If I were to tell you my 81-year-old grandmother was in prison, you’d probably begin to feel some sympathy not only for my grandmother, but perhaps also for me. But this grandmother from Lansing, Kansas is not an inmate, nor is she my grandmother, even though I’d love to claim her.
Sue Ellen is a frequent visitor to the Lansing Correctional Facility. While there she reaches out to the many prisoners, trying to bring about their personal transformation. I heard about her through Steve Hartman (CBS, On the Road, 11/1/13).
Sue Ellen’s hope is that prisoners can become kinder and more empathetic people. She believes that each person has both a beast and an angel inside them. Letting their beast out has brought them to where they are now. If they could only get in touch with their angels, true transformation might take place.
So are any of these hardened prison inmates listening to granny? Are any really searching for their inner angels? Yes, indeed. Apparently, more than just a few have succeeded over the years—whether they have found that angel, or whether Sue Ellen’s interest in them has just had a profound life-lasting effect. The recidivism rate, the rate at which people revert back to crime, in this facility is only 10%. That compares with 50% for the other prisons in Kansas! Bring on a few more grannies.
Without a doubt, Sue Ellen has made a difference in the Lansing, Kansas prison. Getting in touch with inner angels is important. But before she could help others, she needed to get in touch with that angel residing inside of herself, and learn to use it for good works. Many prisoners now living productive lives thank God she succeeded. What an example of Love Lived Large!
“We love because God first loved us.”
(1 John 4:19)
Surly this is a better way to treat prisoners than with solitary confinement.
I wanted to go into prison ministry……… Being a Granny now maybe I should take it up : )