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M2W2 owes its beginning to Dick Simmons, an American pastor. While Dick was living in New York City, he was influenced by David Wilkerson and his book The Cross and the Switchblade, which describes his ministry among the youth of that great city. 

After Dick and his family moved to Seattle, and sometime later, he heard about a young man in prison who had been rejected by his family. In his loneliness, the young man was reaching out for someone to visit him. Touched by this need, Dick started to visit this young man. As a result of Dick sharing his faith, and the love he showed him, the young man’s life was changed. From this experience Dick had a vision to develop a prison visitation ministry. 

By the late 1960s, it had spread across 11 states. Seeing the success of this ministry, Dick began to wonder about the possibility of introducing it to Canada. He made inquiries and was told to contact Les Pritchard, a minister in New Westminster, BC. He phoned Les, shared his vision, and asked Les to arrange a meeting with him and several other local pastors. 

One day in 1966, my husband, Cal Chambers, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, received a phone call from Les, who informed him of his conversation with Dick. Subsequently a meeting took place in our home. Those present were Dick, Les, Cal, and, I believe, Major Cole of the Salvation Army. The pastors were very impressed by Dick’s presentation. After a number of visits from Dick with other interested people, the program took shape here in the Vancouver area. It was called Job Therapy. Later it changed to M2 (Man to Man). 

The first office was in a corner of the basement of First Presbyterian Church. For many years, Cal was involved with people who were struggling with alcoholism. Mel Cox was one of those people. Mel found sobriety after God changed his life and was a member of our congregation. He became the first secretary for Job Therapy. There was no budget in place yet to pay him, but at the time he was on unemployment insurance, so that took care of his salary until there were funds to support him. 

As the work grew, the office moved to a small, rented house in downtown New Westminster. A Board formed, and Cal was chosen to be the Chair. The first volunteers were from the congregations of the first pastors that had met with Dick Simmons. About 10 to 11 men came from each church, and they went in groups to visit people incarcerated at Haney Correctional Institution in Maple Ridge and at Oakalla in Burnaby. They met in groups and had discussions on various topics that came up. As time went on, some volunteers spoke in different churches, challenging the members to get involved as volunteers and to support the ministry financially. 

Mel Cox had a close friend named Ted Halliday, and he and his wife, Dorothy, were very supportive of the ministry and would visit Mel at his office frequently. One day Mel told Dorothy that he felt women in prison might also be lonely and would welcome a visit. Dorothy had just sold her business and was feeling at loose ends. She had been challenged by what Mel had said, so she spoke to her friend, Lea Ash, and suggested that they both get involved. 

Lea responded enthusiastically, and soon they were visiting women incarcerated at Oakalla and Twin Maples Farm for Women, a minimum-security facility located between Mission and Maple Ridge. It was at this time that M2 was changed to M2/W2 (Man to Man/Woman to Woman).  

It has been my privilege to have witnessed the growth of M2W2. It started from such humble beginnings to become what it is today, located in such fine facilities and running so many meaningful programs. M2W2 has changed thousands of lives for the better. May the Lord continue to bless it and all those who serve in the ministry each day. 

Alice Chambers

This letter appears in our Fall 2022 newsletter.