On Thursday April 16, John Brown University’s Jail CAUSE Ministry held an interest meeting to reintroduce their ministry to campus after it was shut down in 2020. Sophomore Olivia Bond and junior Hannah Joy Smith are currently leading the ministry. They use Hebrews 13:3 as the inspiration for their mission: “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
The ministry has attempted to return several times since its hiatus, but it has finally picked up enough momentum to come back.
“Getting it started back up was just so deeply the Lord. I had originally reached out to Frank [Hubert] about it in the spring semester of my freshman year, but I just kept hitting dead end after dead end. Then Hannah Joy mentioned in Growth Group one day that she had seen that there used to be a Jail Ministry and was emailing Frank about bringing it back. We started meeting with Frank and working to start it back- still hitting a lot of walls,” Bond said. “We were like, ‘Wait, we should reach out to Dr. Rivera from the CRJ department, he might know how to help us.’ Then, Dr. Rivera was a part of one of the special B-Pac Chapels-also known as “Bapel”- and talked about his conviction to love offenders. The Lord's timing was amazing and so wonderful.”
The volunteers respond to the call as Christians to love their neighbors through loving those incarcerated. Through spending time with small groups of jail-observed Bible studies, they share the hope of the gospel, learn more about the system in which the incarcerated are kept, and offer encouragement to the brothers and sisters being held behind bars.
There are currently three different ways to serve with the ministry. Volunteers can work with the jail team, prayer team and letter team. The different teams have different levels of time commitment and levels of hands-on experience.
The jail team meets bi-weekly and carpools to the Benton County Jail. There, the volunteers participate in small groups during the inmates' Bible study for an hour. They split into men’s and women’s groups. Some students can become Certified Jail Volunteers through training, enabling them to enter as volunteers. The prayer team holds a weekly 30-minute prayer meeting to encourage one another, pray for any specific requests and for the teams going to the jail. For a less frequent time commitment, the letter team offers a space where volunteers can grow closer together and encourage those who are incarcerated. They meet monthly at a letter-writing night.
The first opportunity to be involved in this ministry is a prayer meeting being held in the basement of the Cathedral. They will be meeting on April 26 from 8:30-9 p.m.
Bond mentioned how the Lord has really been putting everyone in the jails and prisons on her heart.
“Nyah Andrus's chapel had me in tears. How could that love not overflow into jails, especially when they so often don't get that much love?” Bond said.
Before the shutdown of the ministry in 2020, it had been a beloved CAUSE ministry. Professor and JBU Alumnus, Meaghan Ellenburg of the College of Education and Social and Behavioral Sciences, was a volunteer during her time as a student at JBU. For those in the social services, the ministry can be a great way to serve and gain insight into potential career paths.
“It was a unique opportunity to engage in the kind of work I was interested in pursuing after graduation while also seeing many of the concepts I was learning in my Family and Human Services classes play out in real life,” Ellenburg said.
The ministry also provides opportunities for challenge and growth.
“What stood out most to me was how often the experience challenged me spiritually and personally. It was a place where I felt the Holy Spirit continually prompting me to see people as God sees them, rather than through my own assumptions or limited perspective. It taught me a great deal about compassion, humility, and what it truly means to love your neighbor. Looking back, it helped shape the way I think about my faith, others and justice,” Ellenburg said.
More information about the jail cause ministry can be found on their Instagram and through Bond and Smith. They welcome any and all questions and can be reached by email at bond@jbu.edu and smithhj@jbu.edu.
Photo by Hope Brittenham