Sherie Malotte and her husband, Bill, listen to an inmate as he talks about the Bible during a private meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Lewis County Jail in Chehalis.
Bill Malotte, a chaplain at the Lewis County Jail, laughs with a prisoner inside a cell on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Bill Malotte, a chaplain at the Lewis County Jail, shows one of his many Christian-inspired tattoos while at the jail on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Bill Malotte, a chaplain at the Lewis County Jail, waves goodbye to a prisoner inside a cell on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
Sherie Malotte gives an inmate words of encouragement as her husband, Bill, listens during a private meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Lewis County Jail in Chehalis. The Malottes have run the chaplain program at the jail for the past two years, but are leaving in early June to become pastors at a church in Myrtle Point, Ore.
Sherie Malotte laughs as her husband, Bill, tells a funny story during a private meeting on Wednesday afternoon at the Lewis County Jail in Chehalis.
Bill Malotte puts his arm around his wife, Sherie, as they walk down the hallway of the Lewis County Jail with an inmate after a private visit in which they talked about the Bible, gave the inmate advice and prayed together on Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
When Sherie Jeanne Malotte had the opportunity to run the Lewis County Jail’s chaplain program, she offered the job to her husband, Bill Malotte.
“I was called to the jail because I got saved in jail,” said Bill Malotte, who was a drug user for 19 years. “My calling was to reach out to the lost, the drug addicts, the criminals.”
Bill, 46, and Sherie, 50, both said he is uniquely able to get through to jail inmates because he has faced some of the same struggles as they have.
“It comes down to Jesus Christ — they’re drawn by the spirit,” he said. “I can go in and relate to these guys. Some guy in a suit and tie hasn’t been there. I’ve been there, done that. If God can save me, he can save anybody.”
For about two years, the couple has essentially run the program together under the umbrella of Lewis County Chaplaincy Services, based in Chehalis, with Bill Malotte as head chaplain, Sherie Malotte told The Chronicle.
Lewis County Chaplaincy Services also provides chaplains to agencies throughout Lewis County. Sherie Malotte volunteered as a chaplain at the jail before she and her husband began managing the program.
However, the Malottes will soon leave the program to take over as senior pastors at the Myrtle Point Christian Assembly in Oregon.
They are having a potluck to celebrate the move at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the New Beginnings Church at 603 NW Saint Helens Ave. in Chehalis.
Chaplains John Petersohn, Brook Yri, Vicki Erskine and Kim Thompson of Lewis County Chaplaincy Services will take over the management of the jail’s chaplain program.
The program offers three Sunday morning services for men, three Sunday evening services for women, five mid-week Bible study groups and a Spanish-language service on Saturday.
The chaplains work with people of all different religions, and help provide Qurans as well as Bibles, said jail Administrative Sgt. Joyce McCoy. They also talk to inmates about family crises or personal issues.
“They’re here for their spiritual health,” McCoy said. “If we have a family member that calls in and says there’s been a death in the inmate’s family, staff will give the notification to the inmate and chaplains will speak to them.”
Chaplains often talk with jail inmates about their problems, and encourage them to find solutions in the Bible, Sherie Malotte said. They also provide inmates with inspirational books, biblical text and items such as reading glasses.
“It’s a very positive part of our jail program and it’s one we really work to keep moving and keep going forward,” McCoy said.
Sherie Malotte likened the knowledge inmates gain to having more tools in their toolbox.
“We want them to get help. We want them to change,” she said. “What they have so far in their toolbox has gotten them where they are.”
About 40 people volunteer with the non-denominational chaplain program at the jail. Volunteers go into the jail two at a time to visit inmates.
Sherie Malotte said she notices the change in jail inmates who take part in the chaplaincy’s programs.
“For people that come in and are on a short stay of six months — their language changes, their thinking starts changing … and then they start encouraging you,” she said.
McCoy said the ideal chaplain does not have an agenda or try to convert inmates to their own way of thinking.
“They have to be an individual who is more empathetic than sympathetic,” she said. “Bill and Sherie were very good at that.”
Chaplains also occasionally work with jail staff, McCoy said.
“They came in and earned the respect of staff,” she said.
The Malottes said they hope to provide some chaplain services in Oregon, but that the jail near the Myrtle Point church does not have a chaplain program.
“We’ll probably look into that … but our biggest focus will be the church,” Bill Malotte said.
