subject matter in these comes from my belief that there are many prisoners out there, ‘on the fringe’ as it were, who would like to change their life style but don’t know how to. Their problem, in not trying Christianity, is often based on their having picked up some misconceptions earlier in their lives. They have questions in their hearts, often very basic ones, that they would like answered but unfortunately, due to the peer pressure they live under for twenty-four hours a day, they dare not show an interest. Alone in their cells late at night, however, they are able to listen to Christian Radio and read Christian material.
In November 2008 United Christian Broadcasters (ucbmedia.co.uk), here in the UK, asked me to prepare seven 15 minute talks, especially for prisoners, to be broadcast each evening during ‘Prisons Week’ Afterwards the Talks, less the music, were put onto a CD and sent to all the Prison Chaplains here in the UK. They are used to start discussion Groups or listened to by prisoners in the privacy of their Cells. These are now the contents of this Web site and each retain the music at about halfway through each talk.
One of the other web sites is www.jesusrenewsprisoners.co.uk and contains 24 ‘Short Talks’ put together especially to address some of the many problems met by many prisoners. Not long after it was up and running I heard from some concerned wives, mothers and friends that they were printing off some of the the talks and posting them to their loved ones. To help with this I added a ‘Print Friendly’ feature in the top right hand corner of the page. They will fit inside the two sides of a single A4 or ‘letter’ sized sheet. Some print two single pages and use the blank side to write their own letter.
The other site is www.meetwithjesus.co.uk and looks at Christianity in more detail.
To Email the author with any comments, both good and bad, to kjmainey@tiscali.co.uk
