‘WEEKEND OF CHAMPIONS’ – HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS
It was a beautiful day in
Huntsville – for a change – every year I’ve ministered there it was cold,
wet, and miserable at this time of year. Bill Glass and his wife Mavis
celebrated their 50th year of marriage – in prison! – for a
couple who have labored for 35 years in prison ministry, it seemed
fitting. Some of our 543 teammates were students at Dallas Theological
Seminary and Sam Houston University, twelve were ex-convicts. Maria, who
had been incarcerated 3 times in Plane State Jail before coming to Christ,
came back in with us and all the ladies wanted to talk with her. She
testified later that while she was an inmate she had given the staff a
hard time. “But when they saw I have a changed life, the Captain told me
‘Maria, you don’t have to go out the side door now, you can go out the
front door!’” Seven teammates led someone to Christ for the first time in
their life!
I had an opportunity to share
my testimony with 700 women! It’s not often I have the chance to tell
that many women where to go! (heaven
J) Over the weekend we ministered to 24,213 inmates in 15 prisons
and saw a total of
2,559 decisions
for Christ!
(1,271 first time and 1,298 rededications)
CENTRAL ARIZONA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY –
FLORENCE
God opened a door for myself
and 8 other men from our church to go into prison on what we called our
‘No Man Left Behind’ mission. My friend, Pastor Tom Cunningham, now
chaplain at this 1,000 man prison in Florence, AZ, invited us to come and
observe what he and his church were doing. So immediately after our
Sunday AM service, we headed off to Florence, about an hour away. This
was the first time in many years our church has had an opportunity to
minister in prison. I was thrilled with the possibility.
I shook hands with the inmates
as they began to arrive for the service. They kept coming, and coming,
and coming, until the small multi-purpose room was packed with over 100
men! Their worship all but lifted the roof off the building! Each man
brought a Bible and was ready to ‘get down’ in ‘The Word’! Pastor
Cunningham introduced me and after sharing a bit of my testimony, I
introduced my ‘team’. “This over here is big bad Jesse, don’t mess with
him! This is Jacob, he might be small but he’s a mighty man of God!
etc.. But today is a special day for me. While I was in prison my
children were all in foster homes, juvenile hall, and an orphanage but
when I came to Christ, so did they, and I’d like you to meet my son,
Nick!” The whole place exploded with cheers and tears and men praising
God for His ability to restore families!
Tom preached on enlarging our
vision and not limiting God by unbelief. He spoke of ‘deliverance’ and
‘dominion’. Following his sermon, seven men came forward, responding to
an invitation to receive Christ! Later, Tom told me that one was a
confirmed ‘pagan’, a recognized religion in Arizona prisons.
Of the eight men who came with
me, all eight ‘answered the call’ to become involved on an ongoing basis.
Praise God! Several weeks later we returned to CACF for ‘Orientation’,
fingerprinting, etc.. We were all photographed and given our
‘Contractor’ badges, and are looking forward to ministering there next
month.
UKRAINE PRISON MINISTRY
I have been invited to minister
in the prisons of the Ukraine in June 2007. We met with the director of
prisons and hope to respond to his invitation. Much preparation has
already been done by our advance team and I am praying for the finances to
go. The cost: $1,697.00. If you could be of any help it would be
appreciated. Great is your reward.
ELOY DETENTION CENTER – ELOY, AZ
Chaplain Behrens has a
problem. Men in his prison are ‘flocking’ to Jesus – a good problem to
have! Sunday I spoke to ‘packed houses’ at three chapel services. Extra
chairs had to be brought in to accommodate the approx. 130 men we had in
each service. I could not count all those who made commitments, or
recommitted their lives to Christ!
God is doing something in the
prisons of America and never before has there been so great an opportunity
for volunteers to ‘answer the call’, “I was in prison and you came unto
me.” (Matt 25:36) Prisoners are desperately in need of being
‘discipled’ and prison chaplains can’t do it all. I strongly urge those
of you who are not presently involved in jail or prison ministry to get
involved. If you don’t feel you are ‘called to go’, you must be ‘called
to stay’, and support those who do go. Thus we can all fulfill ‘the Great
Commission’ and souls will be won to Christ.
In order to cover my expenses
(prisons don’t pay evangelists), I was able to preach 2 services at a
church in a nearby town. It was great meeting the pastor and his family
who are laboring together to do a work for God. All day for Jesus! Not
bad for a 68 year old guy. Thanks for your prayers!
Blessings, we
couldn’t do it without your prayers and support.
