.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTypically, the volunteers would obtain pre-approval by the county to enter the jail. They\u2019d go through security and wait in a room where incarcerated people could choose to walk over to them for a visit. Depending on the number of volunteers, each person would receive anywhere from two minutes to one hour of prayer, counsel or simple conversation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThey need that outlet,\u201d Coles said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhether it\u2019s an approaching court case or family turmoil while away from home, incarcerated people face problems that dramatically shape their existence. Coles says that \u201cthey are hungry for peace, community and fulfillment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nColes often speaks of an 18-year-old man he regularly encountered on Saturday mornings at the jail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cNo one ever tapped into his potential,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nColes says he was doing \u201cimpossible word searches\u201d for college-level courses and knocking them out. So Coles brought him more difficult puzzles every other Saturday to keep his mind sharp. <\/span><\/p>\nThe man wasn\u2019t able to be reached for comment due to the pandemic and the transient nature of incarceration. But Coles expressed the value of the in-person interaction that the young man had with the church volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n“No one ever asked him to use his brain,\u201d Coles said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nColes says the young man was denied the opportunity to flourish, and he did his best to encourage him to keep up the mental exercises, which helped him emotionally, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt kept him going.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBecause of the pandemic, this type of personal interaction doesn\u2019t happen anymore. Yet according to a Durham County Deputy Sheriff, incarcerated people in the county jail get one scheduled day of the week for visits, with \u201c15 to 20 minutes at the most.\u201d Coles and other volunteers who are fully vaccinated can drive to Durham\u2019s detention facility and conduct a video visitation over a county-monitored computer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDespite the challenges, White Rock Baptist Church continues to serve the incarcerated the best way they know how: by simply being available.<\/span><\/p>\n9th Street Journal reporter Adejuwon Ojebuoboh can be reached at adejuwon.ojebuoboh@duke.edu<\/em><\/p>\nTop: Pastor Tim Coles leads the Agape Incarceration Ministry at White Rock Baptist Church. Photo by Sho Hatakeyama<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pastor Tim Coles appears on a Zoom screen with a golden cross hanging around his neck. Apple AirPods dangle from his ears as he navigates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[110,195,273,295],"class_list":["post-5382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-durham","tag-durham-county-jail","tag-ministry","tag-tim-coles","tag-white-rock-baptist-church","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Durham\u2019s incarcerated find spiritual support during COVID - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n