Day in, day out, our prisons workers across the country are sharing the hope, love and peace of Jesus with those in prison. We caught up with some of the team to hear some stories of how God is transforming the lives of those they’re working with.
‘God’s got my back’
‘Mike had been coming along to the Alpha course in prison and began to learn more about God – and he loved it! Halfway through the course, Mike was released but he really wanted to stay connected and to find a church. I love that our work as Message in Prisons not only supports people in prison but also in their resettlement too, so I’ve been meeting up with Mike since his release.
‘Despite being nervous trying a new church, last Sunday he was brave enough to go and got in touch saying ‘it means a lot to me that not only God has got my back, but that you do too’, said Owain, prisons worker.
‘They all accepted Jesus’
‘A volunteer and I recently ran a the4points course for three women on the wing looking at what the gospel actually is. By the end of the course, one of the women was sharing with the others all about God’s faithfulness and grace in her life. As the women listened, they decided to give their lives to Jesus there and then and accepted him into their lives! I’m now journeying with these women as they learn more about who Jesus is and what life looks like for them now’, said Kez, prisons worker.
‘You are so loved’
Kez has also been continuing to run her Faith and Self-Esteem course in prison. One of those coming along has been Chantelle.
At the end of the course, Chantelle shared with the group, ‘We’re all different, but we are all loved by God. I hadn’t thought much about faith before coming to this group, but now I’m reading my Bible all the time. I’m determined not to just go with the flow and be nasty because other people are. But I believe God has given me a purpose to help other people get free from the kinds of abuse I experienced. I just want people to know they are loved and I think God is showing me how to share that.’
New life in Jesus
Recently our creative mission teams in Germany performed music and shared the gospel at a Christian youth camp. They didn’t realise that some young people from a local young offenders institution were there. As they heard the gospel, eight of them responded and gave their lives to Jesus! The next day five of them got baptised in the river!
‘I want to focus on Jesus’
We’ve launched prisons ministry in the Netherlands! Just a couple of weeks into the Alpha course running, one of those coming along was Daan. When the course leader shared about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life and being with us in all of our struggles, Daan said, ‘You’ve just described my life story. I’ve found I couldn’t do this on my own so I was searching for all different kind of higher powers, but I really feel I can finish my search now and focus on Jesus only. I want to get to know all of him and to commit my life to him!’ Because of Daan saying this, others in the group also opened up about their lives and wanted to hear more about Jesus!
Find out more about our prisons work at message.org.uk/prisons
