GAIL WHITE They took the call and ended up in jail

Most people consider it good practice to stay out of jail.
Lyle and Kathleen Orr believe it is their life's calling to go behind bars.
In 1982, a friend asked Lyle Orr, of Boardman, to go to the Mahoning County Jail one Sunday afternoon to minister to the prisoners as part of the Organization of Protestant Men Prison Ministry.
"I said no at first," Lyle said. "I didn't know if I could do it."
But he went.
For the past 18 years, there has rarely been a Sunday afternoon that Lyle couldn't be found at the jail.
"I love those guys," the quiet, somewhat reserved Lyle said firmly. "I really care about them."
A few years after Lyle began ministering at the prison, Kathy went with him one Sunday.
"We were going somewhere afterward," she said. "It was just easier for me to go with him than come back for me."
As she sat in the lobby, waiting for her husband, a woman ministering to the women of the jail asked her to "Come and see. ..."
"No, thanks," Kathy said.
A week later, Kathy was sitting the women's pod of the Mahoning County Jail. Like her husband, she has rarely missed a Sunday behind bars.
"That's where we feel we are called to serve," Kathy said, full of certainty.
New calling: Lyle is now the chairman of Prison Ministry for O.P.M. He is responsible for getting volunteers and training them regarding prison rules, dress code, etiquette and security.
"We have about 43 volunteers," Lyle explained, adding that he is always looking for more. "We start at 2:30 every Sunday, and we are out by 4."
Groups minister to every pod in the prison with songs and sermons.
"Sometimes we have 10 or 12 guys," Lyle explained. "We don't care how many. We go if there is only one."
Though this couple feels it is their God-given responsibility to perform this ministry, they both express a great joy in their work.
"The rewards are out of this world," Kathy said, laughing.
"I want to see them get set free," Lyle said with heartfelt urgency in his voice. "Not just free from jail, but free from the bondages that got them in there."
Effects of addiction: Both agree that many of the inmates suffer from addictions.
"It is addictions of every kind," Lyle explained. "Drugs, alcohol, greed."
"It is terrible to see the effects of addiction," Kathy said. Many of the women she ministers to are mothers. "It destroys so many lives."
"They are in prison even when they are not behind bars," Lyle said somberly.
Often, the couple is asked why they "go down there."
"I think people have the wrong idea about what an inmate is," Lyle explained. "They are people, just like us, that made wrong decisions."
"There but for the grace of God go I," Kathy interjected with a favorite Bible verse.
"I've had inmates say that the best thing that ever happened to them was going to jail," Lyle added. "It got them off the street and made them think about their life."
Rehabilitation: The prison ministry focuses a great deal on preparing prisoners for release.
"Many of them are afraid to get out," Kathy said with sadness in her voice. "They don't know where they will go -- except back where they were."
"We encourage them to find a church," Lyle said. "That's where they're going to get support."
"They need to know that God can still use them," Kathy added.
Lyle and Kathy are proof of the unique ways that God helps people to help others.
"When we are on vacation or away, it's funny how we miss them," she said.
Lyle concluded, "There's no place I'd rather be on a Sunday than down at the jail."
XFor more information about O.P.M.'s Prison Ministry or to become a volunteer, call 330-758-4174.
gwhite@vindy.com