Former Pennsylvania Governor George M. Leader who served the commonwealth from 1955-59, visited the Bull Pen Restaurant Saturday morning to address a program which he created for state prisons called ‘The Walking Your Faith Program.’
In early 1999, Leader contacted Second Chance Ministries International in Camp Hill with a great idea and a generous offer. His idea was to create a faith-based, life-skills program for state prisons – a program to educate and train select inmates in state prisons who would, in turn, lead and mentor other inmates in how to make good, life-changing decisions. His offer was to underwrite the development of a curriculum that could be used for on-going training of inmates at each state correctional facility.
Tyrone is the central area for the five state correctional facilities that Second Chance Ministries are in the mid-process of implementing the program.
Leader stated that he read about a woman who obtained two bachelor degrees and a masters degree in prison, but questioned how she would use those skills she learned being incarcerated for life.
“I thought, look at all the talent that’s in the prisons,” said Leader. “If we can mobilize those people and become sort of Christian missionaries, they could have a tremendous impact. Each prison has chaplains, but there’s not enough to go around.”
The result: The Walking Your Faith Program, a program dedicated to the instruction of the Christian faith group within the prison population. The program has been and will continue to be privately developed and privately funded. A network of volunteers will teach the course.
Although essentially from the private sector, the Walking Your Faith Program will be closely linked to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections through the chaplaincy at each state correctional facility and through the chaplaincy in each county prison.
Leader explained that by developing a program with the volunteers that come in from the outside, that will develop an internal missionary. Those inmates, called ‘mentors,’ in turn, each one will save one. In a period of time, most everybody will be covered in the prison.
“We’ll have 1,000 of those mentors a year from now,” said Leader. “In two years from now hopefully 2,000, because we want to expand them. There’s almost 40,000 people in state prisons now, and we’re going to have these mentors in there to mobilize them as Christian leaders, to work in conjunction with the chaplains that are in there now.”
Rev. Joanne Torma runs the whole chaplaincy program for the entire commonwealth. She said that presently there are only 140 chaplains, which is a combination of full-time, contract and volunteers. It is difficult to serve 40,000 people with 140, and Leader said the mentors (inmates) will help the chaplains develop the Christian program and change people’s lives.
People of faith believe that God can use any circumstance for good – even prison. It is upon that belief that this program has been developed. Based upon Leader and other’s intimate knowledge of Pennsylvania prisons and prisoners, Second Chance Ministries is aware that every inmate receives an ‘education’ while incarcerated.
The faculty for this so-called education comes from within the inmate population. The lessons taught are typically destructive ones which the program believes has played a significant role in the high rate of recidivism in today’s crime statistics.
Leader said that the program’s non-denominational. It’s at no cost to the taxpayer or state.
The Walking Your Faith Program is designed to train a new generation of men and women from the inmate population who will serve as mentors, encouraging the character traits that will change lives and change our society. Inmates selected for the program will undertake a six month to one-year training curriculum which will instruct them on important life principles, including: knowing God’s purpose for life, goal setting, life skills, obedience to authority, developing a work ethic, and establishing relationships.
“The idea of the program is 20 lessons, life skills and Biblical principles, and Governor Leader is supporting the program, financially helping us with the project and supporting it statewide,” said Executive Director of Second Chance Ministries, Pastor James W. Law.
Pastor Law was a resident in the Pennsylvania correctional system for 11 years, but as now changed his life to serve God and supports the Walking Your Faith Program to the utmost extent.
Each of the programs skills will be taught in the context of the religious teachings of Christianity. Upon completion of the curriculum, each inmate will receive certification as a Walking Your Faith graduate and will be equipped to mentor others in the prison population on the same positive, life-changing principles.
As the hearts, minds and attitudes of the inmate population undergo positive behavior modification, Second Chance Ministries believes that this program will result in safer prisons, improved life opportunities for inmates upon release and a safer society for all Pennsylvanians.
