Notes from Linda's Talk

Posted by Jeremy Watson - CLI Staff

A few of you who could not attend last night's talk asked for an overview of what was said. Here are some notes from the meeting.

Linda gave several good pointers on ministering to inmates in her talk last night. She said that when we get correspondence from an inmate who is hurting emotionally, we should first of all acknowledge their pain. We can write things like, “I’m so sorry that you are going through this,” or, “I can’t imagine what it is like to be in that situation.” Then we should point them to a source of hope for the future. Of course, the greatest source of hope is found in a personal relationship with Christ.

One Bible passage she cited was Psalm 31, in which David expresses his pain but reveals that God is the source of his hope and comfort. The passage is helpful because it shows that even godly people experience sorrow and demonstrates that we can tell God how we feel. Another good passage is Matthew 6:25-34, where Jesus repeatedly tells us not to worry. Some passages where men and women of God express feelings of depression are: Habakkuk 1:2, Job 2:16, Ecclesiastes 2:23, Mark 15:34, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, Micah 7:1, Ruth 1:21, and Isaiah 8:17.

Linda shared a report estimating that 24% of the adult prison population suffers from a serious mental illness. In the juvenile system, about 70% of the inmates have a serious mental illness. These figures are much higher than percentages for the regular population.