Among the many areas where 3ABN ministers, one of the most amazing is our prisoner correspondence—through our pastoral ministries department. Each week, volunteers and workers read and answer dozens of letters from inmates who watch or listen to 3ABN, and write us, seeking prayer, spiritual guidance, and literature. We recently received a letter from Charlie, who shared a marvelous story of redemption.
He says, “I am writing you today to see if you can find it in your hearts to bless me with a Study Bible. I was in a very dark place in my life before I got locked up. I cried out to the Lord, our God, repented for my sins, for letting Him down again, and for running away from Him.
“I asked Him once again to save me from the fiery pits of the realm of darkness before it was too late.
“Praise God for what a kind and loving Father He is, for He picked me up and cared for me, as always. He opened my eyes to His Glory! I told our Father, I am ready this time, one-hundred percent committed to picking up my cross, letting my old self die, and letting You raise me up from the gross darkness to be reborn again for Your Glory.
“God is good all the time, and as the Holy Spirit was with me, God told me to let His words stick like grease this time and grow.
“Once again, I was hoping you can bless me with a Study Bible so I can feed on everything I read and put it into practice—not for my glory, but for the glory of God. Please, and thank you. I hope all of you and your family’s spirits stay strong in love and hope. God’s peace be with you, and faith always in God.
“I have a hard time understanding, at times, and some Christian literature to read will help me to always have faith in God.”
Charlie, and thousands like him have sought answers from our small staff, and we’re delighted to help them. Your generous gifts provide Remnant Study Bibles to those who would never have the opportunity to acquire them. Surely God is blessing all our efforts, as we unite with you to bring salvation and real freedom to those who are so desperate for truth and hope.
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.
Mark (a pseudonym) stands in the chapel he was able to remodel with his own funds some years ago. By God’s grace he was able to make many improvements, including the addition of the Ten Commandments, and two large murals, depicting the Last Supper and a picture of Jesus Christ.
“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.”
Richard Wise, the grandson of a Baptist minister, was preaching and teaching Sunday school in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution—as an inmate! While confined, he was very involved in the church program led by the two prison chaplains, but in 1980, a slot opened up in the Sunday service rotation, and it was offered to the local Seventh-day Adventists who had long and consistently ministered there.
The Allegheny West Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, under the direction of Ernestine Mitchell, immediately coordinated volunteer church members from four congregations to visit and hold a full church service in their chapel once a month.
“I decided I would correct the Adventists on their misunderstanding of the holiness of Saturday,” Richard says, “but after completing their Bible studies, I was convinced about the Sabbath, and was baptized!”
Richard took his faith seriously, and soon was ordained as an elder. He also actively led out in unsanctioned Sabbath worship services on the prison grounds until prison officials relented and allowed Sabbath services in their chapel.
Richard and Christine Wise have seen hundreds of prisoners baptized through their work with prison ministries. Their goal is to make 3ABN available to every prisoner in Ohio!
Enter Christine Cochran, who joined the local volunteers at the Chillicothe facility in January 1989. Having a strong burden for prison ministry, she mailed articles and ministry materials, some of which she acquired from 3ABN, to any inmate who would receive them.
Later that year, while still serving time, Richard married Christine, and confidently says, “The only two experiences I would insist on reliving would be learning this Bible truth, and meeting my wife!”
Persistence
Being as ministry-minded as Richard was, he wasted no time. By the end of that year, he had learned a lot about 3ABN, and began petitioning the prison to carry it. But try as he might, the answer was always no.
When he was transferred across the street to the Ross Correctional Institute in 1997, he once again started a church, developed a prison ministry with Adventist volunteers, and petitioned to add 3ABN to their channel lineup. But although the church and ministry flourished, the answer regarding 3ABN was always no.
Richard was transferred again in 2002, this time to the London Correctional Institution, in London, Ohio. Once again he made efforts to start a church, a community-led prison ministry, and have 3ABN brought in, but this time the officials said no to all three—every time he asked.
Disappointed, but determined, Richard didn’t give up. “My efforts in London failed,” he says, “but I still held Bible studies with six or eight inmates the entire time I was there.”
Christine was also putting effort into promoting 3ABN by videotaping 3ABN programs and starting a lending library in her church. Then she attended 3ABN’s camp meeting and picked up fliers and door hangers to help get 3ABN added to the local cable companies. “If I could get 3ABN added, the inmates in the prisons would have access to their programming through local cable,” she explains. But despite her best efforts, the doors remained closed.
On August 18, 2004, Richard was released on parole. Finally he could share a prison ministry with Christine so he immediately applied to volunteer at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
“I received a letter that basically said I’d never be allowed, but I could apply again next year,” he says, “so I did. Every year. Again and again—and every year I was denied.”
Try Again
By now you must know that Richard and Christine didn’t stop there, but went into other prisons in the area, instead. He did, however, enter Chillicothe to visit a fellow inmate named Alex, whom he and Christine had “adopted” as their own son.
“Alex was a Muslim, but Christine would give him Bible studies while I was serving time in another facility,” Richard says. “He was baptized, and when I came out of prison we visited him together. Then one day last summer Alex asked if I would try once more to get 3ABN into his prison.
“Honestly, after trying for so many years, I’ll admit that I didn’t think it would work. But for Alex’ sake, I decided to try again.”
This time Richard decided to call Glorystar, a satellite dish company that includes 3ABN in its receiver. He spoke with Brian Gohl, who kindly shared the lengthy and challenging process they go through to install new channels in a prison.
Fighting back discouragement, Richard decided to try anyway, so Brian gave him the name of a lady who had succeeded in getting new channels added to the Chillicothe facility.
Another man he spoke with was a Christian staff member who worked at Chillicothe and with whom he had built a friendship over the years. He agreed it would be nice to have 3ABN, but explained that 3ABN would need to obtain permission to share the existing equipment.
These were new obstacles, but Richard felt as though he was moving forward—especially after speaking with 3ABN’s Jennifer Todd, who confirmed we would be happy to provide technical support. Jennifer sent the prison a portfolio introducing 3ABN and followed up with a call.
Finally, only one obstacle remained: obtaining permission to share equipment. But no one knew how to contact the equipment owners.
Richard called the lady who had gotten the other channels into the prison, and she was very kind. She explained how she had facilitated the signing of the contract and then, to Richard’s surprise, she gave him the contact number for the equipment owner!
Richard called and shared his testimony over the phone, and the man’s heart was touched. Finally, four months after promising Alex he’d try again, the last hurdle had been cleared, and in October 2013, the inmates found 3ABN, 3ABN Latino, Dare to Dream, and 3ABN Proclaim! added to their TV lineup. Almost 3,000 inmates now have access to these life-changing messages—including over 100 death row inmates!
“Since last fall we’ve baptized twelve inmates, and we have six more studying for baptism,” Richard exclaims. “Our church services have grown from around sixty inmates to about ninety. Many of them are Hispanic, and they ask for 3ABN materials in Spanish so they can read and share them with other inmates. You cannot imagine how much these inmates value 3ABN!”
Never Give Up
Since 1986, Richard has led over 300 inmates to baptism, but he and Christine are still going strong. “We are now going back to all those prisons that told us no, and we’re trying again,” he says.
“The Seventh-day Adventist mission, which was started in March 1986, is still going strong 28 years later under the nurturing care of Melvin and Ernestine Mitchell. And now that 3ABN is a vital part of this ministry, more and more inmates will come to know this truth, and Jesus can come soon!”
How do you use 3ABN in your local outreach? We’d love to hear from you, so please call us at 618-627-4651 extension 3120 and ask for our marketing executive, Jennifer Todd. Let’s pray together and see where the Lord leads us. God is eager to reach His children with a message of hope and salvation, and He chooses to use us to accomplish this. We can never give up!
The prophet predicted Jesus Christ would come “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound,” (Isaiah 61:1), and no joy compares to hearing from those who have been given clean hearts and a new life! 3ABN’s ministry not only reaches into homes around the world, but it also reaches into prisons, as well. So many are desperately searching for something to give their life meaning behind bars—men like Mark, who found our local 3ABN Radio station here in southern Illinois.
In 2009 he began corresponding with Grace Yost, a volunteer with 3ABN’s Pastoral Ministries Department. “A couple of months ago Christ made me aware of your 3ABN Radio station,” he wrote. “You have a most precious message—a message of overcoming all sin. You also told me that Christ is able to keep us from falling!
“I want to worship Jesus—the Lord of the Sabbath—on His Sabbath day. I want to do something to advance God’s kingdom and give glory to His name. Please reply, for I cannot do this alone.”
With great tenderness and compassion, Grace encouraged him to hold fast. She also promised to send him resources to aid in Bible study and worship.
Soon a new letter arrived. Although the prison chaplain hadn’t granted Mark permission to bring in a volunteer to lead Sabbath services, he would be permitted to lead them, himself!
“I Don’t Know How!”
Mark was in a near panic. “I don’t know how to lead a worship service, and I’m afraid of my unworthiness for such a task!” he confided. “I’m not a preacher, and this is an important matter, because souls are at stake! Is Christ calling me to do this—to start and lead a worship service for His honor? I need counsel from Heaven. I need prayer on this. But if this is God’s will, I cannot resist it. Christ must be glorified. Please pray that the Father will lead me, and please forgive me for writing these words, but I have no one else to share the deeper things of God with.”
Over the next months and years, Grace constantly reassured Mark, sending him resources in the form of DVDs, and researching topics that puzzled him. Her gentleness was deeply effective, as evidenced by his correspondence.
Another Request
Then, in 2010, Mark wrote again. “Grace, do you think someone from 3ABN or your local church would consider coming to our Sabbath worship once a month? Maybe once every couple of months, or even just one time? I hope this isn’t a selfish request, but I feel so inadequate for the responsibility of these men. I don’t want to be a burden, but I want to meet others who believe these truths.”
Her response must have burst on him like a ray of sunshine: “Dear Mark, I purposely delayed answering your letter until I had a chance to speak to 3ABN’s treasurer, Pastor Brian Hamilton. He has started a prison ministry in our local church and assured me that he was more than willing to visit you.”
A Wonderful Event
Soon Brian and a prison ministry team were visiting the small group of believers in the penitentiary every Sabbath, and on October 17, 2013, a wonderful event took place. As the prison chaplain and ministry team looked on, Pastors Brian Hamilton and C. A. Murray baptized Mark and five of his brothers in Christ! One by one, they buried their old life and received a very clean heart in the only baptistery available—a large blue plastic laundry cart!
“It was one of the most moving baptisms I’ve ever witnessed,” Brian says. “We all had tears in our eyes as we saw what Christ had done to them and through them. No words can describe it.”
“The heart of one who is truly transformed cannot be contained,” Grace says. “They are compelled to do what God has asked them to do, and that’s exactly what Mark did by starting a Sabbath worship service. I’m so blessed to be working with those who have truly lost everything, but found eternal life in Jesus Christ.”
Who is a captive? Perhaps you’re thinking of the one who’s behind bars of steel—but that’s not all. Satan holds billions of people captive—and only a fraction of them are in literal prisons.
Such are the lives of a young woman and a young man in this story. They both had a similar background, having grown up in less-than-ideal circumstances, which made them easy targets for the evil one. But the truth is that we’re all targets of his cunning ways.
How can we guard against his relentless attacks when he leads us down a path we didn’t intend to travel, and the dangers are not readily discernible? First, we must daily submit our lives to Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice for us by humbly leaving His throne in glory, His royal crown, and His robe, to come to this world. Here He ministered through love and humility, stooping down to touch the life of a perishing soul without ever sacrificing His principles.
This young woman had been in multiple foster homes, and when she turned 18 the state declared her an adult and dropped her off at a city park with her meager belongings! Now homeless, and experiencing what she describes as pure hell, she made a disastrous choice by mistaking a man’s attention in a local bar for love. After years of abuse, loneliness, and misery, she paired up with him, and ultimately they were both arrested.
LIFE IN PRISON
Have you ever considered what it might be like to be 21 and facing life in prison with no possibility of parole? Here are a few excerpts from a letter she wrote us after being convicted of murder:
“In the beginning, I didn’t really know what to think of my predicament. I was in shock, but slowly I began to grow bitter. Then one day I just broke down and cried in my bed, and for some reason I began to argue with God—I probably sounded crazy to the other inmates around me. I grew up fighting Him all my life, and you could say I had an enormous chip on my shoulder. Throughout my life I was taught the Scriptures and at 17 I accepted Him into my life and was baptized. I truly believed I was heading in the right direction and felt a touch of happiness. But that feeling was very short-lived, and soon I allowed Satan to take control of me.
“What an argument I had that night with God! When completely exhausted, I began to feel something I hadn’t felt in a long time: peace and comfort. I began to see what people were talking about when they said God knows how much you’re capable of handling.
“At first I fought the reins, believing that life had put me through too much, and this was too much for me to bear. But, I am still alive. I am here and going through this for a reason. And even though I don’t have a clue what that reason is, there is one. We’ll have different trials and tribulations, but it’s what we do with them that matters: who we meet, how we act—it all shows our true strength. I now see this life as a challenge and I want to finish it well. I don’t really understand what happens after I die, but I would really like to learn.
“Thank you again for all you’ve done, and please keep up the good work of ministering to everyone. God bless.”
This young woman’s journey with God has just begun, but let me tell you about a young man who has steadily climbed the spiritual ladder since he began corresponding with us over six years ago. His bad choice of friends led him to become a member of a gang, and after a murder happened he went to trial and was sentenced to life in prison, too. At the time he was first being charged, his girlfriend gave birth to a precious daughter whom he has not been able to see grow up. But look at these excerpts from the letters we’ve received:
“I lost my state court appeal, so prison is looking permanent unless the federal courts (God really) says otherwise. But I’ve come this far, and I’m mature enough to see the reality of the situation; I see more of others’ needs than mine. I’m right where God can use me, and I pray for those I can’t heal (those I’ve hurt), or apologize to.
“I’ve repented of my old sinful ways and genuinely acted out my salvation in spreading the doctrine of the Most High.”
These young inmates have sat at the feet of Jesus, but they’re on different rungs on the spiritual ladder.
NOT AN OPTION
Is Jesus calling you to reach out and touch someone who may be less than desirable in your sight? If so, you may need to sit at His feet and study His character more fully.
Complaints, criticism, and a judgmental spirit are tools of Satan. The tools of Jesus are a meek and quiet spirit. Pride and self-importance must not reside in the heart of a child of God. The Scripture tell us in Psalm 52:2, “Your tongue devises destruction,
like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.”
There have been times in my own spiritual journey when I took the words of Jesus too lightly, but those words have become the stepping stones that today allow me to minister to inmates too numerous to count. In my younger years I would likely have turned down such an opportunity, but God uses life circumstances to change us.
We are called by Jesus in John 13:34 to love one another, as He has loved us. This is not to be taken lightly; this is not an option if we’re seeking eternal life. In Isaiah 61:1 the prophet Isaiah calls on us to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Jesus himself spoke similar words while speaking in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth (see Luke 4:18).
THROUGH THE EYES OF JESUS
As I’ve prayed earnestly to see others through the eyes of Jesus, my eyes have been opened to my own shortcomings, and I earnestly desire to have the mind and character of Jesus. If we could truly discern the circumstances that surround each individual’s life, we would be far less likely to speak hasty, judgmental words, and would be possessed of a much greater love! Jesus, the Redeemer and Mender of broken people, willingly came to free all men and women burdened down by the ravages of sin.
Are we guilty of shunning the captives? Oh yes, it can easily happen when we’re in our comfort zone and see no need to step out of it. Our precious Savior had a marked love for the captives and less fortunate. Can we do any less
P.S. 3ABN’s pastoral ministries department did send this young woman information on what happens when we die. Please join us in prayer for her, and all the others we seek to help.
