Kairos Prison Ministry International
The information on this page was last updated 5/3/2026. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. (Kairos) is a lay-led, interdenominational Christian ministry in which men and women volunteers bring Christ's love and forgiveness to prisoners and their families.
The Kairos programs take the participants on a journey that demonstrates the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Kairos Prison Ministry is Christian in nature, although no religious affiliation is necessary to be a participant.
The programs involve a structured model that includes the weekend experience, followed by guests or participants gathering regularly for accountability, support, and prayer.
One Ministry, Three Programs:
Kairos Inside brings positive and negative leaders together, in both male and female prisons, for a 3 day weekend designed to start building the Christian community inside the institution.
Kairos Outside is a special weekend retreat designed to support the female relatives/friends of men and women who are or have been incarcerated, or women who were unable to attend Kairos Inside while in prison, followed by a continuing ministry.
Kairos Torch offers an initial weekend, followed by a long-term mentoring process that encourages young men and women to move towards making better life choices.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Kairos Prison Ministry International
100 DeBary Plantation Blvd
DeBary, FL 32713
Website: kairosprisonministry.org
Phone: 407-629-4948
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 591970458
CEO/President: Evelyn Lemly
Chairman: Steve Musselwhite
Board size: 17
Founder: "The Nine Old Men"
Ruling year: 2003
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end:
Member of ECFA: No
Member of ECFA since:
Purpose
Vision: A Community spiritually freed from the effects of imprisonment reaching all impacted by incarceration, through the love, hope, and faith found in Jesus Christ.
Mission statement
The mission of the Kairos Prison Ministry is to share the transforming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to impact the hearts and lives of incarcerated men, women and youth, as well as their families, to become loving and productive citizens of their communities.
Statement of faith
We in Kairos believe:
The Bible is God's authoritative and inspired word for our faith and our lives.
In the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In the deity, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Friendship with God is a free gift, for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The love of Jesus Christ motivates His followers to provide food for the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the stranger, clothes for the naked and visits to the sick and those in prison.
In sharing the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with all incarcerated individuals, their families and to those who work with them inside and outside the correctional institution.
Articles
| 10/2/2024 | Ministry Spotlight: Kairos Prison Ministry International, Inc. |
Donor confidence score
This organization does not file a Form 990.
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Transparency grade
D
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Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Evangelism
This ministry has not been rated.
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Financial ratios
Financial ratios for this ministry have not been calculated.
Financials
Financials for this ministry have not been collected.
Compensation
Compensation data for this ministry has not been collected.
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/3/2026. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
The history of Kairos begins with the first three day "short course in Christianity" inside Union Correctional Institution at Raiford, Florida in the fall of 1976. It was called Cursillo in Prison.
By 1978, six states were presenting a Cursillo short course in prisons.
The national Cursillo office determined these Cursillo in Prison ministries should be supervised by a central authority and that their format be modified to more closely align with inmate needs. Cursillo asked the Florida group to design such a program.
The history continues with nine volunteers, who were on the very first weekend - today affectionately referred to as the "Nine Old Men." They redesigned the program and renamed it "Kairos" (Greek for "Gods Special Time").
Kairos Inside - The first "Kairos" Prison Ministry weekend was presented in 1979. Following that first weekend, the Cursillo office directed other areas doing Cursillo in Prison to stop using the Cursillo name and join Kairos. This program is now called Kairos Inside.
Kairos Outside - In 1989 a chaplain at the San Quentin State Correctional Facility in California asked Kairos to create a program that would minister to the female family members of the incarcerated. In April 1990 the second of the Kairos programs, Kairos Outside, held their first weekend in Northern California.
Kairos Torch - The third Kairos program, Kairos Torch, had its first weekend in September of 1997 at a youth facility in Oklahoma. Kairos Torch was developed uniquely to address young people (25 and under) experiencing incarceration through one-to-one volunteer mentoring.
Today Kairos Inside, Kairos Outside, and Kairos Torch are supported by a staff of 12 and have more than 30,000 volunteers donating three (3) million hours of service each year.
Kairos sprang from the Cursillo movement and is supported by volunteers from the 4th Day movements such as Cursillo, National Episcopal Cursillo, Presbyterian Cursillo, Lutheran Via de Cristo, The Upper Room's Walk To Emmaus, and independently ecumenical Tres Dias, as well as volunteers from independent and non-denominational churches.
These volunteers serve in more than 400 correctional institutions and 86 communities in 37 states and 9 countries: Costa Rica, Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Program accomplishments
Kairos is blessed by more than 30,000 volunteers worldwide, serving in nearly 500 locations, with weekly and monthly continuing ministry in each institution or community