Kairos is...
... an ecumenical Christian ministry designed for use in state and federal men's and women's correctional institutions in the United States and throughout the world. The International Board of Kairos Prison Ministry, Inc., with headquarters in Winter Park, Florida, governs this ministry.
KAIROS is conducted in cooperation with the chaplains and wardens of correctional institutions, by teams of laity and clergy who are qualified by their experiences in Christian renewal programs. Team members are selected, trained, and certified by area governing bodies of KAIROS and approved by correctional institutions as citizen voluteers.
The purpose of KAIROS is to establish a strong Christian community among the residents of correctional institutions. This is done by the presentation of a 3-day short course in Christianity. It is presented by an interdenominational team of about 55 persons for a group of 42 residents. The chaplain carefully selects the inmates from the prison population. The ideal recruits are those residents who are presently the leaders in the institution. There, they become Christ's agents for change in their environment that ultimately can bring about change in the attitude and quality of life for the entire institution.
The primary goal of the KAIROS ministry is to teach those who attend the weekend to become part of a share and prayer group. This allows them to share their lives on deep spiritual level and pray for one another. Many times, the members of these groups find their peers who have not been through a KAIROS program coming to them and saying, "I don't know what it is you've got, but I want it!" ... and then they introduce their friend to Christ.
Why bake cookies?
Each Kairos Walk delivers thousands of dozens of cookies to the men or women incarcerated at the facility. The cookies and other good "outside" food are a tangible expression of God's love for a group of people who seldom encounter love in their daily lives. Many inmates receive no care packages from home, and the prison food is, well, prison food. Cookies are something they never, ever forget. The cookies are delivered to all the inmates in the prison, not just the participants. There are many stories from former inmates about how Kairos cookies impacted them, and in some cases helped them find their way to Christ. Why NOT bake cookies?