by Kelli Cottrell

LOS ANGELES - Ten Los Angeles Southern Baptist churches helped bring Christmas to teens as young as 14 incarcerated with a variety of sentences including life in prison.

The Christmas project, spearheaded by Charlie Corum, an ordained chaplain and community ministry consultant for California Southern Baptist Convention and Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association, provided more than 1,100 young inmates in Southern California with gift bags of toiletries, hot chocolate, scriptures, popcorn and Christmas cards.

Each church in the association was challenged to fill the bags with a list of specific items provided by Corum, at a cost of $7 per bag.

A former pastor of 17 years, Corum started the ministry last year on his own after seeing that several inmates had no family support.

"I thought this year that if the association did the project as a network it would motivate more people to be involved in this type of ministry that is forgotten," he said. "We have ministry to adult prisoners but no one is reaching the youth."

The goal of 900 bags was exceeded by 200, and many were distributed at the Chino Youth Correctional Facility. Volunteers gave out the bags by going cell to cell visiting with the youth, Corum said.

"Some of these youth have no family," he noted. "God has given us favor with these facilities that normally wouldn't allow us in to do this type of thing.

"We can have such an incredible influence on their lives. We did not receive a negative response from anyone. This ministry is such a witness for the Lord."

And anyone can participate, Corum said.

"We had elderly ladies who wouldn't even have to step into a prison helping out with prison ministry by filling the bags in their churches," he explained. "Out of this I'm hoping to build regular volunteers who have a passion for these teens. I'm hoping that these easy steps will lead some to feel a calling to step out and regularly volunteer."

In addition to the gift bags, Christmas meals and a Christian program were provided at the Norwalk Youth Correctional Facility.

Participating churches included All Nations Baptist in Downey, First Southern Baptist in Bellflower, First Southern Baptist in Monterey Park, Gateway Community in Alhambra, Iglesia Bautista Emanuel El Camino in La Puente, Immanuel Southern Baptist in La Puente, New Hope Community in West Covina, St. Stephen Missionary Baptist in La Puente and Village Baptist in Norwalk.

Corum sees a great need for Christians to be involved in this ministry.

Many suicides result when life sentences with no chance of parole are given to youth as young as 14 and 15 years old, Corum said.

"They will literally spend their whole lives in these places," he noted.
The average age in the facilities is 16, with an average two-year sentence, Corum noted.

"Because California has a 'three strikes' law many of these kids started their first offenses at age seven and are now facing life," he said. "This is their last stop. They need hope."

The teens are incarcerated for offenses ranging from murder to stealing.

Corum meets with the teens and holds Bible studies on Sunday afternoons, evenings and throughout the week.

He is hoping more churches catch his vision.

"I'd love to see the number of churches involved next year double," he said.