PRISON MINISTRY HELPS INMATES BEGIN NEW LIVES

Luis Mangual, 31, of Lowell, said he was 15 when he turned to drugs.
"I grew up in Lowell in a rough neighborhood. Drugs were around -
heroin, cocaine," he recalled. A life marred by violence and
addiction changed when he encountered Mark Hemenway's prison ministry
in 2003 while serving a two-year sentence at the Middlesex House of
Correction in Billerica for breaking and entering, car theft and
receiving stolen property. Since his release earlier this year,
Mangual has been meeting Sunday evenings with Hemenway at a busy
Dunkin' Donuts in Lowell.

Over coffee, they study Bible passages and talk about Mangual's
triumphs and challenges. By and large, Mangual said things are on the
right track - and Hemenway agrees. "He's really built himself a
support group. He's got me. He's got his pastor," said Hemenway, a
long-time Billerica resident now living in Lowell and director of the
Acton-based Vision New England Prison Ministries. Vision New England
is a network of evangelical Christian churches and other
organizations providing ministry services throughout New England.
Vision New England Prison Ministries will bring together ministers
working with current and former prisoners at a conference Saturday,
Nov. 12, at the Immanuel Church in Chelmsford. The conference will
address numerous topics, from working with Spanish-speaking
populations to problems faced by former inmates, including sex
offenders, trying to re-enter society. Among the guest speakers
scheduled is Middlesex Sheriff James DiPaola.

Changed Lives

Hemenway has found himself on his own journey through prison
ministry. "The defining moment was a heart attack at age 36 in 1985,"
said Hemenway, who worked in high-tech defense for 30 years before
retiring in December 2004 to pursue ministry work full-time. "About a
year-and-a-half ago, I went to a seminary and discovered I really
wasn't called to be a pastor," said Hemenway, who attended
Andover-Newton Theological Seminary to pursue a dream - and an
alternative to a stressful career.

He said that, while working with the homeless in Boston, he realized,
"The Lord wanted me in prison." At a religious conference of
Protestant and Evangelical ministers, he said, "I heard people tell
about how their lives had changed." He added, "They looked to Jesus
to get their lives together." Afterward, he began to volunteer at the
House of Correction, working with the prison's previous prison
minister, Lenny Spitale. When Spitale left, Hemenway said he took his place.

'Invisible Victims'

Hemenway visits inmates twice a week at the House of Correction and
at the Cambridge Jail on Friday evenings. He also speaks at prisons,
including MCI-Concord and MCI-Framingham - the latter being the only
state facility for female inmates. In addition to working with those
serving time and those adjusting to life outside prison, Hemenway
said he and his staff work with the families of inmates, whom he
called "the invisible victims of incarceration." When he goes to
facilities such as the House of Correction and MCI-Concord, he said
he often sees family members - often wives or girlfriends and
children - standing outside in the cold waiting to visit loved ones
serving time. Female inmates are another invisible population, said
Hemenway, who said, "Often, they are dealing with abuse issues. They
have to rebuild relationships with their kids." When inmates leave
prison, many lack basic life skills needed to be successful, he said.
"One guy after 10 years didn't know how to use a washing machine. So
he bought clothes every day," Hemenway said. "These are people who
have never had a check book, or relationships. Sometimes they are
without family or housing." A lack of these necessities can put a
former inmate at risk for committing crimes that got them
incarcerated in the first place, Hemenway said.

Certain problems can be found across the prison population, including
mental illness and drug abuse, which together can be found among the
majority of inmates, Hemenway said. Hemenway said helping former
inmates is a way to protect the community. In an age of shrinking
budgets for inmate services, Hemenway said prison ministry is often
welcomed in correctional systems because, very simply, it's free.
"This is a federal statistic - 97 percent of all inmates will be
released," Hemenway said. "They're going to come out and live with
us. Unless we give them skills to live a new life - well, you know
what that leads to." For more information on the Caleb 2005 Prison
Ministry Conference, visit the Web at www.VisionNewEngland.org.