Kairos Inside

Neal Weekends

Be A Volunteer

There is a Kairos Weekend during April and October of each year. Volunteers have multiple team meetings prior to the Kairos Weekend. During those team meetings we build an unified team to serve the men inside Neal. In the team building process, we learn why we do what we do, how we do what we do, and prepare. We practice giving prepared talks, put on skits, and eat at almost every team meeting. The week of the Kairos consists of the following:

Wednesday

      • Purchase most fresh food and supplies
      • Take all supplies to Bishop De Falco Retreat Center
      • Organize kitchen
      • Receive first supply of cookies
      • Pack up cookies that will be given to our 42 participants on Thursday

Thursday

      • Often have a TDCJ training
      • Support Team arrives at retreat center in the morning to prepare food
      • Inside Team arrives prior to lunch
      • Shortly after lunch the inside team goes to the prison. They will be paired up with one or two of the participants. This relationship of being their host continues through the weekend, and sometimes it continues for many years!
      • Theme for the day is "Encountering Kairos"

Friday

      • Theme for the day is "Encountering Self"
      • This day has lots of talks given by team members.
      • The men first embrace the idea of a family that consists of different colors and sometimes even different faiths.

Saturday

      • Theme for the day is "Encountering Christ"
      • This day is wonderful. The participants receive personal agape letters which shows these men how MUCH God and His followers love them. It leaves about every man in tears.
      • The men are given the opportunity to forgive people, institutions, and things. For many men, this is the first time they will experience the blessing to forgive themselves.
      • At the end of the day, our Kairos participants go back to their bunks, but few sleep this night. Most of the men stay up wrestling with themselves and God, much like Jacob did in Genesis 32.

Sunday

      • Theme for the day is "Encountering Others"
      • Closing
        • Where our free world Christian men and women get to come show our Kairos participants that our community loves them.
        • To attend a closing, we must receive your full legal name and last four numbers of your state issued ID. We need this information at least one month prior to the actual Kairos weekend.
        • Our Kairos graduates share how the Kairos weekend impacted them. Lives are eternally changed; it is beautiful to see broken men embrace Christ and the Church.
        • Security is paramount. At no point will a free world man(that wasn't on the inside team) or woman personally interact with the inmates.

One or two weeks after the Kairos weekend we have what we call an Instructional Weekend. That is a Saturday where we teach our newest Kairos graduates what to do during the weekly prayer and shares. These look like what many of us on the outside would call a small group, Bible study group, accountability group, life group... all wrapped up into one. We ask all our male volunteers to show up for this instructional reunion.