"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."
                                                                Matthew 9:37

Over twenty-three years of experience with the correctional, correctional medical systems and death investigation system nationwide, in addition to one-on-one consulting with the families of inmates and inmates themselves about life and death situations and their spiritual health have resulted in an expertise that teases out the extreme ineffectiveness of countless numbers of churches and organizations who fail to provide the support these individuals need and provides effective strategies to create a solid prison ministry or help a floundering one greatly improve. Prison ministries spring into existence without ever performing the due diligence that is required. Although their hearts may certainly be in the right place they carelessly and dangerously move in and through a realm they are ill-equipped to handle let alone traffic in.

Prison ministries require much more than bussing church members to a prison and jail to read Bible verses to inmates in a visiting room, or keeping track of how many inmate “believers” are baptized on any given Sunday. Many inmates have memorized Bible verses backwards and forwards before a prison ministry volunteer or minister ever shadows the door of a prison visiting room. They know more about the devil and his playground than you will ever know.

Churches and organizations that embark on setting up a prison ministry do little to no planning or screening of participants and rarely follow-through on key levels. Those interested in being involved in a prison ministry are not vetted or adequately trained. Collectively, they are clueless not only about the system itself and how it operates but dangerously naïve about the inmates within them. They are easy marks for extortion, psychological abuse, manipulation and physical harm. Most volunteers willingly yet unknowingly enter into the devil’s playground grossly ill-equipped to deal with the various types of individuals within the system. What is required is a working knowledge of the system itself at every level in order to effectively impact the spiritual lives of the inmate inside and out.

The goal of ministry is witness to others of Christ. Not witnessing to personal opinions or interpreting Scripture as if it’s up for a "book review." In order to be able to do that you not only have to understand Scriptures yourself, you have to meet that person where he or she is at spiritually, emotionally and mentally and understand well the environment in which they have lived and currently live within the prison system itself. Working for the cure of souls isn’t child’s play. It’s adult work, requiring a maturity level and power, grasped and transformed by God Himself so that God can get straight through the volunteer to the individuals He is waiting for. It demands a working knowledge of the prison system at every level—correctional, medical, spiritual, emotional and mental. It demands a mature understanding of the invisible war generally and, specifically—how it affects you personally, your loved ones and the inmate. It demands the involvement of individuals who are continuing students of the Bible and its biblical principles and how those principles are applied in day to day life.

The Institute consults with churches and organizations interested in creating a successful prison ministry or improving an existing one. It assists in identifying and streamlining the goal(s) of the ministry, provides the required education, information and training required for those interested in becoming volunteers, has staff available who have intimate knowledge of inmates themselves and what they are actually in need of, and provides various platforms for fundraising to ensure the sustainability for the ministry itself—inside and out.

Contact Information

Wrongful Death & Injury Institute, LLC
email:   krusso@wrongfuldeathinstitute.com
phone:  816.941.0087