It was about a year ago when our beloved preacher, Ralph Sawyer, challenged our congregation to be “doers of the Word” and not “hearers only.” He has done this many times over by saying such things as, “If you ain’t dead, you ain’t done.” Praise the Lord; I heard the Word and the Lord turned it into action.
I had been in the prison ministry for around 35 years, but for various reasons and life experiences, I had fallen away from what had been my calling. As our preacher said, “If you ain’t dead, you ain’t done,” I began to talk with some of my Christian brother and found some who were also moved to serve the Lord through the Prison Ministry. We now have six devoted men who are dedicated to preaching one day a week at the county jail in Troy, Missouri. In addition to myself, Jim McCallister, I am joined by Vance Poland, Daniel Campos, Ernie Martin, Dan Hubbell, and Ed Preston. We also have a dedicated women’s senior Sunday school group praying for this ministry’s success.
Each Friday we visit the prison. We’ve been able to give Bibles and old Sunday School literature to many of the prisoners. We have had as many as 12 to 35 prisoners attending these meetings. There is participation among the prisoners, and after encouragement on our part, many are now bringing their Bibles with joy in their hearts to the Bible Study. They compete with one another to give the opening and closing prayers.
Through our ongoing ministry there, we’ve seen many come to know Christ and recently we had the opportunity to give them the chance to take the next step in obedience to Christ through baptism. The result...we had 14 new Christians baptized. Many more renewed their faith while witnessing the ceremony.
AIN’T GOD GOOD!!!
Pray for the men who are serving in the prison and also for those who are incarcerated. Christ is the only one who can take a criminal or any sinner for that matter and bring about dramatic change for the better! These men need your prayers not only as the Spirit works in their own lives but as they have opportunities to share their new faith with others within the prison.