DARLENE & JOE BAHR
Darlene and Joe have been married for over forty years (and still really like each other)!
Darlene and Joe Bahr meet with prisoners each week. Darlene has sung and ministered in hundreds of prisons across the U.S. and Mexico in the last twenty-five years. Joe, while being a Young Life Area Director in Kansas, Texas, and Colorado, accompanied her on many of these trips. Now they are working together with Hope Beyond Bars, their ministry which operates under the umbrella of Urban Skye. Hope Beyond Bars allows them to marry their giftedness: Darlene’s burden for the marginalized and incarcerated, plus Joe’s passion for discipling and building men.
The Lord has opened prisons to them in Texas; so wide open are these ministry opportunities, that they have moved to Texas from Colorado in order to follow God’s call. Hope Beyond Bars’ purpose is to equip offenders and prison staff with Jesus’ model of discipleship and evangelism. Joe and Darlene do this by creating a partnership with core leaders in these prisons to create, demonstrate, and live out Jesus’ model.
This model of ministry doesn’t currently exist in the vast majority of prisons today. Not only does the core leadership (whom the Bahrs disciple among prisoners) lead in this effort, but Hope Beyond Bars also partners with willing churches to carry out the mission by helping, serving, and partnering in their events and trainings within the prisons.
SNAPSHOT OF OUR MINISTRY
3 Grown beautiful daughters and awesome son-in-law’s
7 Grands to Papa and Gigi
Served for 25 years on Young Life Staff in Colorado, Kansas, and El Paso, TX
Joe loves to work on his 66 classic convertible mustang, and to grow his magnificent garden.
Darlene loves to sell/make her unique/fun antique jewelry, and to sing to men in uniform.