This Partnership of misionaries had an incredible impact in Florida prisons in September/October.  Prisons in the Florida Panhandle hosted the team and in three days, worship services/concerts were held in nine prisons and 850 men and women impacted with the love of Jesus Christ.  Hearts and lives were changed as hundreds responded to alter calls to give their lives to Jesus, repent of backsliding and get their lives right with God.  It was an amazing outpouring as the Spirit moved in the hearts of prisoners and they were blessed with hope and encouragement.

           Chaplains, staff and inmates welcome the PFPI volunteers with open arms.  Hundreds fill out prayer forms which are sent to praying volunteers.  Freedom Walks are taken to each service to give to grateful inmates.

            Seventeen prisons and thousands of prisoners were reached during the Florida mission.  Thanks to all the chaplains who assisted in those services and making arrangements prior to the trip.  Thanks also, to our hosts at Covenant House, for your wonderful hospitality.

]]> http://www.prayerforprisoners.org/archives/985/feed 0 http://www.prayerforprisoners.org/archives/901 http://www.prayerforprisoners.org/archives/901#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:43:15 +0000 Jan http://www.prayerforprisoners.org/?p=901

KTLF PARTNERS WITH PFPI 

KTLF hosts an annual Christmas Card Party for prisoners.  Thousands of prisoners receive Christmas cards each year because ministries, churches and individuals participate in this massive outreach.  Hundreds of volunteers write cards and prisoners lives are changed.  Only 10% of prisoners receive mail so the ones who don’t feel alone and with out hope.

Volunteers invest time, stamps and Christian Christmas cards in this  mission outreach.  It is time to contact PFPI and let them know YOU want to be a part of this mission to prisoners.  Call Rick at the PFPI office – 719-275-6971 or e-mail prayerforprisoners@msn.com.

REACHING OUT TO OTHERS

WILL MAKE YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS MORE JOYFUL.

I was sitting at a table in prison waiting for Rick to join me and a few inmates for a short Bible study. Matthew, whom I had not previously met, spotted me and rushed over to sit at the table. His face was glowing and he obviously had something very important to share. In his excitement, he could barely sit still. His eyes sparkled with joy as words of testimony gushed from his heart like a soda, shaken and bubbling over.
“God delivered me from homosexuality!” he blurted. “That’s all I’ve known for 34 years and He delivered me! And He just keeps washing me and washing me on the inside.” Tears filled Matthew’s eyes. “I’m free! I’m clean! I’m forgiven! And Jesus just keeps washing me from all of that stuff and the memories and thoughts. I’m forgiven! I’m free!”
Matthew’s excitement was contagious and I rejoiced with him wiping tears of my own.
Matthew’s story is just one of many that I hear regularly from prisoners. These men and women meet Jesus Christ and are set free from bondage of every sort.

I recently looked into the empty eyes of a young man and asked, “Do you have any prayer needs, Larry?”
“I’m a Muslim.”
“I can pray for Muslims too, Larry. Would you like me to pray for you?” He nodded his head in affirmation and his eyes brightened slightly.
“Larry, do I have your permission to pray how God would have me pray for you?” He nodded again, giving me permission.
The prayer God gave me for Larry was filled with grace and mercy. It was a prayer for enlightenment and freedom from bondage. It was a prayer for him to have hope and understanding of how much God loves him and that He has a plan for him. It was a prayer for him to know the truth and the truth would set him free.
When I finished praying, Larry thanked me and I gave him a Freedom Walk newsletter. He walked away reading it.

Jeff is a young man in his late twenties. When we met I asked “Do you want prayer, Jeff?”
“Yeah!”
“How can I pray for you?”
“Pray I can get out of this place.” He replied, scowling.
“Jeff, is there something inside of you that needs to change before God is going to open that door? Something more than you getting out? What is in you, Jeff, that you know is not right with God and He is not pleased with? What would that prayer look like?”
It’s amazing to see these men and women begin to search their hearts after a question like that. The facial expression changes and the eyes express thoughtful reflection. I don’t know what is going on inside of them but Jesus does and I trust Him to lead me as I minister and pray with them.
After some thought, Jeff responded. “I’m mad and I have a hard time accepting things, like from my parents. See, I grew up with everything. I had anything I wanted. Now I have nothing. I lost everything and when they send me stuff I refuse it.”
“Oh! You’ve been humbled!” Jeff’s eyes widened as he looked directly at me, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Hanging his head, he replied, “Yeah!”
“That’s a pride issue, Jeff. God hates pride. Pride is ugly to Him. Satan got kicked out of heaven because of his pride. Pride sets itself above God. It says ‘I am God!’ God doesn’t like that. So what do you think you can do about that, Jeff?”
“Ask God to forgive me.”
“So, will you do that right now, Jeff? Will you pray and I will agree with you. When you are done, I will pray for you. And Jeff, while you are praying, ask God to help you write a letter of apology to your parents asking them to forgive you. They send you things because they love you, Jeff. You hurt them deeply by refusing their gifts. Will you ask God to help you write that letter?”
Jeff nodded affirmation and prayed a precious prayer as he wiped tears. When he finished, I prayed for him and then gave him a Freedom Walk newsletter. I said, “Now, Jeff, don’t you DARE start reading this until you have that letter written to your parents! I raised three boys! I know how you guys are!” Jeff laughed out loud, took the newsletter and promised to write his parents before he read it.

Some people think this is crazy but I don’t believe God does. If Jesus meant what He said, “I was in prison and you visited me…” then these men and women I encounter in prisons ARE Jesus with skin on! Some know Him and others will come to know Him. It isn’t for me to question, speculate or judge where their hearts are. My mission is to let them know Jesus loves them and died for them. Sometimes it means confronting their issues in love and holy boldness as the Spirit leads and pray God will do His work in their lives. For me, there is no greater joy than being His Ambassador in prisons and sharing His love with incarcerated men and women. He died for them, just as He died for the men and women who fill church pews every Sunday.
—Jan

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“I never get this paper but I read all the way through then folded it and threw it on my bunk.  Just then, I glanced at the picture on the front.”  Gary pointed to a large picture of an elderly bearded man in the embrace of a younger, taller man in a military uniform and went on with his story.  “I hadn’t noticed until I put it down but then I thought that looks like my dad.  I’ve been searching for my dad for years. I picked it up again and read it.  Sure enough, it’s my dad!  He’s a homeless veteran and a news team was doing a live filming about homeless vets.  This man hugging my dad, well, it turns out that he’s my cousin.”

David, Gary’s cousin, was watching the news cast.   He recognized Gary’s dad as one of the homeless veterans.  He went immediately to where they were filming and found him.  The camera caught Gary’s dad and David embracing and these two men were the focal point of the news story and an answer to Gary’s prayer.  After years of searching for his dad, he finds his picture on the cover of a newspaper someone handed him… a newspaper he rarely reads.   Gary was elated!

“I wrote to the women who wrote this news story to see if she could get me contact information for my dad so I can write to him.”

We were all astounded at this amazing story.  However, there was another testimony that night involving this same shy young man who loves Jesus.

I was a Muslim dedicated to my faith of Islam.  I was so mad at the program, courts, corrections officers and justice itself.  How could this be?  There is no justice!

I had a job, no drugs, no crime and now I am in prison again… why?

Every few days a man came by my cell and knocked.  I’d be mad and yell and make him go away but he came back time after time.  One day I waited for him.  I was ready to give him a piece of my mind.  He never showed.

A few days later, I was sleeping and… knock… knock… knock!   It was him!  I was angry and asked, “Why do you keep knocking on my cell door?”  His answer was simply, “Because I love you!”

He told me he is a volunteer and visits the men to show us that through Jesus Christ and God’s Agape Love, someone loves me and cares about me, a tired, lonely, mad and evil man.  Not one person in my family visited me, but here is this man, a stranger who dedicates his time to show his love for me though Jesus.

I received a miracle in this prison cell.  I don’t worry about court or man.  Or what the future may bring because NOW, my life belongs to Jesus and my soul belongs to God.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for knocking!  I have invited you in!  I renounced Islam!

My family is Moorish from Spain and Morocco.  I know people who have lost their lives for leaving Islam.  I ask you to pray that I keep life, as Jesus is now in my heart.  My friends who died because they turned to Christ from Islam, did not die from life, but died IN life!  Thank you, Jesus! I ask you to pray for the brothers and sisters who now know and love Jesus, that Islam never return to harm them.  Pray for us that call on Jesus at the cost of losing life in the flesh in exchange for life in Christ.  I’m glad to be what I never was.

Thank you, Jesus!

I hated the fact that I was here because my wife and all my family left me. But I’m not mad.  I forgive them for the reason that this time I have really woken up.  It was God at work.  He had to put me here and take everything away from me so I could listen to Him, find Him open my eyes and ears to hear Him.

One day I walked into the chapel and found God.  I told Him yes. I want those demons our of my life.  God told me “Let me see your hand.”  At that moment I said that prayer with tears in my eyes like a little boy.  I felt so relieved.  I told Him my story and He told me to leave my past behind and to look forward for He has forgiven all my sins.  From that moment I studied my Bible every day.

I haven’t heard from my wife in 5 months or talked to my kids.  I sat down and wrote a letter and told her “Jesus loves you, and so do I.  I forgive you.”

A week later she wrote me back and told me she was proud of me and she is behind me all the way in my walk with the Lord.  So the Lord really does work in mysterious ways.  He helped me wake up and know what love means and most of all to have hope and faith in Him.

“I’ve been in the hospital for five months.  They had just told me I had more cancer.  Jan, a week ago I had a tumor on my neck THIS big.”  He cupped a hand over his neck to emulate a tennis ball size growth.  Now, there was nothing but a healthy neck.  Pointing to Gary, he said, “This man and his friend came to my cell and prayed for me.  The next day the tumor was smaller.  The next day even smaller and now, it’s GONE!”  Alan’s eyes filled with tears.

Gary said, “When I saw Alan for the first time in a long time, I asked how he was doing.  When he told me they had just diagnosed more cancer he had tears in his eyes.”  Clutching his hands over his chest, Gary said, “My heart just ached for him.”

“I went back to my cell thinking, I needed to go and pray for him, but I thought, who am I?  I don’t have any special powers to pray for Alan.  But the nagging to go to his cell and pray wouldn’t stop.  Finally I asked my friend to go with me to pray for Alan.  You should have seen Alan’s face light up with a smile when we went in to pray for him.”