KENNETH KAUFFMAN /One on One A former alcoholic carries on a mission inside a prison
Why did you become a pastor?
The reason I got my credentials was so that I was qualified to go into prisons and do prison ministry. I started doing that in 1965. On and off, I've been doing it ever since.
How did you start working with jail inmates?
In January or February of 1965, the chaplain of Lawrence County Jail called me up and said, "Somebody told me you used to be quite a drunk." I said, "Well, they didn't lie to you."
The chaplain said, "They told me you had an experience and quit drinking." He said he'd like me to come to the county jail and give the guys my testimony.
I must have spoken for a total of two minutes, but it seemed to me like an eternity. I was scared to death. And the next Sunday, he called me again. He called me three Sundays in a row, and that was the start. Then suddenly I felt it. Prison ministry isn't something you just volunteer for. It's something that has to be a part of you. I felt more at home in the jail than behind the pulpit.
When did you stop drinking?
I was an alcoholic for 37 years. On March 17, [1963] the day before my [first] wife had ran off with a truck driver. I worked the afternoon turn, and the next morning I went down to the bar. I was really going to get drunk. I felt I was justified, and I'm sitting there, and there was nobody in the bar but the bartender and myself. It was 10:30 in the morning, and I was drinking green beer. I heard a voice behind me saying "If you keep that up, what are you going to have?"
I turned around and looked, and there was nobody there. I responded by saying, "By the grace of God, I will never touch another drop." I was so shook. I never touched a drink after that. A year or so later, I met my wife, Rosemary, and married her.
How do you get through to the inmates?
It's more or less sharing.
Why do you think you've been called to help people in prison?
I guess, I really feel that when I go into prisons to visit those men, it gives me a closer relationship with the Lord because he says "You visit them, you are visiting me." So, this is something I love to do.
What do you do in your spare time?
I love to garden and flowers. I love sitting on the tractor and cutting grass. I accept it as a time to be alone with the Lord.
Do you have any other hobbies?
I love to hunt groundhogs. It's good for the farmers. It's distance shooting. It's a challenge.
Do you have a favorite musician?
I love to listen to Glenn Miller tapes. He's my favorite. I've got a convert too. My grandson, he's 9 years old, and he's got one of my Glenn Miller tapes.
If you could talk to anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?
Of all the men I admire, I would love to sit down and have a conversation with Billy Graham. I don't think there is a man alive who can go anywhere and talk to anybody, no matter what their faith is, and still be able to walk away from them and have the utmost respect for them.
I'd also like to talk to my father and father-in-law. Both are now deceased. My father-in-law and I used to go and sit on an old log down in the orchard right after I got married. I used to just feed on the wisdom that that man had. It was basically, treat people the way you want to be treated yourself.
It sounds like a simple but powerful message. It's one of the reasons I consider my jail ministry successful. It's because no matter who they are, I have respect for them. I don't approve of what they do. Most of [the inmates] when they begin to introspect, they find something that's worth working on. You've got to bring that out of them.
How did you get involved with giving food baskets to needy veterans?
In 1995, Brenda Renner [director of Lawrence County Veteran Services] called me. She started telling me about these veterans, especially ones from World War II, who didn't have anything. We average 125 veterans every Thanksgiving.