Redemption Stories

Some politicians say it's time to get tough on crime. Media reports suggest that we lock criminals up and throw away the key. But for Freedom Ministries, it's never too late for redemption. Based in Kingston, Ont., the unofficial prison capital of Canada, The Salvation Army's Freedom Ministries offers inmates, past offenders and their families a variety of programs that include institution and court chaplaincy, post-incarceration aftercare and family support groups. The impact of these programs may not make headlines, but for those who have been supported by Freedom Ministries, they provide a path to salvation and rehabilitation. In this article, three past offenders share their stories.

A Cry for Help

“It sounds funny, but going to prison was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm five years sober, I'm close to the Lord and I've got people like Reverend Scott Pruden in my life” – Mike Malcolm

At 6'6” and 275 lbs, Mike Malcolm admits that he's “always been intimidating,” and he once had the lifestyle to fit his “tough guy” look.

“I drank too much and acted like an idiot for most of my life,” he says with frankness.

But on August 11, 2007, everything changed. Malcolm's 17-year-old daughter, Tanya, was being harassed by a 43-year-old man who was encouraging her to do hard drugs. Feeling that he needed to protect his daughter, Malcolm assaulted the man.

Right after he committed his crime, Malcolm went to the police station and surrendered. A few days later, he was sent to the Napanee Detention Centre, Ont., and placed in solitary confinement.

“At the time, I didn't know if my victim would survive or if I would be locked up for the rest of my life,” he recalls. “The first night I was at Napanee, this overwhelming feeling came over me and I asked the Lord to send me someone to help me turn my life around.”

After he was sentenced to six years for aggravated assault, Malcolm left Napanee and went to Millhaven Institution in Bath, Ont., where he started attending a Salvation Army Bible study.

“The first time I went, I met a large Salvation Army gentleman named Scott Pruden,” he remembers. “When I put my hand out to shake his hand, the instant he touched me, I knew that the Lord had sent him to help me change my life.”

Reverend Pruden supported Malcolm throughout his incarceration and helped him secure a place at Kingston Harbour Light, Ont., so that he could overcome his addiction to alcohol.

Since leaving Harbour Light in January 2011, Malcolm has been living with his parents in Denbigh, Ont., a small town about 150 km north of Kingston. Because he is still on parole, and will be until November 2013, he is restricted to travel within 40 km of his residence. This makes it difficult for him to participate fully in Freedom Ministries' community chaplaincy programs, which provide support for past offenders who are returning from incarceration, helping them reintegrate into society.

Still, he gets special passes so that he can attend the Open Door Fellowship (ODF) at least once a month. The ODF is a weekly Bible study that promotes healthy social behaviour, personal responsibility and accountability. The program is directed at past offenders, but regular attendees also include police officers, corrections officers, business people and a sitting Supreme Court judge.

“It's an eclectic group,” says Pruden, who co-ordinates the ODF, “but it's a melting pot of faith and fellowship in Christ. Regardless of our vocations, we are able to support and love each other in that. ”

Malcolm, a bluegrass musician who plays guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica, often shares his talents at these meetings.

“I know I'm supposed to share the Word, but I'm not much of a preacher so I do it musically,” he says. He particularly enjoys playing classic gospel hymns, his favourite being The Old Rugged Cross.

He also shares his music ministry at a local church in Denbigh and he travels around to schools, giving his testimony.

“I'll share my story with whoever I can,” he smiles.

Love Behind Bars

“Freedom Ministries is very important to women like me who are in relationships with inmates, because a lot of us don't have support from our families” – Tina Boudreau

Tina Boudreau and her husband, Rick, have been married for 25 years, but they have never lived under the same roof. For the past 29 years, Rick has been an inmate at Ontario's Kingston Penitentiary, serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder.

The two met while Boudreau was volunteering with the Lifers' Group, a support group for inmates serving life sentences. Boudreau says she always had an interest in the prison system, as several of her family members had worked in corrections. But her first encounter with the Lifers' Group took her by surprise.

“The inmates would hold my chair out for me when I went to sit down and get me coffee—things like that,” she says. “I was totally blown away by how nice they were, compared to what you see on TV.”

After a year of meeting and chatting every week at the Lifers' Group, Boudreau and Rick started dating. For the next year, Boudreau visited him as often as she could and, in 1987, they were married in Kingston Penitentiary. A justice of the peace conducted the ceremony, which was attended by Rick's mother, sister and an aunt, as well as a fellow inmate who served as best man. None of Boudreau's family came.

“My mother was supportive, but my father didn't speak to me for seven years,” Boudreau says.

After they were married, Rick officially adopted Boudreau's two children, who were two and four years old.

Around the time she met Rick, Boudreau reconnected with The Salvation Army. She had attended a Salvation Army Sunday school when she was a teenager and, when she discovered that the Army had a Sunday school bus ministry in her area, decided to send her children.

The family had been attending Kingston Citadel for three years when Boudreau made a serious mistake and had her own run-in with the law.

“My husband asked me to take some marijuana into the prison to him and I ended up getting caught,” she explains. “I was taken to the Ontario Provincial Police jail and that's when I became a Christian, right in the jail cell.”

Boudreau spent the next year going through the court system, but she received ongoing support from Salvation Army worker Beryl Taylor. In the end, Boudreau was given 16 months probation and 50 hours of community service work, which she did with The Salvation Army.

Boudreau continued her involvement with The Salvation Army, becoming a soldier and later the Bread of Life program co-ordinator at Kingston's Rideau Heights Community Church. She is now a dedicated volunteer with Freedom Ministries.

Her involvement with Freedom Ministries started 10 years ago with a support group for women who have a loved one that is an offender. This group, which meets weekly, provides a safe, non-threatening atmosphere where women can share their experiences and receive encouragement as they struggle to cope with the forced absence of their loved one.

“I see my sister having Christmas holidays with her husband and kids, and it makes me sad that my husband's not there,” she says. “Inmates tend to be insecure about their families, so the women who are involved with them don't get out much.”

In 2004, Boudreau started volunteering with the S.A.F.E. Kids' Club, a program of Freedom Ministries' Support and Advocacy for Family Enrichment (S.A.F.E.) program. The club offers the children of offenders—who have a high risk of social exclusion and intergenerational criminality—a place to learn, have fun and find support among their peers. The kids' club meets once a month, usually on school holidays, for a full-day session.

“The club gives these kids the chance to do things that they might not be able to do because their fathers aren't home,” says Boudreau.

Like Boudreau, Rick is also involved with Freedom Ministries. He attends Salvation Army chapel services and meets regularly with Reverend Pruden, the prison chaplain.

Boudreau's family did eventually accept Rick, but Boudreau says not all women in her position are so fortunate. For families like Boudreau's, the S.A.F.E. program of Freedom Ministries is invaluable.

The Open Door

“I was full of hate and anger. My anger gave me life. If you did me wrong, I'd get you back. While I was at Harbour Light, I had to learn to forgive”
– Pat Kincaid

For almost 50 years, Pat Kincaid was a career criminal. Constantly in and out of jail, Kincaid's life consisted of bars, parties and criminal activity—a lifestyle he admits he once enjoyed.

But after one eventful night at the Frontenac Institution in Kingston, Ont., Kincaid set out on a new path.

Kincaid first got in trouble with the law when he was only 10 years old. Though he grew up in Kingston, he ran away to Toronto when he was 13 to escape his abusive mother and lived on the streets until he found his father. Kincaid went to jail for the first time when he was 16 and, up until three years ago, he was never out of jail for longer than 18 months.

Kincaid had contact with The Salvation Army at various points in his life, but he did not connect with Freedom Ministries until he was sent to the Frontenac prison farm. There, Kincaid's main task was to look after the cows and he often helped with birthing calves, a responsibility he took very seriously. In two years, he had never lost a calf, until one night in 2009.

“My calf wasn't breathing. I tried everything, but nothing worked,” he remembers. Certain that the calf had died, Kincaid was devastated until, suddenly, it started breathing.

“The first words out of my mouth were 'Thank God!' When I heard myself say that, I knew that there was a God and that he had just given me a miracle,” he says. “From that moment on, I tried to learn everything I could about him.”

Kincaid turned to The Salvation Army for guidance and stayed at Kingston Harbour Light when he finished his time at Frontenac. At Harbour Light, Kincaid experienced profound spiritual growth.

“I was full of hate and anger. My anger gave me life. If you did me wrong, I'd get you back,” he says. “While I was at Harbour Light, I had to learn to forgive.”

The most difficult person for Kincaid to forgive was his mother. He took anger management classes and went through counselling at Harbour Light, and before he left the centre, he phoned his mother and told her that he had forgiven her.

“That was the most important thing I got out of Harbour Light because that was the hardest thing for me to do,” he says. “Now, everything else comes easier.”

Home in Kingston, Kincaid regularly attends church and the Open Door Fellowship, a support group and Bible study for past offenders.

“I love the Open Door Fellowship,” he says. “I've met people that I thought would never give me a second look, and yet I'm good friends with them. I could ask any of them for help.

“Freedom Ministries has changed my life,” he continues. “After living the criminal life for 50 years, I thought there was no way I was ever going straight. But today, I would not trade one minute of the last three years for any part of my life before.”

About Freedom Ministries

Based in Kingston, Ont., Freedom Ministries exists to support offenders and their families throughout and after incarceration. Led by Major Albert Bain, executive director, and Major Barbara Bain, director of programs, Freedom Ministries offers chaplaincy services at 10 correctional facilities and two courts in the Kingston area, as well as escort services for minimum security prisoners who wish to visit the community (e.g. to visit family or attend church). It also provides services to past offenders who reside in the Kingston area, including start-up kits for recently released prisoners and the Open Door Fellowship, a support group and Bible study. Freedom Ministries' Support and Advocacy for Family Enrichment (S.A.F.E.) program ministers to the families of offenders. Recognizing that incarceration places the entire family at risk, S.A.F.E. offers support groups for women, an annual family camp, a kids' club and a “welcome home” program that helps families prepare for the return of their loved one. Other Freedom Ministries programs include Circles of Support and Accountability for past sexual offenders, pen-pal services, anger management courses and community work programs. For more information about Freedom Ministries, visit www.freedomministries.ca.