Team 59 just completed inside Camp C at Angola.

To no one’s surprise, the weekend was fantastic, all thanks to God.

Here’s a letter team leader Bob Leitner recently sent to the team and would like to share with the entire Kairos community.

Wow!  My mind is still spinning, however; I want to try to capture a few thoughts and thank you as a team.  Yes, I believe I am in the riverbanks to give each of you a hearty thank you at this point in time as we look back.

I could not have asked more of you.

Illness, impending back surgery, fatigue; nothing stood in our way as we were truly empowered by God to carry out His Kairos ministry to Camp C.  We accepted thirty-six (36) guests and did not lose one.  Thirty-six crosses were accepted last Sunday and I believe thirty-six lives were impacted.  In addition, real transformation has occurred on our team during the training and the weekend of this ministry. 

God has been very good to us!

By God’s grace, the ripples from Team 59 spread far beyond the team and our guests.  We have been blessed by a host of “angels” in our Christian communities and congregations.  The prayer support was awesome – the prayer chain overflowed – the agape received from other Kairos communities knit us together with the bonds of God’s love.

As usual, we had beautiful and touching placemats and letters from children.

The congregation of First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge engaged members to write agape letters offering affirmation and blessing; over five hundred of these were written and incorporated into the guests agape letter bags.

So, the blessings flowed out to the engaged members far beyond the team or the guests.  The prayer support was the foundation of this Kairos.  We experienced numerous guests requesting clergy time on Friday and Saturday.  This time, for prayer or for the  unpacking of yearnings and questions, is not always requested to the extent we experienced it.  The prayer box was actively used throughout the weekend.

Now, as a past leader, I look back and realize this has not been and never was about me.  I, we, have just showed up!  God has been present and active in each small detail of the planning and weekend.  It has truly amazed me to look with hindsight at the selection of speakers, meditations, and Instructional talks.  God was actively in all these selections far beyond my human capacity.

God’s imprint was indeed on the selection of our team; WE WERE CALLED BY NAME!

During the weekend we experienced barriers being broken down, hope being left where there had previously been no hope, and the peace of God prevailing where there had been no peace.  Ethnic, racial, religious and cultural barriers were removed at the tables and we experienced God’s Kingdom made present on Earth, NOW!

I would like to convey a few stories that were experienced on Saturday afternoon.  The agape letters were being opened at the tables.  The Chaplain was sitting with one guest and reading letters to this individual incapable of reading his own. Many of our guests were quietly crying and shaking their heads in disbelief and a deep sense of wonder.

I noticed the Correctional Officer, yes the Guard, moving slowing from table to table.  He placed a hand on the men’s shoulders to gently remind them that he was there and that he loved them too.  He told me that these men were “his family” after 26 years at Angola.  He sang with them, ate with them and prayed with them during the course of the weekend.

Small cakes, decorated with each guests name, were distributed at dinner Saturday.  As they were passed out, we realized that one cake had inadvertently been misplaced or lost, leaving one resident without a cake. Before we had time to come up with a game plan on how to handle this embarrassment, another guest (with the same first name) stepped up and offered his cake.  They embraced and split the cake!  Grace upon grace was given.

Our team was blessed with a balance of Kairos veterans and twelve members that were new to the Kairos ministry.  They each committed to return and three individuals stepped up to accept the challenge and blessings of future leadership.

The ministry of Kairos Angola is in good hands with a bright future.  “Jesus, name above all names” continues to carry me forward into the new day.

Blessings and thanks to each of you, I love you!

The prayer chain for Team 59 is up and needs your faithful sharing.

Here is the link.

Team 59 is about to start and our leader is Bob Leitner.

Recently, Bob sent the community this letter.

Brothers and  Sisters,

Team training for team #59 is right around the corner!  I am excited to realize that my commitment made a few years ago to lead a Kairos team is almost a reality and I am humbled to by the Spirit working to bring this team together.

This is my first attempt at a group email for team #59 and it is based upon discussions and commitments that have been ongoing over the past few months.

An application is available here and I ask that you forward a completed application to my attention at bob@doyleelectricinc.com.

Training will begin on January 31^st and will continue February 7^th, February 21^st, February 28^th and March 7^th.

All training will be held at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, room 104 in the lower level.

Our Kairos (camp to be determined) is March 12^th – 15^th.

It is a good time, before training is upon us, to begin to solicit support for cookies, green agape, and prayers.

I ask that each of you be in prayer for Kairos #59:

• For the team, that God would bring the desired team together and bond us together with His love.
• For Chaplain Sumrall, that the Holy Spirit would guide his selection of our guests.
• For all of those incarcerated in Angola, that they may hear the Good News and begin to live in the fullness of God’s love.
• For each of us, that we may empty ourselves so that we may be filled with the Spirit of God; that we may empty ourselves that we may become a servant; that we may become obedient to Christ, the Kairos leadership, the prison authorities and the Kairos method.
• That we may Listen, Listen and Love, Love.

Each of you has been chosen by God to be an important part of team 59.  Remember, it is God’s team.  He will provide all that we need – we must believe and trust in that.

Blessings to each of you,

Your brother in Christ,

Bob

Bob Leitner is leading Team 59 and has this message for the Kairos community:

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ!

Advent season is a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ.

I always feel a bit of tension; knowing that Christ is here and yet pondering what newness Christ is calling me to.

This year I feel the excitement and challenges that are calling me forward to Kairos #59.

I feel an awesome responsibility and privilege in this opportunity to lead team 59.

At the same time, busy with the tasks of preparation, I understand that we are God’s team and will be beautifully led by the Holy Spirit to Listen – Listen and Love – Love.

Kairos #59 is right around the corner, we will be witnessing inside Angola March 12^th through March 15^th and will begin an intentional time of training and team formation on January 31^st.

God is calling forth those who are led to serve.

Please give prayerful consideration to serving on team #59 and I would love to have an opportunity to speak with you if you have any questions.

Feel free to email me at bob@doyleelectricinc.com or call me at 225-268-8421.

Applications for team #59 are available here.

If you missed the last DOC training in Baton Rouge, another training class has been announced.

First Baptist Church of Slidell has graciously agreed to host a “Last Chance” training Saturday, November 8th from 9:00am – 11:00am.

We encourage all of you who have not yet taken DOC training to do so, if you expect to enter the gates of Angola prior to the end of this calendar year.

Remember, training is mandatory every calendar year.

The prayer chain needs some help!

Please spread the link to as many folks as you can.

Click here for the link.

Our first team meeting for Team 58 was held Saturday and we are off to a roaring start…literally.

Take a listen to the musical offerings from the first team meeting.

It’s as if we have been singing together for over two months!

Meanwhile, please remember Department of Corrections training will be held this Saturday at 8:30am at South Baton Rouge Church of Christ, with team formation continuing at First United Methodist after the training.

Are you ready for another Karios?

Team 58, led by Richard Saxer, will begin team formation this Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, LA.

Even if you are not on the team, we could use your help.

PRAYER VIGIL

One of the easiest ways to help is to share the prayer vigil link with your church, family, friends and co-workers.

Here it is.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

And, of course, we could always use your financial help.

If you would like to donate financial assistance for Team 58, please email Richard Saxer or send the check (made payable to Kairos Kairos of Louisiana – Angola 58) to 14934 Ridgeside Ave., Central, LA  70818

CLOSING

Closing for Team will be held on November 16th around 2pm.

Information for those attending closing needs to be in hand no later than October 25th.

Richard Saxer will need the following information for each visitor, including this application:

• Name (as it appears on their driver’s license)
• Date of Birth
• Social Security number
• Race
• Gender

by Todd Rossnagel

Recently, I ran across an article that you may have seen on your Facebook feed.

The article speaks highly of the faith based institutions that have literally taken over inside Angola.

I know the Kairos model is one where we shouldn’t thank each other nor highlight our own activity and while we should always adhere to that, seeing stories like this (from a newspaper in Washington D.C.) is pretty awesome.

God is awesome!

I wanted to take a moment and update the entire Kairos family on a few matters as we march toward Team 58, led by Richard Saxer (team formation begins October 4th and the weekend is set for November 13-16).

Recruiting Is Up

It’s no secret, Kairos membership has suffered over the last few years. It was one of the reasons we dipped to doing two retreats a year.

However, I can happily report that recruiting for Kairos has greatly improved. Our next team leader, Richard Saxer, has 42 solid commitments for his team already and several of those have come from some rather interesting places. (You’ll have to come to the first team meeting to find out more! 🙂 )

Meanwhile, Rick Blackstone has been aggressively recruiting inside the Catholic Church in the New Orleans area and the Baton Rouge area has seen increased awareness and interest thanks to the Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Cynthia Harvey, and her heart for Kairos and prison ministry.

Adding to this good news is a commitment by Rev. Brady Whitton, Senior Pastor, FUMC Baton Rouge, to be on Team 59, led by Bob Leitner.

As you know, having the senior pastor of one of the largest Methodist churches in Louisiana will spark tremendous interest and it already has – several rookies are now considering Kairos for the first time.

One more note on recruiting, two new leaders will be trained up in September as Rodney Young and Archie Corder get set to attend AKT (Advanced Kairos Training).

While we can always improve our recruiting efforts – both for Kairos and Discipleship retreats, this news of an increased interest is an answered prayer.

Financially Sound

It wasn’t that long ago when a team was on the verge of having to cancel their entire weekend as they had not raised enough money to pay the hotel bill.

Literally, the prayer was for a miracle – God, please help the team raise $10,000 in a week.

While the prayer was answered (God has a heart for what we do!), it was still a moment in time that had us pause and reflect on where we stood financially.

A lot has changed since then; chief among those changes is a move from Model 2 to Model 1 with regard to finances.

I don’t pretend to know accounting or finance, but I did spend the night at a Holiday Inn Express, so allow me to give the Readers’ Digest of what this means for Kairos, specifically the Angola chapter.

In years past, we would raise funds and keep a balance for future teams – we were financially independent with the exception that a certain percentage of our funds would go to the state chapter as they would pay for items such as they crosses we hand out.

The move to Model 1 places the financial burden on the state chapter and allows us to rely on the state for our financial assistance.

This is tremendously valuable to smaller chapters that had been struggling with raising enough dollars to do a retreat.

In fact, the scenario I mentioned earlier (one team almost having to fold tent because of a lack of funds) would not have been a situation as we would have been able to rely on the state for money.

As it stands now, we are on financially sound ground and we intend to keep it that way!

Communications

A few years ago, we updated our web site to provide more up-to-date information as well as resources.

We think this current web site is an improvement but we know it can improved even further.

Currently, we are in discussion with a web developer who is interested in donating his time and resources to our chapter and redesign our web site yet again – all of this work is designed to keep us current and to provide the public with a state of the art look at what we do, why we do it and how we do it.

Ultimately, we would like to adopt the corporate model and get away from the Google Group as a means of communicating.

The idea would be for everyone to subscribe to the web site for updates. In turn, this would allow us to broadcast timely information without clogging inboxes.

Reunions Continue To Be Problematic

One of the hallmarks of Kairos is the teams commitment to return to Angola on a monthly basis for a prayer and share.

We’ve seen both an increase in the number of camps we have witnessed to and a decrease in the number of volunteers willing to return for the monthly prayer and shares.

Adding to this issue is Angola’s desire to have reunions held on one weekend, at all camps simultaneously. In the past, if a group of volunteers would arrive for their monthly reunion at Camp C, they would go to Camp C (as an entire group) and hold the monthly reunion.

However, now that all camps are holding monthly reunions at the same time, it limits the number of people we can send to each camp as we are making the effort to spread our resources.

There is more to the issue, but know this – we are trying to work with Angola on a solution.

Our job is to maintain our promise to the residents of Angola and live up to the spirit of Kairos by returning for monthly reunions.

If you have a question about when you signed up for a monthly reunion, please check with the team leader for the weekend you served or contact Checo who can assist with the master gate pass.

DOC Training

As you know, to serve on a Kairos team, every team member needs to complete DOC (Department of Corrections) training.

This has traditionally been done at team meetings with a representative from chaplains department facilitating the training.

This October, the training will be held October 11th at South Baton Rouge Church of Christ from 8:30am – 11am.

This training coincides with the team meetings for Team 58.

Reminder – if you are going to attend a Kairos function between now and February of next year (when the next DOC training will be held), you will need to attend this training.

Leadership

Finally, we are asking for volunteers interested in serving on the Angola Council.

Over the next few months, we will be looking for and recruiting leaders to serve on the council.

If you are interested, please email Todd.

Thank You

Thank you for your willingness to serve Kairos and to answer God’s call to share Christ’s message of love and forgiveness.

This ministry has survived many hurdles and potholes over the years, some which pale in comparison to some of the issues we currently have.

We are blessed to have a large recruiting roll and a large bank of donors, at the ready to assist with their time and money.

Angola is a safer place and more lives have been completely transformed thanks in large part to the work we are doing, through the Holy Spirit.

The November team will begin formation in just a few short months.

Will you be on the team?

(Team application is here)

Even if you cannot serve on this upcoming team, there are so many other ways you can help:

You can help recruit.
You can bake cookies.
You can donate money.
And, of course, you can PRAY!

The November leader is Richard Saxer and he is ready! He is actively recruiting and wanted to share this message with the community:

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