Christian Prison Ministry

As a Christian minister, I spend numerous hours looking into programs and ministries geared toward the upkeep and preservation of my fellow man. A few months ago while visiting friends, I discovered that they had two friends who were serving life sentences in jail and they had written a letter to these friends telling them how lonesome prison life was. They wrote about some people who have lost their will to live and their faith in Christ along with their freedom and their families. I was both shocked and amazed.

The first thought I had was, that the families of these men and women don't write. My friend assured me that in some instances that was exactly the case, the families had spent so much time being angry at these wayward children that them being in jail was more of a relief than any thing else. The friends that they used to have were only interested in them as long as they were a part of the scary, sinful and sometimes dangerous lifestyles they were involved in, and now that they were in jail their aquaintance was no longer necessary.

The next thought was surely they were visited by wives and children, this too is not always the case. Most of the time the wife spent so much time in fear wanting to leave but never sure how to do that, now with them out of the way, they could get on with the life they had always dreamed of themselves having. The mothers are also faced with the dilemma of giving their children the wrong idea about prison, thinking their father did it so why can't I. Or that they have no other choice that this was their destiny also.

So I figured what can be done about these young men and women, is it possible to save one who has lost his way so severely that even society has locked them away. I asked myself what happens to these people when they think the world and God have abandoned them, will they die without ever giving their life to Christ and if it was all possible if someone in so harsh an environment could be saved. I decided I wanted to try, I figured if they were destined to die in prison, at least there was still the possibility of redemption through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.