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Jay DePoy, a pastor and licensed social worker based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has partnered with the ministry of the Brethren Church to assist the ‘Death Row Support Project’. Looking to help inmates who have lost the support of family and friends, the Support Project creates friendships and offers encouragement, hope and forgiveness to the outcasts of society.
More information is available at http://brethren.org/drsp/stories.html.
Recently launched, the ‘Death Row Support Project’ connects pen pal volunteers with prison inmates on death row who have expressed interest in writing to someone. The initial commitment is for 12-months, with the volunteer expected to write at least once a month over this duration.
Inmates on death row typically spend up to 23-hours a day confined in a cell. Here they will stay for years, some may even be in this cell for decades. Pen pals offer these inmates a way to escape the darkness that surrounds them on death row.
For a pen pal writing to a death row inmate enables them to get to know a prisoner and to offer them hope and often forgiveness for their wrongdoing. Plus, it allows the pen friend to better understand the prison system and to dispel some of their fears and misconceptions about prisons and those who are confined to them.
Founding pastor of Lakeshore Church in Muskegon, Michigan, and lead pastor of the Exodus Church in Asheville, North Carolina, Jay DePoy who understands incarceration firsthand has collaborated with the Death Row Support Project, run by the Brethren Church to connect volunteers with inmates who have requested a pen pal. DePoy who helps homeless men and other who have lost their way to find hope sees the project as a mutually rewarding exchange.
When asked about the experience of writing to an inmate via the Death Row Support Project, Scarlett from Wales said, “I thank you for putting me in contact with Kosoul [on death row in Texas]. We have been writing since January, and have begun a great friendship. I write to him every week, if not every two weeks, and he does the same. He draws pictures for me (he is insanely talented), gives me advice and is just what a friend should be. It’s been great getting to know him, and I’m sure we will remain friends always. At 14 I’d always wanted a pen pal, someone to write to, a friend. I never would’ve imagined that I would’ve found that with Kosoul. It has opened my eyes, and given me a deeper insight into forgiveness. Once again, thank you. I hope you can give many more people the opportunity to find a friend with someone on death row.”
To find out more about Jay DePoy and the Death Row Support Project, please visit the link above and https://jaydepoy.com/about and
Release ID: 291555