Day in, day out, our prisons teams are building relationships with those in prison and sharing the love of Jesus with them.
Prisons worker Owain had been getting to know Rhys and sharing about Jesus with him. They caught up recently and Rhys told Owain that he’d been chatting to his mate Gary about faith and they both wanted to come along to Sunday chapel services to find out more about Jesus. To create a space for the lads to chat about their faith, Owain ran Alpha with them and during the last session, Gary gave his life to Jesus! Now, Gary says he feels less angry, more willing to forgive others and has a new excitement for the future!
Harry has also been coming along to weekly Bible studies that Owain has been running. Deciding he wanted to grow more in his faith, Harry signed up for Alpha and in the last session, he felt prompted to share his faith with someone else. That week, Harry had the chance to share his story with a fellow prisoner and, even though he was really nervous at first, Harry was amazed to see that his friend was really interested in finding out more about Jesus! Harry got to share the gospel and left feeling so encouraged that God was using his story to share the gospel with others.
That’s not all that’s been happening! When Gareth found out that his friend Keith had come to the same prison as him, they decided to go chapel services so they could see each other every week. After a while, Keith stopped going to chapel, but Gareth continued to go saying, ‘I feel a warm and positive feeling when I go.’ He went every Sunday for a year and the month of his release, Gareth gave his life to Jesus on a the4points course. Now, he can’t stop smiling and can see how God is helping him be more like Jesus.
Abi, another of our prisons workers, has also seen God move in amazing ways. As she’s been running a drama group to build relationships with the women she works with in prison, Abi has been getting know Freya. Abi invited her to an event where Nick Shalavi was performing a spoken word and sharing his testimony. At the event, three of the women there gave their lives to Jesus, and whilst Freya wasn’t one of those who responded on the day, she joined the4points course and came along to every session. After, she asked for a Bible and then signed up to the Alpha course where she decided that she wanted to follow Jesus!
Our teams also support people as they leave prison and get resettled. During his time in prison, prisons worker Emma journeyed with Joshua, regularly meeting up with him to talk about the Bible and answer his questions about faith. Joshua told Emma, ‘I’m so grateful for you working with me. You’ve helped me find my faith! Since leaving prison, I’ve been living with my mum again and our relationship is so much better. I’ve found a church that feels like family and I’ve even got a carpentry internship that I’m loving. It feels like I’m learning the trade that Jesus did!’
Find out more about our prisons work at message.org.uk/prisons
