Kairos is about changing lives
Kairos is a regional, local community based mission to those in prison and to the families and friends affected by having someone in prison.
Kairos is a ‘hands-on’ activity helping bring:
- rehabilitation to the incarcerated through the possibility of hope and positive choices
- support and encouragement to those affected
Kairos, through over 2,000 volunteers around Australia reaches out
- to men and women in prison, saying "You have a choice".
- to those affected by having someone inside, saying "You are not alone".
- to juvenile offenders, saying "There's a better way ahead"
We know we can't fix their problems or solve the causes - people have to be allowed to make their own decisions - but we can help them help themselves.
Kairos makes a difference
- To the individual, families and friends with whom we come in contact.
- To the environment of the correctional centres we access.
- To the next generation as they experience a change in the family members who begin, and therefore model, a lifestyle without crime.
- To the wider society, by helping to reduce the recidivism rate, and therefore reducing the cost of further imprisonment.
- To local communities as the ripple effect of someone making positive life choices flows out through their daily life to those with whom they come in contact.
Through a 3-4 day program (called a Short Course or Weekend), Kairos presents the possibility of a different, positive life through supportive, loving and non-judgemental words, actions and examples. Then through ongoing ‘Journey’ visits and reunion days, continuing hope and support are offered and 'proven' by the continued contact (“walking the talk”).
Kairos is a not-for-profit Christian based ministry governed in Australia by the National Board of Kairos Prison Ministry Australia (KPMA). It is ‘interdenominational’, meaning volunteers come from all the arms of the Christian faith - from traditional denominations to pentecostal or charismatic ones, from Catholic or Protestant, from large or small.
So Kairos is a mission to those inside prison and to those affected by having someone inside - by ordinary men and women who have a heart for helping people on the basis of their faith.
Kairos makes a difference - because Kairos brings Love,
Acceptance and Forgiveness.
Please click HERE to read a letter from the Chief Executive Officer of Kairos - Tony Carter
History of Kairos
Kairos commenced with a course (based on Cursillo) in Union Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison at Raiford, Florida, in 1976. From that experience a model was developed which could be presented in any prison without changing the content or format. It was aimed specifically at one environment: that of correctional institutions. It was called "Kairos".
There are two Greek words for time. One of them, with which many are familiar, is "chronos", meaning linear time ... hours, days, weeks, etc. The other is "kairos", used in the sense of ‘special time’ for a particular occurrence. "KAIROS" was found to be a word of very special significance in the environment of the correctional institution, where the word "time" carries so many connotations.
Kairos Outside began as an idea from the Chaplain at San Quentin State Correctional Facility in California in 1989, when he saw a need to help the families of those incarcerated because the families were often having as many problems as the person inside.
The first Kairos course outside the USA was piloted in June/July 1995 in Parramatta Correctional Institution, NSW Australia. Kairos Outside in Australia commenced in Sydney in May 1999. Kairos Torch was introduced in Australia at the Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre on the NSW Central Coast in April 2001.
Today there are over 20,000 volunteers around the world; Kairos is active in over 180 prisons; Kairos Outside operates in over 20 regions.
Around Australia Kairos is operating in 19 correctional centres, Kairos Outside in 8 regions and Kairos Torch in 1 juvenile facility. Kairos Australia is in a growth phase, with regional and developmental committees in all states and territories planning and negotiating new opportunities.
Kairos Prison Ministry Australia (KPMA) is licenced by Kairos Inc. in the USA, where the idea was conceived in the 1970's. It is a Company Limited by Guarantee and is a not-for-profit charity, DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient, so gifts of $2 and over to Kairos are tax deductible) and ITEC (Income Tax Exempt Charity) registered.