By Bobby Davis
For many years, 3ABN’s Pastoral Ministries Department has corresponded with inmates, answering their Bible questions and sharing spiritual food. In addition, they’ve prayed over their prayer requests, and sent them Bibles, books, and Bible study courses, too.
Reaching In Through Television
By God’s grace, 3ABN television is currently reaching around 46,000 inmates in 40 prisons, and the stories of changed lives are amazing. One inmate in his twenty-second year of incarceration wrote to tell us that he’d searched for God by attending church services in the Church of God, Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic faiths. However, he still felt empty.
In prison, he made a firm decision to live for God. He joined the Episcopal Church, and then enrolled in college classes to prepare for the ministry.
But what little faith he had was soon challenged. “I was being taught that many books of the Bible were mythology, parables, or simply non-factual,” he says. “Their teachings often seemed at odds with the Scriptures, and even worse, the instructor seemed to be trying to force the Scriptures to say something they never intended to! The longer I took those classes, the more confused I became, and by the time I dropped out, I wasn’t sure what to believe in anymore. So I stepped away from organized religion to study the Bible on my own.”
He sat down with an Oxford Annotated Study Bible, a borrowed King James Bible, and a worn-out paperback version of the Holman Christian Standard Bible in modern English. Methodically, he read each one through and compared the three versions, verse by verse. When he found verses that didn’t seem to agree with each other, he searched for the original Hebrew and Greek meanings in the chapel’s huge, exhaustive concordance.
“Nearly three years later, I’d read through all three Bibles three times,” he writes. “And by then, I’d concluded that almost everything I thought I knew about God’s Word—and almost everything I’d been taught by my church and family—was wrong!
“I soaked up God’s truths like a sponge, but didn’t know what to do with it. I wanted to tell the world, but honestly, I was afraid they would think I was crazy. I didn’t know anyone else who believed as I did, so I felt more alone than ever. I grieved over the knowledge God had given me, since it set me apart from everyone I knew. So I began to ask God to help me understand what to do with it.
“Shortly after this, while flipping through the TV channels, I stumbled onto 3ABN. All of a sudden I wasn’t alone anymore! I wasn’t crazy—unless millions more were crazy with me—and I was overjoyed! I immediately recognized my brothers and sisters in Christ by the message they proclaimed, and 3ABN became my second home, as well as my place of worship. If I was a castaway, then 3ABN had become my life raft—my secure place in a sea of confused Christians.
“One day I heard of a group who met on Saturdays for worship, and I couldn’t wait to visit. After attending for eight Sabbaths, I asked to be baptized; and two weeks later, I joined the local prison congregation and became a member of my local Seventh-day Adventist Conference!”
Reaching In Through Radio
3ABN Radio also reaches in behind the walls through radio stations that “just happen” to be located where prisoners can listen. A prisoner in Michigan writes, “I thank 3ABN Radio for saving my life. My first five months in prison were the darkest period of my life on this earth, and I felt so lost that I contemplated suicide. However, something kept me walking back to my bunk, where I finally begged God to deliver me from the pain and anguish in my heart and soul.”
Putting on his headphones, he says that he searched the dial for some music, but instead found a 3ABN Radio station broadcasting a sermon by Doug Batchelor. “I felt like he was speaking right to me!” he exclaims. “I’ll pray that someone else may be saved the same way I was!”
Reaching In Through Literature
God is not just using television and radio. An inmate in Texas writes, “Thank you so much for sending me a copy of the book, The Antichrist Agenda. It’s been a blessing to me, as well as to many others in this prison. Today is the third Sabbath I’ve observed, and I intend to discuss this matter in detail with my pastor upon my release.”
An inmate in Indiana writes, “I received the Bible and the information booklet you sent me. It’s the nicest thing anybody has done for me in a very long time. I would like to thank everybody who donates to 3ABN. I will put the Bible to good use daily, and have already started. I’ve tried so many churches growing up, but never totally agreed with them. What do I have to do to become a Seventh-day Adventist?”
Reaching In Through DVDs
Recently, we received a letter from a man we’ll call “Mark” in the Cayman Islands who’s serving a life sentence. We first heard from him several years ago, when he asked our Call Center manager for materials he could use for outreach in his prison. But when our Pastoral Ministries Department volunteer, Grace Yost, received a phone call from him, she was rather surprised.
“At first I thought, Is this a joke?” she recalls. “After all, was it even possible that I was talking to an inmate calling from the Cayman Islands? Then he explained to me that his prison job allowed him access to the telephone, and that he’d been in touch with one of our previous Call Center managers. I was immediately impressed by the sincerity with which he asked for materials. It was clear that the Lord had transformed his life, and that his greatest desire was to reach others for Christ.
“We’ve sent quite a few DVDs to prisons, like Unclean Spirits with John Lomacang, The Harvest Is Ready! with C. A. Murray, and episodes of Celebrating Life in Recovery with Cheri Peters,” Grace continues. “Mark says that Free Indeed, featuring the stories of prisoners who’ve found freedom in Christ, are especially popular in his prison.
“Of course, many correctional facilities only have one television in each wing, and Christians have difficulty convincing the rest of the population to let them watch religious programs. So they watch the DVDs in their chapel, learning new truths together and often using them as a springboard for further Bible study or discussion.”
Reaching Out
As inmate lives are transformed, a deep desire arises in each of them to reach out to fellow inmates with God’s amazing grace and salvation. Recently, Mark worked hard with the local churches to coordinate an evangelistic series in his prison, and was overjoyed by the results.
“Yesterday, nine precious souls were baptized at HM Northward prison,” he writes, “so I am no longer the only Seventh-day Adventist baptized member here! Thank you, 3ABN, for the many resources you’ve sent me. Surely the Holy Spirit is working in this place. My labour is not in vain. There are new names written down in glory!”
Friday night and Sabbath Worship attendance is growing, a Conference Bible worker now brings a Bible study to 22 inmates every Wednesday, and they’re anticipating another baptism this summer.
“When we receive a letter like this, we rejoice at how God reaches those inmates who are searching,” Grace says. “Their letters tell us the horrible backgrounds they’ve come from. Many have been frightfully abused since they were tiny children. But the healing power of Jesus, combined with our humble efforts, gives them hope that we’ll all be together in His heavenly kingdom.”
Changed Lives
Mark is enthusiastic about what happens when new Christians leave prison. “God has big plans for those who find Him here but then leave this place,” he says. “An inmate who was converted and baptized is now conducting an evangelistic series with a pastor in Barbados! Another man who fled the country after being charged with drug trafficking, arrived back here suicidal. But the Holy Spirit won him to Jesus, and he was baptized. Today he is a faithful member on the outside and is doing his part for the Lord.”
Mark receives much support from the Cayman Island Seventh-day Adventist Conference, and is especially grateful to Pastor Reinaldo Dracket, their executive secretary, who has always helped tremendously. He’s also greatly blessed by the Adventist pastors who lead out in church services each week. “But our main support with materials has come from 3ABN,” he adds. “We’ve received cases of books and many DVDs. And when the inmates watch them, the Holy Spirit works on their hearts and opens their eyes.
“I’m also deeply grateful for the materials we receive from United Prison Ministries International and Inspiration Books East, in Alabama. These materials are changing lives!”
Grace is quick to add her gratitude for those who contribute each month to 3ABN’s prison ministry. “We can send these materials only because of the generosity of our donors, and my heart is humbled when I realize that God’s ministry has opened up their hearts to support those who don’t have the ability to receive materials freely, as we do in our country. Thank you for your prayers and financial support that make this possible.”