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December 2025 | Issue 011

Volunteer News

Greetings everyone.

Wow! What a fantastic and productive year we have had!

We have been blessed to be able to deliver sixteen Short Courses and eight Guest Weekends this year. Our messages have touched three hundred and thirty-four participants. Our Lord and Saviour has gone before us and the Holy Spirit has been ever present, paving the way for us and removing obstacles from our paths!

We have so much to be grateful for – opportunities to present our programs, prayer coverage and support from our church communities, supportive Governors, prison staff and chaplains and a fantastic community of like-minded enthusiastic volunteers keen to humbly serve our God.

Our new mentoring program for Kairos Inside volunteers who want to participate in Journey programs but have not been on a short course, has been trialled by KI John Maroney Regional Committee. Three volunteers have completed the program and been granted permission to participate in Journey program activities with their mentors. All three are keen to be on the next Short Course team. Many more are in the process of completing the program. Three other Regional Committees are in the process of participating in the mentoring program.

We have had wonderful opportunity to connect with each other both by Zoom and in person as we participated in the 30th Anniversary celebrations. It was inspiring to hear from our guest speakers and to hear their testimonies and the impact our programs have had on their lives. What a fabulous opportunity to reconnect with each other and to spend time with our original volunteers who so courageously stepped out in faith thirty years ago.  We were honoured to welcome the Chief Executive Officer of Kairos Prison Ministry International, Evelyn Lemly to Australia and to spend two weeks with her attending the Sydney and Brisbane 30th Anniversary celebrations and connecting with our major donors as well as participating in a State Council forum in Sydney.

Our Kairos Outside communities have continued to walk with their communities and their weekend guests. Continuing ministry is alive and well and fun fund-raising activities and community engagement has ramped up. Bush dances, Movie nights and Trivia nights seemed to be the most popular. It has been wonderful to witness the joy and bonding which these events have created.

The radio advertising and media releases and radio interviews are producing much fruit. The level of website enquiries has increased significantly. Our Facebook followers have grown from 295 in April 2024 to 514 at the end of November. Our YouTube has been extremely popular with over two hundred views of our event recordings and seven hundred views on media platforms.  We have committed to continue our radio adverting on Vision Radio and commence advertising on Hope 103.2 and other community radio stations in the same family – continuing to widen our awareness. A list of the radio stations on which we are advertising is provided in the Raising Awareness section of this newsletter.  Through this awareness campaign, we are supporting your communities on the ground by having Kairos name recognition enhanced and therefore, making it easier to gain access to churches and other organisations as well as attracting strong interest from potential volunteers.

None of this would be possible without our dedicated Kairos support staff and all of you – our most precious and treasured volunteers. Your efforts this year have been amazing and humbling. I have been privileged to attend several closing ceremonies this year and to witness our amazing volunteers in action.

I am in awe of you all - your dedication, humility, and willingness to continually be Our Lord Jesus Christ hands and feet are an inspiration to me. It has been and continues to be an honour for me to walk and work beside you as we place our trust in the Lord and 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.

I wish you all a blessed restful and peace filled Christmas and look forward to continuing our journey together in 2026.

With deepest gratitude and abundant blessings.

Your fellow servant in Christ.

Deb Poulton

Chief Operating Officer

Kairos Prison Ministry Australia

coo@kairos.org.au

Training

Advanced Kairos Training - AKT

AKT Training The first round of AKT training has been locked in for both Kairos Inside and Kairos Outside leadership teams and Regional Committee members.

• AKT for Kairos Inside volunteers will be run on 30 January to 1 February 2026 at Golden Grove Healing Centre in Newtown NSW. Contact AKT Coordinator Ken Moore - aktki@kairos.org.au or 0411513204.
• AKT for Kairos Outside volunteers will run on 6 to 8 March 2026 at the Pines Tuross Heads NSW. Contact KO AKT Coordinator Coraine Sopru - aktko@kairos.org.au or 0418832988.

Just a reminder upcoming leaders and observing leaders need to attend an AKT before they can be ratified to lead and they are not able to commence team formation until they have been ratified by their respective State Council. Advising leaders need to be AKT current or have led a program within the last 12 months to be eligible to take up an advising leader position on a team.

EZRA Training - Attention Leaders!

Live Ezra training to help Leaders use this essential tool.  Conducted over Zoom on the 2nd and 3rd February 2026 at 7.30pm AEDST.  All leaders need to attend both nights as different topics are covered at each session.   

EZRA support - Jan, Lex and Kylie are always available to assist with any issues leaders may be having. Please do not hesitate to contact them and they will be able to walk you through the issues. Jan has also asked me to remind leaders that the EZRA training videos are an excellent way to familiarise yourself with EZRA and will help you prepare before attending the Zoom session.  If you have any issues preparing your pass on files, please contact the team.

Details for AKT and Ezra training are on the Events page of the website.  Click the button below for more details.

Encourage

KO Sydney

It was so special to meet face to face for our Christmas Lunch after all our meetings on Zoom.  It was lovely to reflect on the all that happened over the year 2025 starting with our brand new trailer for the first time on Weekend 50, two fruitful Sausage Sizzles at Bunnings, a great Trivia Quiz event supported by Seven Hills St Peter's church, and finishing off with a wonderful Weekend where eleven guests experienced God's love through the members of the amazing team 51.  We all agreed it has been such an honour to be part of KPMA and look forward to working together in 2026 wherever God takes us.

Ros - Chair KO Sydney

KI Mid North Coast

The Mid North Coast held its 6th Short Course for Women at the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre in November where the Holy Spirit was evident, working amongst the lives of the participants. The following are comments received from recent course:

Feedback from Family representatives at the Friday's Closing:

In what condition did you come to Kairos?

Sad; Down; Lost; Confused; Felt Less Blessed; Partly Broken; Unsure

What did you find here?

Confidence; Hope; Food; Encouragement; Agape; Eternal Life with God; Direction; Jesus; A New Family; Positive Energy; Acceptance; Accepted by Jesus

What are you taking away?

Forgiveness; Biscuits; Assurance; Not Alone; Choices; Can Let the Past Go; Friendships; Jesus #1 Best Friend; Guidance; Understanding; Have Learned to Share; To Invite and to Forgive; Gained Sight.

Read the full article on the Kairos News Page here.

KO Adelaide

KO was well represented at Adelaide's Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Kairos in Australia. It was lovely to hear the inspiring testimonies of our KO ladies, filling the room with emotion and gratitude, and to reflect on the incredible history of Kairos ministry, marvelling at God's unwavering faithfulness through every season. With overflowing joy and songs of praise, we glorified our Lord for His steadfast leading and the transforming power He has unleashed in countless lives over the years.

We were then pleased to be able to gather for a reunion.  Please join us in prayer every second weekend of each month, dedicated to praying for the KO Adelaide ministry.

KI Mobilong #37

The KM37 Short Course was an amazing experience that kept the team continually seeking God's guidance, wisdom, courage and strength, as we put our hope and trust in Him, seeking His will and patiently waiting on His direction. And He delivered, never failing to bless many.

Team recruitment commenced in early July and a full team of 26 Inside Team members and 11 Outside Team Support members.  The Team was complete well before the commencement of the first Team Formation Day.

Significant time was invested in prayer with the focus on God selecting His team for KM37. The Team had great unity, working as one in Christ.  God's hand was clearly on this group.

A few weeks prior to the commencement of the short course we were notified by Correctional Services of industrial action planned for Wednesday 26th November which was to be Day 2 of the inside course and a full 10-hour session with the participants.  This resulted in last minute negotiations with Mobilong Prison Management in attempt to retrieve some of those lost 10 hours....click here to read the full report.

KI Dillwynia #24

The team hosted 18 participants at Dillwynia #24 in November 2025. God was present and blessed our short course abundantly. Most importantly women were changed by His Holy Spirit.

Some spoke of sensing light and hope ahead for the first time. Others spoke of feeling a new courage and strength to change. Still others said they felt respected and loved. One precious guest prayed for the very first time in her life. Another said she'd learnt how vital it was to receive God's forgiveness and move forward not digging up the past again and again. Yet another said she felt 'seen' by us and God. Faces and mouths which were very much closed on day one, were open and smiling by day four.

Another guest who seemed unemotional and unaffected much of the time nevertheless painted a beautiful picture to express her appreciation for all God was doing.  It will become one of our "banners" for future courses.

What was really beautiful to see was the way the women encouraged each other with smiles and words and hugs. The Governor attended our closing ceremony and expressed words of great encouragement to the women. 

We continue to pray that our women will move forward in their journey of understanding God's deep love and beautiful plans for their futures and that they will come to the Kairos journey program on Sundays.

Denva - Chair KI Dillwynia

Policies and Procedures

New Polices and Guidelines

At the most recent Board meeting held on 13 December 2025 the following policies were approved:

• Email Policy
• Social Media Policy

Both will be loaded into the KPMA website and will be available on the MyKairosOz page shortly.

The procedures to accompany both the email policy document and the social media policy documents are being worked on by the Technology Information and Records Committee in conjunction with members of the Operations Support group.

The board also approved the Kairos Inside Journey Program (Continuing Ministry) Guidelines.

This is intended to be a living resource document which all Kairos Inside Regional Committees can access on the KPMA website on the MyKairosOz page.

We will cover this new resource in more detail in the next Volunteer News.

Information from the Board

Letter from the Chair

As I begin this report at year's end, I find that I am repeating myself with the following words. So much has happened over the last two months, and I am excited by what has transpired. God is indeed good and has blessed the ministry of Kairos richly. Let me try to parcel some of the salient points for your attention.

Technology, Information and Record Keeping Committee (TIRC):

Chaired by Neil Miller, the TIRC have been meeting regularly after each Projects meeting on Tuesday mornings and have progressed their endeavours to the point of bringing additional policies on Email and Social Media to the December Meeting of the Board for approval. A flowchart link is attached which covers the overall process for "policy" and "procedure" development and review.

Statistics Update: We are now able to compile some interesting statistics because of Vega and the new website. Over the last year, there have been over 1000 people requesting a quarterly Chair newsletter!* There are now almost 6000 on the newsletter list. Almost 500 people have been on team but there is no way we can determine the number in support. This would be a huge number. Since 1998 there have been nearly 5000 on teams. Praise to God for the way Kairos is reaching further afield than ever before!

National Conference 2026: Planning is now underway with confirmation of dates and venue: August 28th – 30th at Rydge's Hotel, Adelaide. I would ask all volunteers to consider attending the conference. While each Regional Committee is expected to send at least two representatives to the conference, attendance is not restricted and as a volunteer you are most welcome to attend. Your presence will give a boost to both the South Australian Kairos community and representatives from other interstate regions.

God bless you all

Col Stiller

Chair KPMA

The above is an extract from the Chairs report to the Board of KPMA.

*Do you receive the quarterly newsletter by email?  There is a devotion from Col and many more articles and updates.  You can read the December issue here. 

You can also subscribe so that you don't miss out on the next edition.

National Agape Report

Agape in the Kairos environment is very powerful. Most of the guests on Kairos programs have never experienced unconditional, unqualified love. In doing so, they experience a tangible demonstration of the support which is available if they start to open themselves to God's love and acceptance.

There are a range of agape opportunities available for the broader community during a Kairos program. Some are Kairos biscuits and meals, letters, posters and banners for Inside and transport, agape gifts, meals, posters and banners for Outside. 

Please accept my report that summarises 2025.

Since May 2026 we've had 127 emails in, and 72 sent. Some emails were from KSO and our COO.

The email attracts international and national agape traffic.

The main audience is Al Australian Agape Coordinators.

During the year I created fresh pieces of agape (blank) and sent to all Agape Coordinators emphasizing no last names, friendly affirmations, no numbers, no kisses, hugs, children's first name and their age ONLY.

KMPA does not have a Board Agape Policy (other than letters from children). Agape rules are described in detail, in the program manuals for Kairos Inside and Outside. Regions to abide by these instructions but have failed in some cases which may prove detrimental to our reputation. Our COO has reiterated the importance of remaining vigilant and stipulated instructions in her Newsletters. 'Nothing in, Nothing out'.

The use of red, yellow and orange in agape is raised. Reason: it's been identified that prisoners can hide drugs in these colours, this has been an isolated case and we are researching how wide this is. Prisoners are clever and can disguise drugs in many ways.

We do have vacant Agape Coordinator's positions and the use of the Agape email would be strongly recommended rather than the use of personal emails.

No other matters or concerns to be raised.

Blessings

Sue Hodges

agape@kairos.org.au

0424 0111 54

The above is taken from the report to the KPMA Board.

Raising Awareness

Radio

Kairos is being promoted on even more radio stations!  You will now hear about us on:

Sydney (Hope 103.2), Brisbane (96.5 Family), Canberra (1WayFM 91.9) and Adelaide (LifeFM 1079).

The National advertisements on Vision Christian Radio will also continue to be played three times each day for the next 6 months across Australia in every State and many regional areas.

We continue to receive enquiries because of this targeted campaign across Australia! Have you heard the adverts? Be ready to tell others about Kairos when they tell you they heard about us on the radio. 

This will directly support all our Regions on the ground by having Kairos become a familiar name in the community.

Remember, if you are approached for an interview, contact Col Stiller as Chair of KPMA for permission first - chair@kairos.org.au

Empowering You

Prayer Support

Prayer is what underpins all the work of Kairos and we need to continue to build prayer support.  For your next Zoom prayer meeting or organised prayer meeting with your church groups or bible study group, consider the following idea to help with the prayer time. The next time your growth group or bible study is having a supper and prayer night with a mission focus, to help with the prayer time, give everyone a Kairos Inside or Kairos Outside brochure during supper,

and ask them to pick a few possible prayer points from their brochure.  During the round-robin prayer time,
each person prays for one of their selected prayer points.  What a wonderful way to cover Kairos in prayer!

Prayer Vigils

Leaders, please share these documents with your Prayer Coordinators

• How to download prayer vigil participants - here
• How to bulk email prayer vigil participants with prayer points - here

These documents are sent to the Leader and Chair after the first Program Notification form is lodged

(get fresh copies from Bruce at the Kairos Support Office – operations@kairos.org.au)

Prayer Calendar

Click here for the latest prayer calendar

Music Copyright

Leaders, your Region needs to pay for music copyright used at all Kairos events, (including Team Formation, Program and Continuing Ministry etc)

Exceptions are:

• Public domain music
• Where you have written permission to use music from authors/publishers

Copyright payments are usually made via the Kairos CCLI music reporting website. 

Find out more on MKO - MyKairosOz

Committee Minutes

Secretaries, please send copies of your Committee Minutes to Bruce at the Kairos Support Office - operations@kairos.org.au as each meeting occurs rather than waiting till the end of the year to send them all at once. 

Any questions about the above?  Contact Bruce Bond at the Kairos Support Office - operations@kairos.org.au

Keep Us Updated

Save The Date

Kairos Prison Ministry Australia

National Conference 2026

Save the date to attend the KPMA National Conference to be held in Adelaide, South Australia - 28th - 30th August 2026.  Note these are new and final dates!!

Remember, every Region needs to send at least 2 representatives but all Volunteers are invited to register and attend.  Stay tuned for more details.

Past Newsletters

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.

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 

You are receiving this email because you are a current Kairos Prison Ministry Australia Volunteer.  This newsletter is a vital communication tool to keep our Volunteers updated and will be sent to kairos.org.au email addresses. 

If you are receiving this email to your personal email address and wish to unsubscribe, please email the Kairos Support Office with your details and ask to be removed from the mailing list by replying to this email or emailing direct info@kairos.org.au