The following interview with Myra Alomar and Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley originally aired on the Family News in Focus syndicated radio program on Tuesday, December 8, 2009.
As you do your Christmas shopping this year, you may want to consider something out of the ordinary. Angel Tree is looking for sponsors for 50,000 children with a parent in prison. Steve Jordhal tells us how your time and money can transform a life.
Audio:
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Listen to Myra's story
Myra Alomar: “The joy that it brought my children, knowing that their daddy, who was in prison, was sending them a gift! Just by me looking at their faces, their smiles, and their cries, it completely touched my life.”
Steve Jordhal:Myra Alomar’s husband was the one in prison, but she felt like there were bars around her as well.
Myra Alomar: “During his incarceration, I was still homeless, with three children and a drug habit. I was a crack cocaine addict.”
Steve Jordhal: Her husband reached out to Angel Tree for help, and someone like you sponsored his children. It was a defining moment for Myra.
Myra Alomar: “I cried and I realized that there is a God. How can someone track me down and send me a gift? Somehow the church tracked me down and sent me those gifts. I made a phone call, and I called a church, and I gave my heart to the Lord that day.”
Steve Jordhal: Mark Earley is president of Prison Fellowship, which runs Angel Tree. He says this year the ministry will concentrate on hard-to-reach kids like Myra’s—in very rural or urban areas.
Mark Earley: That child will get a gift-wrapped package with an age-appropriate gift, a note from their parent in prison, and a clear presentation of the Gospel.
Steve Jordahl: He says it’s a way for prisoners to keep a relationship with their kids, and a way for kids to remember that mom or dad, who is in prison, hasn’t forgotten them. You can sponsor them at www.angeltree.org.
