I'm so glad to get to share this amazing inmate testimony letter with our blog readers. Thanks to the faithful witness of one old chaplain, an inmate now has hope greater than he ever imagined, and Prison Fellowship has equipped the chaplain with resources like Inside Journal that are helping this inmate grow in his faith! Please take the time to read this "letter from the inside." It will remind you of what a gracious God we have!
To whom it may concern:
My name is Donald L----. I am an imate in F----- Correctional Facility, and I am doing a two-year sentence for public intoxication. I discharge my number December 12 of this year. Since I’ve been in prison I have found the Lord. And now it’s like I can’t get enough of the Bible studies and writing poems about my experience about how Jesus Christ has saved me. Before I came to prison I had not even held a Bible let alone read one. I knew that people went to church, but I never had a real understanding of who Jesus was. This is now my third time in prison and was thinking to myself one day sitting in a cell […] that something really needed to change in my life or I was going to spend the rest of my life in these places. Well, the chaplain of the prison was coming around and giving every inmate literature and asking inmates have they been saved yet? The nice old chaplain came to my cell and I think he was a bit hesitant because I didn’t say anything at first. He asked me if I had been saved, and I said from what and who? He said God and your sins. I told him I didn’t know anything about his God at the time. So the old chaplain gave me a Bible and some studies and I actually did them and learn a lot from the studies and I noticed a change in me. I started to understand what I was reading and how God wants us to live through Him. So I started to “walk the walk.” And I found by living by the Lord’s ways, I’ve come to love the Lord. Well, that same old chaplain came back around one day and he said he can notice a change in me. He asked me if I was ready to take the Lord as my Savior. I said I was ready and we prayed together right through a big steel door separating us. I knew right then and there that’s what I have been searching for my whole life. I know that I am loved and I don’t want all of the things that living fast and dying young have to offer any longer. I never even realized the gifts the Lord had given me in this life. He has given me 5 beautiful children. And I’m telling you the Lord has blessed in a way that I can almost not put into words. It is amazing and I have a beautiful fiancée that loves me. I had a hard time expressing my true feelings before I took the Lord as my Savior. I can’t wait to get out because I actually really have hope and I can actually see a future in my life. It’s like I have a blindfold on for my whole life and all of a sudden I can see. The light is so bright now I almost have to squint. I love the Lord […]
God bless all of you and thank you for your time.
God bless,
Donald L----
P.S. [Inside Journal] has some amazing stories. I like reading it, it has a lot of positive, uplifting stories.
The United States locks up too many people. Globally, the average incarceration rate is 125 prisoners per 100,000 people. The United States arrest rate is 743 per 100,000. This gives the U.S. the highest incarceration rate on Earth.
A recent article in The Christian Century says America seems to enjoy locking people in prison. As the piece reveals, the U.S. has only six percent of the world's population, but it has 25 percent of the world's prisoners.
Senator James Webb (D., Va.) has remarked:
"Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the U.S. or we are doing something dramatically wrong in how we approach criminal justice."
In the 1980's, the War on Drugs allowed congress to pass laws imposing mandatory minimum sentences for minor offenses. In the years following, many states became "tough-on-crime" with similar sentencing for minor and non-violent offenses.
This "tough-on-crime" mentality has led to a spike in incarcerations. In recent years, many people have been locked behind bars—people without violent pasts have been imprisoned and sentenced to longer terms.
Locking up too many people for too long ultimately costs the state too much. Some states are starting to realize we are not only wasting taxpayer money—we are not making our cities safer.
States simply cannot afford to continue building and staffing prisons. We must change the way we do criminal justice. This country simply cannot afford to spend $200 billion a year to lock up over 2 million people.
The Christian Century points out, "The current criminal justice system is certainly an absolute scandal—and a catastrophe for millions of Americans, their families and their communities."
Visit Justice Fellowship for more on reforming our criminal justice system and creating safer communities.
Southern Nazarene University's mission is to transform lives through higher education in Christ-centered community -- and that's just what they did last month for the children of prisoners through their Angel Tree fundraiser.
The school's Student Athletic Advisory Council brought together it's top athletes to promote awareness for Angel Tree's ministry to prisoners' children to the community, as well as interact on a personal level with local Angel Tree children in an exciting fundraiser during the school's softball and baseball games.
"Being able to participate in the Angel Tree ministry has really allowed me to be able to step-back and appreciate all of the people that have not only helped me get to where I am now, but have made an impact on my life,” stated SNU women's basketball star Sharmeda Johnson.
It’s hard to be a Christian – especially in prison. Behind bars, inmates’ Christian faith is challenged from every direction from the very first day. Other inmates will try to harass and tempt believing inmates to see if they can make them lose their Christian character. They will accuse them, doubt them, and question their manhood. To survive as a Christian in prison, you have to a man (or woman) of character and strength, a strength that can come only from God.
On a recent Sunday I had the privilege of preaching to men in a large auditorium at Dixon Correctional Center in Illinois. The seats were filled; it was standing room only. I talked to them about daring to be men of faith who will stand for Christ in the midst of adverse circumstances. Pointing them to examples from the Scripture, I told them that no one can be a coward and live a faithful Christian life at the same time.
At the end of the service, 22 men stood up and said they wanted to become strong men for God by placing their faith in His Son!
We all face challenges in our Christian lives. Will we fold, or like the men at Dixon, will we hold onto our faith without wavering? Will we confidently pursue the call God has placed upon our lives? Perhaps you have felt called to become more deeply involved in ministry to the incarcerated population or their families, but fear has held you back. Let today be the day you say “yes” to God.
Governor Mary Fallin just signed the strongest, most pro-safety plan Oklahoma has seen in recent history. This law will chart a new, smarter course for how Oklahoma does justice -- curbing the growing prison population while improving public safety.
The inmate population in Oklahoma has grown over 17 percent in the last decade. In an interview by NewsOK, Governor Fallin said of the prison reform measure:
“In addition to lowering crime rates, reducing the incarceration rate and giving law enforcement more resources to fight crime, this bill will help us to save taxpayer dollars by helping our corrections system operate in a more efficient and effective way.”
Justice Fellowship brought together a broad coalition of government leaders, pastors and business leaders to pass these criminal justice reforms.
Oklahoma’s HB 3052 will ease prison overcrowding and save money by:
- Establishing a grant program to fund crime-reduction initiatives by local law enforcement agencies; requires at least nine months of post-release supervision of all felons, which will reduce the recidivism rate;
- Establishing a risk, mental health and substance abuse assessments and evaluations before convicted felons are sentenced;
- Developing intermediary revocation facilities for nonviolent offenders who violate drug court regulations or conditions of probation and parole.
NewsOK also reports the bill is expected to save $170 million in the next ten years and provide $40 million to law enforcement agencies. This cost savings will help pay for technology and targeting strategies – like hot-spot policing -- that increases police presence in high-crime areas. These strategies are proven in other states to prevent and reduce crime.
Justice Fellowship works to reform the criminal justice system so victims are respected, offenders are transformed and reintegrated, and communities are safer. Oklahoma’s new law will do exactly that.
Oklahoma joins the growing list of states like Georgia, Kentucky, Colorado, South Carolina, Maryland and Ohio that are rethinking how to increase safety and save taxpayers’ dollars.
Visit Criminal Justice in the States for more information on Oklahoma and additional states where Justice Fellowship is reforming criminal justice.
On May 9, friends and family of Chuck Colson gathered at First Baptist Church in Naples, Florida - Chuck's home congregation - to remember the Prison Fellowship founder, and to reflect on his life and his commitment to serving prisoners and their families.
At the memorial, Prison Fellowship Ministries CEO Jim Liske reflected on Chuck's last public appearance. "He had this look of great pleasure on his face as if God was giving him a sense that the movement would live on. That was the last time we publicly heard Chuck's voice."
The Naples Daily News has a nice article on the memorial, including a number of pictures from the service.
A public memorial service for Chuck will be held on Wednesday, May 16, at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Information on the service - including a live webcast of the events - is available on the National Cathedral website.
For years now, Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola has defied stereotypes for a maximum-security prison, whether it's by holding a bi-annual rodeo for the public or enrolling inmates in a Baptist seminary. What's next? A play about the life of Jesus featuring 70 inmate cast members.
A New York Times article examines the making of the play, speaking with Angola warden Burl Cain, a long-time supporter of Prison Fellowship programs, as well as a number of the inmates participating in the presentation. A video documentary and slide show are also included in the Times' presentation.
Mel and Annie had a lot in common: alcoholic parents, physical abuse, truancy, drug abuse, and incarceration. But after they each met Jesus, their lives were turned around and they became the dynamic husband-and-wife duo behind Daughters of Destiny, a Prison Fellowship ministry partner that reaches out to thousands of incarcerated women every year. Their ministry was recently highlighted in Pentecostal Evangel, an online publication. Read more here!
It is not unusual for ex-prisoners to make return trips to jail. Statistics indicate that nearly two-thirds of the 700,000 prisoners released every year reoffend, with half of all released inmates returning to prison within three years.
What is unusual, however, is when a former inmate returns of his own volition. This is the case with Gene McGuire, who was recently released after 35 years of incarceration in Pennsylvania.
In 1977, McGuire was convicted of second-degree murder. Despite the fact that he was only 17 at the time of the crime, and that he wasn't physically in the building when his older cousin murdered the 60 year-old barmaid, McGuire was given the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
While in prison, McGuire met two people who would have a profound effect on his life - the Rev. Larry Titus and prison volunteer Rob Meier. The two men were part of a Prison Fellowship outreach to the inmates at the State Correctional Institution – Camp Hill. With Rev. Titus' help and guidance, McGuire became a Christian in 1987. Meier began counselling the new believer and nurturing him in the faith, developing a friendship that has lasted over 25 years.
A 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on life sentences given to persons 17 and younger necessitated a review of McGuire's case. Wyoming County President Judge Russell Shurtleff ruled that the maximum penalty allowable for the crime had already been served, and ordered McGuire's release. On April 3, McGuire walked out of prison - a free man for the first time in almost 35 years.
But the story doesn't end there. McGuire has committed to moving to Texas, where he will assist Rev. Titus in ministering to inmates. "Gene is definitely qualified to do that," says Meier.
On Holy Saturday I entered a facility with over 15,000 inmates. All week, as I prepared for the Easter talk I was going to give them, I had felt unsettled. What could I say?
But as I walked in, I had a realization: The jail was just like Jesus' tomb. The walls, wire, and elaborate security procedures formed a barrier that kept death in and life out. In place of Roman guards, there were armed correctional officers. Instead of a heavy stone to block the entrance, there were impenetrable gates. Because of their choices, these men were confined in a place of death, separation, fear, darkness, and despair comparable to any grave.
So that's where I started my Easter talk. When I described the tomb Jesus was in, it was as if the men became aware of their environment in a new way and began to relate to Jesus in His death. When I then spoke of the power of God to raise them as He did Jesus, 83 men stood and declared that they wanted to come out of the "tomb" and accept life. By God's grace they sought hope in a hopeless place!
God is writing amazing stories of redemption and resurrection behind prison walls. In the tombs of our society, new life is springing up! Prison Fellowship invites you to become part of the story. As the Lord leads you, you can become a trained volunteer, a prayer partner, or a financial supporter. Help inmates and their families leave the "tomb" and find full life in Jesus!
In the days and weeks following Chuck Colson's passing, there has been much talk about his legacy. Most articles and reflections have focused on how Chuck moved from White House "hatchet man" to the founder of a Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Others have looked at his commitment to establishing a Christian worldview, his role in bringing evangelicals and Roman Catholics together to work on a shared social agenda, or his co-drafting of the Manhattan Declaration.
Somewhat less attention has been spent on the legacy of Chuck Colson as a reformer of the justice system. Yet this was an issue that animated Chuck from the moment he left Maxwell Prison in 1975. In 1983, he established Justice Fellowship, a program dedicated to bringing biblical standards to bear on the criminal justice system.
ADallas Morning News commentary reflects on Chuck's role as prison reformer. It focuses on Chuck's willingness to defy convention, and to take stands on issues that were often ignored by fellow evangelicals:
. . . [O]nly a conservative like Colson, even one with his craven past, could credibly challenge lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-keys views of criminal justice. He tapped his connections in conservative political circles to lobby for bipartisan, legislative reforms in the criminal justice system. In the late 1990s, his prison ministry established a mostly Christian outreach program in a wing of a minimum-security prison near Houston, an initiative that has expanded to Minnesota.
The article mentions a number of legislative reforms enacted with the help of Justice Fellowship, including the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, and the Second Chance Act of 2007.
The full Dallas Morning News editorial is available here.
Governor Nathan Deal signed a criminal justice reform bill into law yesterday. This law will change how Georgia punishes nonviolent offenders—reserving prison beds for the most violent criminals.
Justice Fellowship Director of External Affairs Craig DeRoche and Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
Justice Fellowship succeeded in Georgia with a broad coalition of government officials, law enforcement professionals, pastors and business leaders to pass criminal justice reforms. We couldn’t have done it without those who answered our call and contacted state legislators to demand justice reform NOW!
Craig DeRoche, Justice Fellowship’s Director of External Affairs, attended Governor Deal’s signing ceremony. DeRoche remarked, "Governor Deal spoke from his heart as he signed the most comprehensive improvements to public safety and the Georgia criminal justice system in several decades."
This bill will change the way Georgia does criminal justice. Rather than simply warehousing people in prison—which is expensive and ineffective—Governor Deal and leaders have “moved Georgia toward improving public safety through accountability and a focus on programs shown to reduce crime, break addictions and respect victims,” said DeRoche.
A great article about Prison Fellowship's seminary-level training program for Christian inmates appeared recently in the California edition of WORLD Magazine. This blogger's favorite part? The part where prison guards tried to interrupt what they thought was a race riot but turned out to be a baptism:
The prison guards at the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), a Level II correctional facility in Norco, Calif., rushed in when they saw a group of inmates submerging a man's head in the communal sinks, thinking they were preventing a race-related murder.
"The guards come in wanting to know why the races are all together. They thought we were trying to drown the guys, but we were just baptizing them," said Cary White, the man who was baptizing the three new believers on that day.
Like many people, I am learning that -- “if a little bit is good, more is better” – isn’t always true.
Wind is essential for sailing and without wind it is impossible to sail. There is almost nothing more frustrating for me than to find myself becalmed on the ocean – powerless and drifting nowhere. I recall a time a few years ago when a perfect south-west wind blew up and we finally set out to sail. This time there was a lot of wind but it built up with such intensity that it soon became impossible to continue sailing safely. In a matter of hours the wind became gale force and we were forced to take shelter in a protected cove. Thankfully we were able to ride out the storm. Wind is good for sailing, but too much wind can be dangerous and even destructive.
Living most of my life in the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, I developed a great appreciation for the warm daylight hours and bright sunshine of summer. But in winter, sunlight is reduced to a few hours a day and I know people for whom sunshine deprivation is the cause of “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD) or depression. In addition to its psychological benefits, it is also well documented that exposure to sunlight is necessary for the human body to produce Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin. Medical research indicates a correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and serious diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and some cancers. Sunshine is necessary for human health and well-being. However, while I have never been a beach going “sun-worshipper,” I recently learned that my skin is severely damaged by overexposure to the sun and that I am consequently at high risk for skin cancer. Sun is necessary for health, but too much sun isn’t good.
Catherine Rohr was a member of the "one percent." An investment banker by trade, Catherine generated $32 million in equity investments while working for Summit Partners and American Securities Capital Partners. At the tender age of 26, she was earning over $200,000 annually, with a promise of much more to come.
And then she went to prison.
No, Rohr wasn't arrested for embezzelment or securities fraud. Rather, Rohr accompanied Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson on a tour of a Texas prison on Easter Sunday. "I thought I was going on a zoo tour," she now confesses. "I got there and saw people - people who were in need of as much grace as I was."
In response to that visit, Rohr founded the Prison Entreprenuership Program (PEP), providing in-prison business management training. Rohr and her husband left Wall Street and moved to Houston, in order to be closer to those she was seeking to help.
The results speak for themselves. According to the PEP website, 98 percent of those taking part in the program are gainfully employed, and recidivism rates are below 10 percent.
Now, Rohr has started a new program, Defy Ventures, to assist former inmates in starting their own businesses. Ex-prisoners go through a yearlong training program with one-on-one mentoring with business executives. The "signature program" of Defy Ventures is a series of competitions for business plans, awarding up to $150,000 in in seed money to the winning plans.
While neither program is faith-based, Rohr's Christian faith is clearly evident in what she does. The "ten driving values" of PEP are "derived from Judeo-Christian values," according to the website. "We do not know of a better catalyst for transformation than God, and participants desiring to pursue their walk with God are encouraged to do so, though no one is required to do so. Spiritual teaching on topics such as generosity, obedience, integrity and purity is a vital part of PEP."
Programs like PEP and Defy Ventures, and individuals like Christine Rohr, are the continuing legacy of Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson. These are the "little platoons" of civil society mentioned by Edmund Burke - the grassroot efforts by citizens that bring about real and lasting societal change. Chuck is no doubt proud to know that God's work continues to be done by those like Christine Rohr who are willing to take a chance for the sake of the Gospel.
The Christian Science Monitor has a good story on the launch of Defy Ventures. You can read it here.
The Don Kroah radio show in Washington, DC (105.1 in DC area) will air a tribute to Chuck Colson Friday, April 27th from 4pm until at least 6:30 pm (EDT). Prison Fellowship Ministries CEO Jim Liske, along with Shirley Dobson, Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Dr. Michael Youssef, Dr. Carl Moeller (Open Doors, USA), Joni Eareckson Tada (Joni and Friends), and Dennis Rainey (Family Life) are all scheduled to take part in the program. Part of the tribute will include the last interview Don Kroah did with Chuck just prior to Chuck's final public appearance at the Wilberforce Weekend in March.
For those outside the greater Washington, DC area, WAVA has a “listen live” button on their main page http://www.wava.com/
Cary White (second from right) along with fellow TUMI grads.
The in-prison TUMI program is a joint effort of Prison Fellowship and World Impact. TUMI seeks to produce Christian leaders by offering seminary-level courses to inmates. Those completing the program receive a certificate in Christian Leadership Studies, an education equivalent to a master's in divinity, minus the Greek and Latin.
The World article interviews Cary White, a former inmate at the California Rehabilitation Center, and TUMI graduate. (Learn more about Cary and his path from inmate to mentor and spiritual counselor here.) White recounts the 16 ten-week courses that he had to complete in order to graduate from the program, and the impact those classes had on him and those who took the courses with him. "Almost every single student that was enrolled was literally planting churches in their cell blocks,"
Redemption – it is an old word that hearkens back to a time when slaves could be bought by benefactors to be granted freedom; and when poor prisoners languishing helplessly in decrepit debtor's jails could be released free and clear by someone gratuitously paying off their debts. Nowadays we tend to think of redemption as something we can do for ourselves, as in compensating for our failures by becoming more successful; or by overcoming our weaknesses through continuous self-improvement and self-control.
Over the years, I've met a lot of people around the world who saw in Chuck Colson a man who redeemed himself from the Watergate scandal by doing good for others. It took many of those people a few years to come to such a conclusion because they viewed his "jailhouse religion" as a gimmick that would not last very long. Admittedly, when I first heard Chuck Colson tell the story of his newfound faith I was among the skeptics. Yet there was something very compelling about his upside down view of God working more poignantly through human brokenness and weakness than through power and achievement. I soon realized that Chuck's story was not that of a man trying to clamber and claw his way back into respectability and success. It was instead, a provocative story that saw him returning to the places of his own brokenness and humiliation – prison.
Evangelical Christianity lost one of its most eloquent and influential voices on Saturday, April 21, 2012 with the passing of Charles W. “Chuck” Colson. After a brief illness, Colson passed away at a Northern Virginia hospital with his wife and family at his bedside.
Colson journeyed from obstructing justice to justice reform -- spending almost four decades as a champion for prison ministry, criminal justice reform and worldview teaching.
Justice Fellowshipwas founded by Colson in 1983 as an outgrowth of his ministry in prisons, Prison Fellowship. As he worked to help prisoners transform through the truth and power of Jesus Christ, Colson realized a second emphasis was also needed -- to help transform the injustices within our criminal justice system.
Colson’s call for alternative punishments for non-violent offenders was often effective because Colson’s conservative credentials enabled him to line up conservative legislators in support of what had traditionally been seen as a liberal set of reforms.
Colson’s advocacy for prisoners’ rights took an additional form when he and Justice Fellowship were at the forefront lobbying legislators to support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Religious Liberty Protection Act, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
Justice Fellowship is proud to carry on Chuck Colson’s legacy of fighting to reform the criminal justice system so victims are respected, offenders are transformed and reintegrated, and communities are safer.
Justice Fellowship President Pat Nolan posted on his Facebook page upon hearing of the passing of Mr. Colson:
“My dear friend and mentor Chuck Colson has just passed on to be with our Savior. Oh, how I will miss him. But I am very grateful for the last 15 years that I was able to work with one of the true pillars of the Church.”
As word of Chuck Colson's passing spreads, a number of commentators are offering tribute to the man whose very life is a testament to God's redeeming grace. Here are a few shared thoughts:
____________________
"For more than 35 years, Chuck Colson, a former prisoner himself, has had a tremendous ministry reaching into prisons and jails with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I get to Heaven and see Chuck again, I believe I will also see many, many people there whose lives have been transformed because of the message he shared with them."
It is the central paradox of Christianity that fulfillment starts in emptiness, that streams emerge in the desert, that freedom can be found in a prison cell. Chuck’s swift journey from the White House to a penitentiary ended a life of accomplishment — only to begin a life of significance.
Mel and Annie had a lot in common: alcoholic parents, physical abuse, truancy, drug abuse, and incarceration. But after they each met Jesus, their lives were turned around and they became the dynamic husband-and-wife duo behind Daughters of Destiny, a Prison Fellowship ministry partner that reaches out to thousands of incarcerated women every year. Their ministry was recently highlighted in Pentecostal Evangel, an online publication. Read more here! 
On Holy Saturday I entered a facility with over 15,000 inmates. All week, as I prepared for the Easter talk I was going to give them, I had felt unsettled. What could I say?
As word of Chuck Colson's passing spreads, a number of commentators are offering tribute to the man whose very life is a testament to God's redeeming grace. Here are a few shared thoughts:
Governor Mary Fallin just signed the strongest, most pro-safety plan Oklahoma has seen in recent history. This law will chart a new, smarter course for how Oklahoma does justice -- curbing the growing prison population while improving public safety.
Redemption – it is an old word that hearkens back to a time when slaves could be bought by benefactors to be granted freedom; and when poor prisoners languishing helplessly in decrepit debtor's jails could be released free and clear by someone gratuitously paying off their debts. Nowadays we tend to think of redemption as something we can do for ourselves, as in compensating for our failures by becoming more successful; or by overcoming our weaknesses through continuous self-improvement and self-control.