Offering Hope and Healing When Life Falls Apart
Our son went to prison. We know the devastation, the shame, the feeling that nothing will ever be normal again. But we also know there’s hope. You don’t have to walk this road alone.
Unexpectedly, you found yourself with a loved one in prison?
Let these 5 free devotions from Carol Kent’s book Waiting Together bring comfort and healing to your heart. Carol knows this pain personally—and she wants to walk with you through it.
Our story
From Heartbreak to Hope
Sometimes we choose to make sacrifices. We tighten our belts to pay for our children’s education, or we give up a treasured day off to help a friend in need.
Then there are sacrifices for which we have no say—like “Isaac experiences” as described in Genesis 22—which are thrust upon us without warning or survival instructions.
That’s what happened to our family when our son Jason was incarcerated.
We eventually discovered we were living in “a new kind of normal.” A life that looks nothing like we planned, but somehow still has purpose, meaning, and yes—hope.
From our family’s pain came a mission: to speak up for those who have no voice. To remind families drowning in shame that they’re not alone. To send boxes filled with hope to people who desperately need it. To equip others to share their stories of redemption.
“Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice. Stand up for the poor and destitute.”
— Proverbs 31:8-9 MSG
Why Yellow Means Hope
In the darkest days after Jason’s sentencing, I (Carol) prayed a desperate prayer. I begged God for a sign—anything to show me He still saw me, that there was still hope.
The next morning, I found a bouquet of yellow roses on my doorstep. No card. No note. But I knew.
God heard me. He saw me. And He said, “There is hope.” Even now.
From that moment, yellow became our color. Yellow roses. Sunshine breaking through the darkness. A promise that hope is real—even when you can’t see the way forward.
God hasn’t forgotten you.
Your Gift Changes Everything
Our team is a small group of people who care deeply. When you give, here’s what happens:
When you give $25…
You fill a Box of Hope that shows up at a desperate mother’s doorstep. Inside: gift cards for groceries. A devotional that understands her pain. A note saying someone’s praying for her. She cries—because someone finally saw her.
When you give $50…
You stock a prison visitation center with games so a little girl can play Connect Four with her incarcerated dad. They laugh together. She remembers that laugh for weeks.
When you give $100…
You provide Bibles and resources to a prison chaplain serving hundreds of inmates with almost no budget. Your gift changes eternal destinies.
When you give monthly…
You become the steady presence we count on. You’re why we can say “yes” when desperate families reach out. You’re the backbone of this ministry.
Three Ways We Serve
Encourage
We provide encouragement, ideas, and resources to inmates’ families and prison chaplains. When people contact us in devastation, we respond—sometimes with a Box of Hope, sometimes just with an email that says, “You’re not alone.”
Educate
We assist churches and individuals with information and materials to educate and equip those ministering to incarcerated individuals and their families. If you want to make a difference in your local prison but don’t know where to start, we’ll show you.
Equip
Through the Speak Up Conference, we provide communication training for people doing evangelism and Bible teaching. We help people share their stories of redemption powerfully.
When Hope Arrives in a Cardboard Box
As Gene and Carol continue to share their story, letters and emails pour in daily from people facing their own “new kind of normal” due to devastating circumstances. In response, we began Boxes of Hope—a mission project that provides special encouragement. We send boxes to families whose loved ones are incarcerated—families drowning in shame, isolation, and financial hardship.
We send supplies to prison visitation centers—with games and books so families can actually connect during those precious visiting hours. (We can’t send boxes inside prisons to inmates, but we can help families and the places where they visit). We provide resources to prison chaplains—Bibles, study materials, and ministry tools they desperately need—every box says: someone cares.” You’re not alone”.
From Inmates Who Received Hope
In Their Own Words
From Families:
From Chaplains:
Serving Those Who Served
We provide specialized support to incarcerated veterans and their families through our Military Missions program—honoring their service while offering hope for healing and restoration.
By Carol Kent
Books for Your Journey
Carol Kent is an international speaker and bestselling author who writes about finding hope in impossible seasons. If you need more help navigating your “new kind of normal,” these books might be exactly what you need:
Get involved
You Can Make a Difference
Your donations help support:
Boxes of Hope for families and visitation centers
Resources for prison chaplains
Communications training for people doing evangelism and Bible teaching
Support for family members of inmates
Military missions
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