| "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners...." - Luke 4:18 |
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T.H.I.N.K.
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I sit here in awe of our awesome and mighty God. I have now been home for about 3 hours, after spending the day at the South Bend Juvenile Facility. I believe I have now digested the entire day, as God speaks so loudly in this silence. Often times, I just have to ask if this is all "real". For so many years, I accepted that I was living in a way...that I knew I would end up in hell, literally. And now, by the grace of God alone, I have the opportunity to pray with a young man who was molested as a young child (and for those of you there today) he was to proud to raise his hand and admit it. He came to me extremely weak and weary, for prayer (praise God!). Who am I to be worthy to "stand in the gap" for this young man? Unreal! I was able to speak the truth (biblically) with four other young men, though, it was only seed planting time with each of them. I ended with a young man who recently accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He has a baby on the way, due in January. I prayed with him at length as he desires to become the sprititual leader of his family, upon his release. Who am I to be worthy of this? ...I guess it is not for me to question; it's only for me to continue being obedient to His calling. His calling to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It just so happens,...we do it in prison. The hearts that open, the tears that are shed...every visit God works in miraculous ways. What an awesome God we serve. What an awesome team He has compiled. Thank you Father for allowing me to be a small part this team! Deren Wilder
Written September 28th, 2007 In 2005, at my first Indiana State CMA Rally I saw the patch- Prison Team-on Teresa Roush's back. I had a burning desire to find out what it was about, however I did not want to bother her, so many people wanted to talk to her. Could I be a part of Prison Team? I had been close to incarceration at 14 and then faced attempted murder charges at age 29, (I was spared because of my landlord's 32 year friendship with the Judge). At the state rally, Chris Roush handed the leadership of Breaking Through to Tony and Paula McDonald and Tony cried. It blew me away, and I told him so. We met at the Colors Rally two months later, and I remembered them. We spoke about being able and willing to go, and Tony and Paula said "Try it"! I checked it out three weeks later, 1.7 miles from my house at Westville Correctional Facility. MY LIFE IS NOT THE SAME! I have been to many prisons since, all over the State of Indiana, and the humility I learn each time, can only come from loving those that the world hates, has cast out, given up on. To have a child molester want to pray with me after giving my testimony, (I had been molested) glorified God!! The man gave his life to Jesus, and I had a huge chunk of concrete taken out of mine. The burning desire persists. Each day I wake up and Thank God for choosing me, sparing me from prison, sparing me from hell, filling me with His power, for the sole purpose of going and sharing the love of Jesus with the unsaved. Sin is sin is sin, If I am worthy of God's love .............AREN'T THEY?! Men cry when we come, women break down and rejoice, the juveniles realize that they have hope for a future. The guards are many, Christians and not, we pray with them and for them! The Lord fortifies His church within the walls, YES they PRAY for US!!! I go because I am so grateful... God did not cast me aside......Let me not give up on those who have not yet heard, or have not yet seen. Thank you Jesus, for this leadership, the team has a bond that can not be explained, except the love of Jesus! Thank you Jesus for your love, your sacrifice, your promise of sending me your Holy Spirit, so that I can live with you FOREVER, and THANK YOU for all those who are choosen, especially the brothers and sisters within the walls and this Team! Daniela "Sonshine" E. Troche I went to bed late Friday night (Sep 14), around 11pm. The alarm went off at 3am. I had planned on leaving home by 3:30am but was about 20 minutes late getting on the road. I had on a long sleeve shirt, vest, sweater and heavy blue jean jacket. I made it as far as Vincennes and had to stop for a potty break. While there I put on my rain suit as a wind breaker. That helped. I had on a pair of insulated snow boots and chaps over my jeans. All this helped with the 45 degree weather but when you're on a motorcycle it still gets bone chilling cold. When I stopped in Terre Haute to get gas I noticed there were an hour ahead of us here in Evansville. I knew that but forgot. I had planned on being at the Womens Prison in Indy by 7am but this thru me off by an hour. It was a very long ride as I went up by myself. Still I got there before they got started. Around 9am the women started coming in for the worship service. They played some songs and we had 4 speakers to share with the offenders (inmates). They were to talk about "breaking the bonds" of life. One woman told about herself and how her husband had an affair which really hurt her bad. He got saved and went on to become a minister with a focus on prisons. Another woman told how she thought she was doing what was expected of her and got caught stealing from her employer and spent 5 years in the prison she was now speaking in. One guy told how he has a very bad ankle and has trouble working because of it. His business is in jeopardy. I watched many of the ministry team folks share and minister with great empathy. The Holy Spirit was there in force. At least 24 women gave their lives to Jesus this morning and at least a dozen more rededicated their lives to the Lord. We went to lunch and came back and brought our motorcycles inside the prison for a bike show. There were a bunch of us there and had more devine appointments than I can count. Many of us talked with offenders that told us they will be released very soon with no place to go. No wonder they end up back in the prison. Here's a few dollars to hold you over....hope you make it. Pray about this, please. It was a very long drive home that I shared with Ron and Judy. I got here at 7:45pm. I AM FLYING HIGH TONIGHT !!!!!! This has been one of the most rewarding days I can remember. God is soooo good. Long before I went into any of the prisons I heard people say how "we" are the ones being ministered to. They were right. Robin Neighbors Louise Gaghan 11/22/08 On Saturday, Nov. 8th a few of us went to visit the boys at the South Bend Juvi Facility. Ken Stone gave his testimony which touched my heart and i can see it was touching some hearts from where i was sitting. At the end of the program we were standing and inviting the boys to come to one of us if they were in need of prayer or would like to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Three boys came over to me and wanted to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Hallelujah!! Praise God!!!! Then as i was standing there alone, this one boy came over to me and said his friend wanted prayer but he was afraid to come to me so i went over to him and sat on the floor. At that moment the boy who wanted prayer got up and walked away. I asked his friend, "where is he going" the friend replied "he is scared". So i got up and walked over to where the boy was and he got up and walked away again. At this time they were forming a line to take the boys back. I looked at the friend and i asked him "why does he keep walking away?" He said "he is afraid" I said "afraid of what?" He said "he is afraid of Jesus". Oh that just broke my heart.... I said to the friend "take me to him please". So he did. We came face to face and i first said "please don't run and would you like prayer"? He said "yes" I said "why do you keep running"? He said "I am afraid of Jesus". I shared with him that Jesus LOVES him and not to be afraid of Jesus. I asked him for his hand and he said "my hands are sweaty" i said "that's ok" and then we prayed and he asked Jesus to come into his heart and take control of his life. I shared with him that right now the angels in Heaven are rejoicing because of the decision he has made to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. As I was looking at him eye to eye I can see in his smile he was touched by God. At this moment, the boys were heading back to their rooms. I honestly believe in my heart this was one of God's divine appointments. I give GOD All the Glory and thank Him for using someone like me to bring a child into His Kingdom. My heart is for these young boys who are in these facilities because i have a son who started out in one of these facilities and it brings me back to those days but with a different heart. My heart is compassionate and filled with the Love of the Lord. I could probably write a book on how many times God has revealed himself to me in so many ways. His hand prints are all over my life. He has turned my bitterness and anger into Joy, Peace and Love. He has brought me through the darkness and into His light which now shines through me to reach out to those in darkness. I want to thank God for Tony and Paula McDonald for using them and opening the doors for this ministry. I thank God for their faithfulness and all those who are faithful in this ministry. When we are faithful to the Lord .... the Lord is faithful to us. God bless you all. Louise Gaghan
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