Kairos Volunteers News and Updates.

Sent to all Kairos emails plus personal emails of volunteers active from 2022 - current.

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July 2025 | Issue 008

 

Volunteer News

Greetings Kairos volunteers.

 

June was an exciting month.

 

We give thanks to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the many blessings he has bestowed upon us. We give thanks for the speedy establishment of prayer and share groups for new graduates at Dillwynia Correctional Centre. We give thanks for approval being given for us to commence to run the Journey program in the maximum-security area of Goulburn Correctional Centre - an area we have not been allowed to work in previously - commences 10 July. We give thanks for the work of the Holy Spirit at the recently completed Mobilong Short Course, where despite being unable to go in for one day, the team was able to present the program and participate in an amazing closing ceremony. The graduates were deeply touched and alive to the Holy Spirit.

 

We give thanks for the tremendous support we have received from South Coast NSW churches as we prepared to hold a public meeting of interested people on 28 June.  The Lord has as always gone before us and prepared the way. A group of enthusiastic men and women gathered to listen to the presentation and ask many questions before enjoying in-depth conversations over a cuppa.

 

We give thanks for the support we are being given by the NSW Corrective Services Chaplaincy Coordinator in identifying possible new centres where we can present our programs. We give thanks for the Chair and volunteers of Crossroads Prison Ministries Australia who are working with us to provide resources for our graduates who are thirsty for the word of the Lord.

 

Please join with me in praying for the KO South Coast team who are preparing to run their Guest Weekend on 25 to 27 July. We pray that the women who have registered to attend are well supported and able to attend. I am looking forward to attending the closing ceremony on 27 July.

 

Please also join me in praying for a smooth introduction of the Journey program into the maximum-security area of Goulburn Correctional Centre on 10 July.

 

We ask our Lord and Saviour to cover all our teams as they complete their team formation prior to running their programs over the next few months.

 

Great news! Our radio adverts on Vision Christian Radio have gone live this week.  See more information here.  This will continue the work of building awareness of Kairos and we pray it brings in new volunteers, prayer support and KO Guests.

 

Thank you all for dedication and commitment to our ministry. It is not taken for granted – we all recognise the sacrifices that you make to be involved in delivering our programs to those incarcerated men and women and the women who are impacted by their incarceration.

 

God Bless and protect you all.

Deb Poulton

Chief Operating Officer

Kairos Prison Ministry Australia

coo@kairos.org.au

 

Training

 

Advanced Kairos Training

 

It is still not too late to register to attend the AKT courses being run in July. Please check that all volunteers who need to attend the upcoming Advanced Kairos Training programs to satisfy Leadership ratifications have been registered.

 

Just a reminder that both the Leader and the Observing Leader need to have attended an AKT within 24 months before they can be ratified by their State Councils. Team formation cannot commence until they have been ratified.  Advising Leaders need to have attended an AKT unless they have led within the last twelve months.

 

- KO AKT Perth 11 to 13 July.

 

- KI AKT Brisbane 25 to 27 July. 

 

There will be an additional KO AKT 7 to 9 November to be held in North Queensland - venue to be advised later. 

TRAINING INFO

Meet the Team Who Support Us All at the KSO

Bruce - Operations Manager and Records Manager

Bruce has been employed by KPMA for 5 years. He has been a volunteer on five Short Course programs. He has also been a volunteer for Crossroads Prison Ministries Australia for twenty years.

Bruce is the first point of contact for both volunteers and those expressing an interest in either becoming a volunteer or wanting to participate in a Guest Weekend program. Bruce refers these enquiries to the Regional Committee Chairs in a Region closest to where the enquirer lives.

Bruce is also responsible for managing the Kairos Support Office (KSO) and our data base (Vega).  

He is a member of the newly formed Technology, Information and Record Keeping Committee.

Email: operations@kairos.org.au

 

Sandra – Accountant and Company Secretary

Sandra grew up in Canterbury in the UK and it still feels like home even though she has now lived in Australia longer than in the UK! Sandra worked for twenty-three years in the reinsurance broking industry in both the UK and Australia. She worked for a church for twenty-two years prior to joining the Kairos Support Office in September 2022.

Sandra spends her leisure time walking her dog – no hardship living in the Northern beaches of Sydney. Sandra and her dog volunteer with Delta Therapy dogs visiting an aged care facility once a fortnight.

She enjoys spending time with her family, most of whom live in the UK. Getting together with family is always special and Sandra is now a proud Aunt to nephews, the youngest of whom was born in Sydney earlier this year.

Sandra is our Accountant and Secretary to the Board. She is responsible for accounts preparation, bill payment and receipting and recording donations. She also manages our complex insurance needs.

Email: accounts@kairos.org.au

 

Sarah – Projects Officer and Website Manager

Sarah has been employed by KPMA for four years. She previously worked for other not for profits – Salvation Army and Mission Australia.

Sarah feels blessed to be able to work for Kairos and enjoys seeing what the Kairos Support Office staff can do to help provide the vital support needed by our volunteers all around Australia. 

As Projects Officer Sarah's role includes planning, managing and coordinating projects and identifying partner organisations to support KPMA achieve its mission.

Sarah works closely with her fellow members of the Projects Team on projects such as the database project (Vega), the Kairos Outside Guest recruitment project, awareness campaign projects and website maintenance. Sarah also works on designing and testing of online forms. She provides support as needed with conference and 30th Anniversary celebration arrangements and design of flyers and advertisements.

Email: projects@kairos.org.au

Looking Out for Each Other

We all have a duty of care to watch out for each other and to ensure that we do not try to do tasks which we are physically not up to doing.

 

We have public liability insurance which covers all of us no matter how old we are.

 

We also have personal accident insurance with unlimited cover for all our volunteers up to the age of 80. We have now also put in place personal policies for all volunteers between the ages of 80 and 90 who are still active in our ministry.

 

Each Regional Committee was asked to provide a listing of volunteers who fall in these age brackets. All those volunteers whose details have been provided now have insurance cover in place. A couple of Regions are yet to provide this information. We will arrange insurance cover for those volunteers once we receive their personal details.

 

Special thanks to all those Regional Chairs who worked hard to obtain and send in the required information.

 

The safety of all of you is of utmost importance. Please work with me to ensure that we all work to achieve our mission in the field without injury by observing the procedures outlined in our work health and safety handbook on MKO.

MyKairosOz

Governance

Guideline Update

 

An updated version of the Guideline – "Mentoring Kairos Inside Journey Program Volunteers who have no Short Course experience" was approved by the Board at the June Board meeting. The new document now incorporates a checklist. Many thanks to members of the John Maroney Regional Committee who worked with the Operations Support Group team to update the document.

 

The document is available upon request from Ken Moore: Email: AKTKI@kairos.org.au 

Policy Updates

Technology, Record Keeping and Privacy Policy

 

At the June Board meeting a new committee was established. The committee is responsible for overseeing Technology, Information and Record keeping practises of our ministry (The TIRC). The committee members are Chris Firbank, Neil Miller, Bruce Bond, Sandra Brame, Keith Robards and Sarah Giordano. They will have their first face to face meeting in mid-July.

 

The Board also adopted a revised privacy policy. The revisions included the following:

  • KPMA will ensure the safety of data before it is transferred overseas.
  • KPMA will not apply a government related identifier to individuals.
  • KSO staff are to take care that personal information is not published in church or other newsletters, on the KPMA website or on social media and promotional material.
  • Signed consent forms will be obtained for all recording and publication of voices and individuals.
  • Ensure that sensitive personal information held by KSO staff and volunteers is securely stored in google drive or as determined by the new TIRC committee.
  • Speakers engaging in deputation on behalf of KPMA must not use illustrations involving inmates or their families without permission. The speaker must ensure that the privacy of individuals is protected.

Cyber security – The board members are responsible for the protection of data collected by KPMA and delegates responsibility to the TIRC to develop procedures to ensure that the data does not fall into the hands of those who would exploit or misuse it.

 

MKO will reflect the updates shortly. 

Empowering You

Region Presenter Tools (CCLI)

 

Our Kairos CCLI (Music) license, gives us access to a free Presentation tool that might interest your region.  It is sleek, simple, lightweight presentation solution designed exclusively for Christian ministries. Click the "Watch Video" button for more information.
Interested?  Contact Bruce at the Kairos Support Office:

M: 0498 012 263    

E: operations@kairos.org.au

 
Watch Video

Your Regions Google Share Drive

 

Your Region has Kairos Google Shared drive folders for Agape, Chair, Secretary, Leader + more…
Log in to google, or use this link https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/shared-drives

- you'll need your Kairos email & password
- you may need to switch from your private to Kairos Google account.

Questions? Contact Bruce at the Kairos Support Office:

M: 0498 012 263    

E: operations@kairos.org.au

 

Your Regions Short Course and Weekend Data

 

Your Region's Program data (given to the Kairos Support Office) is now available in your Kairos Google Shared Drive, including
- On Team:    history of who was on team & their roles
- On Committee: a history of who was on the regional committee

- Contacts:  contact details for people, plus more …

Any questions, just contact Bruce at the KSO.

 

Your Regions Affiliation Agreement History

 

Your Region's Affiliation Agreement documents are now available in your Secretaries folder in the Kairos Google Shared Drive


Questions? Contact Bruce at the Kairos Support Office.

 

Using Bcc With Emails

 

The image shows instructions on how to use the bcc (blind carbon copy) function on three email versions when you send out emails – one for Google Mail, one for Outlook Classic and one for Outlook New.

Click on the image to view a larger version.

 

Need Help or More Information?

With all of the above items, if you have any questions or need more help, Bruce Bond at the Kairos Support Office (KSO) can be contacted by clicking on the contact button.

Contact

Policy Reminders

Remember - MyKairosOz is the only location for the most up to date policies and forms. Any forms linked in the newsletter, printed copies and those saved on your computer may be out of date or the links may not work so check MKO at all times. Use your Kairos email address to access the full range of documents.  Instructions can be found here: kairos.org.au/mykairosoz/

Fundraising Ideas

KO Adelaide have organised a very special fundraising event – a viewing of the award-winning film "Songs Inside" which is set in the Adelaide Women's prison.  There may be opportunities for other Regions to organise a similar event. 

Contact Kylie at KO Adelaide for more information - koadelaidedata@kairos.org.au

 

KO Hunter recently organised a concert in their church to raise funds. It was very well attended.  See the photo below showing the audience enjoying the music.

 

Many of our Regional Committees have taken up the opportunity to both fundraise and raise the community's awareness of our ministry.  The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle was a great success for KO Sydney!

 

KO Canberra will be hosting a bush dance on 13 September 2025. Their observing Leader Elizabeth Fyfe and her husband Gordon will be performing with their bush band at the St Thomas the Apostle School Hall with supper and a sausage sizzle on offer to keep the participants energy levels up!

KO Sydney
Click for more details
KO Hunter
 

Important Dates

 

30th Celebration Events - REGISTER NOW!

Brisbane on Saturday 20 September – Redeemer Lutheran College. 745 Rochedale Rd, Rochedale 4123.

Sydney on Saturday 27 September – Stanhope Anglican Church. 1 View St, Stanhope Gardens 2768.

Adelaide on Saturday 25 October – Burnside City Uniting Church. 384 Portrush Road, Tusmore 5065.

All events will be from 12.45pm - 4.30pm. Go to kairos.org.au/30-years for more information, to download the poster and to RSVP.

Invite your friends, family, church members - everyone is welcome! RSVP NOW for this free event!

Can't attend in person?  The 30th Celebration Committee may be arranging a local Hub for you to gather with local volunteers so you can watch it live online!  Register to request more details and stay updated.

We will also provide a link to watch the livestream on YouTube - register now so that we can send you the information on how to set it up.  We don't want anyone to miss out!

Note - all Kairos events are for those aged 18 years and over.

 

Advanced Kairos Training

Kairos Outside Perth AKT

11 to 13 July - Venue to be advised

Registration Details - Events Page

 

Kairos Inside AKT Brisbane

25 to 27 July - Qld Conference and Camping Centre Brookfield.

Registration Details - Events Page.

 

Past Newsletters

Read Past Newsletters Here
 

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

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.

 
Vision and Mission PDF
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Donate today! Donations over $2 are tax deductible. 

www.kairos.org.au | info@kairos.org.au | PO Box 388, Seven Hills NSW 1730

ABN: 55 081 496 175 

 

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