SCI Smithfield held its annual Volunteer of the Year banquet on April 17 to recognize individuals who donate their time to provide a positive influence on incarcerated individuals. More than 30 volunteers attended the event. This year’s Volunteer of the Year was John Thomas, founder of the Every Man a Warrior (EMAW) Christian ministry group. John originally started with the DOC in 1992 as a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Specialist. He rose through the ranks achieving Superintendent at SCI Chester for 10 years before finally retiring as a deputy from SCI Huntingdon in Oct. 2017.
As a potential volunteer seeking to bring the EMAW program into the prison setting, John first connected with SCI Smithfield in early 2018. Permission was given and a timeslot was set aside on Monday evenings. That was the initial entryway for EMAW into the PA prison system. Presently, EMAW operates at four facilities throughout the state, with a fifth soon to start. During 2020-22, when prisons were locked down to outside volunteers due to COVID-19, John found an alternative opening overseas on the continent of Africa, teaching and training African pastors and chaplains to take the EMAW program into their own prisons. Kenya has allowed the EMAW program into more than 80 prisons; Tanzania will be starting in 2 prisons within a few weeks; and plans are forming to launch into Zambia and Uganda. Currently, John still finds the time to come faithfully into SCI Smithfield weekly on Tuesday afternoons. Asked about where he finds the time and energy to continue volunteering with the prison, John quickly replies, “You gain as much as you give.”
Speaking about his relationship with John, SCI Smithfield Chaplaincy Program Director Stephen Sinclair sad, “As a volunteer, John has a heartfelt passion for the Christian message that he brings, but also comes with an authentic challenge for the men that he leads. He challenges them to step up and embrace the role that they were created to take, first as men, then as fathers, and leaders in their families.”