Thursday, March 31, 2011

Jesus was in jail, did you visit him?


“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
   41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
   44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
   45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:34-35




We all agree deeds done in service of the Master are done for him. Often we do things for others that go unnoticed and unrewarded by earthly standards, but we have the promise of God that he sees everything and he knows the attitude of our heart, so we need not fear any labor going unpaid.
Have you wondered why, in the passage in Matthew, Jesus mentions those in prison specifically? Some have proposed he means only those disciples imprisoned for sharing the gospel, others take the position that Jesus is speaking very broadly of the nation Israel. All are up for discussion, but for matters of this conversation the point is, Jesus mentions visiting "prisoners" as a good deed and speaks of it in his parable as a way to describe love for him.

An inmate gets a visit from his daughter- photo courtesy, Children of Inmates


In  Hebrews 13,  the author writes,
"Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies."
It is difficult to remember those in prison if you never hear their stories, never pray for them, and never visit.
     It's been said that the only people with a concern for the prisoner are those that have been behind bars themselves or who have a family member or loved one there. While that may be true, it hardly excuses us.
When I was called by the chaplain of the local jail and asked if I was interested in helping with a Bible study for the women there, I thought of the verses in Matthew and Hebrews. I knew there were great needs, and equally great blessings to be had, yet I was reticent.
I felt like I had no way to connect with the women there. I have never been in jail, or even arrested. I have committed crimes and not gotten caught, that's true. Images of angry, crazy women sitting in their cells waiting to throw something awful at me as I walked by in my clothes that "stink of freedom" played in my head.



     It took me months to send in my background check and then I agreed only after the chaplain said they had no one else to do it, that the woman doing it now was moving to North Carolina in a month.... so,
I went.
  
 It was amazing, not at all what I expected or feared.  They were in a room where we all met together, they were there because they wanted to be, and they were all very sweet. So far, it's the best church I have been to.

     Yes, they are on the edge of tears all the time, and they have so many problems, but they are so hungry for the words of hope and mercy and forgiveness and a clean start. You have no idea how good it is to hear,  "I will put your sins as far from me as the east is from the west" when you have majorly blown it. They love much because they have been forgiven much, and that's something I can relate to. They don't need to feel connected to you, they are happy to see a new smiling face, so eager to pray and have you pray for their family. They know why you are there and they expect you to talk about God to them. It's like opening  the front door on Halloween with a giant bowl of candy. They want what you have to offer.



      I know everyone isn't called to this kind of ministry, it probably takes someone who understands broken people and who wants to do one thing, and that is share the grace and mercy of Jesus.  We aren't called to fix the justice system, we have one purpose- share the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.
They are very needy, but we have what they need most- the beautiful One with the scarred hands, who loves us all and came to set us free.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Michael Vick says he wouldn't do anything differently...

"If you could do it all over again," said the inmate, his eyes meeting Vick's, "what's the one thing you'd do different?"
The answer was stunning. "Nothing," Vick said. "I mean, make some better choices. But I needed time to change. Everything happens for a reason."


Nothing? Vick would clarify his thoughts on the 94-mile bus ride back to Tampa. He'd come on the trip with his adviser, Tony Dungy, and volunteers from Abe Brown Ministries, the prison-ministry group with which Dungy has worked for the past 15 years. "As crazy as this sounds," Vick would say as the bus rolled past endless orange groves, "if I was standing outside a prison two years ago with what I know now, and you gave me the choice of going in and changing my life or staying out and continuing to live the life I was living, I'd go in. I'd change some things. The dogs, obviously. And maybe six months, not 17. But I needed to change. God gave me a timeout."


When Vick spoke to some 300 inmates in the courtyard at Avon Park, even the hangers-on in the back of the crowd, men who'd heard messages of hope before, stood in silent attention.

Vick told them that as a teenager he sometimes
slept with the Bible under his pillow, but 
when he became a football star he
veered from the religious life. 

He thought he could make up his own rules, and it cost him. "Going into prison was tough," he said. "You know that. There were days I wanted to lay down in my bunk, pull the covers over my head and cry. But I realized I wanted to live the right way. I wanted to be an instrument of change. That's what you have to do at the end of the day. No matter why you're in here, own up to your actions. Hold yourself accountable. Have a plan, so when you get outside those gates you're going to have a chance. This is not the end for you. This is not it! You control your destiny."*



Michael Vick served 17 months at a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas in 2007, for his role in a dog-fighting operation. He recently returned to Avon park Correctional Institute to talk to the inmates there.
The article above is from a Sports Illustrated interview with Peter King.*

Vick attended college at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. He was drafted as a sophomore by the Atlanta Falcons and led them to the play offs twice. He ranks second among quarterbacks in career rushing yards.

After his arrest and subsequent incarceration, he lost his position with the Falcons, and was forced to file bankruptcy. He was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009. After his release from prison, Vick was mentored by former Colts coach, Tony Dungy.

Dungy set a new NFL record for consecutive playoff appearances by a head coach. He is also  an evangelical Christian and at one point in his coaching career considered leaving football for the prison ministry. Throughout his career, he has remained involved with community service organizations.



 At  Hope Aglow Ministries, we see the effects of incarceration for good or ill.  Prison time can be a powerful change agent in the lives of men and women. Not everyone who comes out of prison has the  resources of Michael Vick, but everyone who comes out of prison is just as important to our God.  With the right tools and support, incarceration can be a catalyst for  positive life change.  It is difficult, but that's why we are here. We see the hopelessness and fear in the eyes of men and women in prison, they desperately need to believe they can make it on the outside. They need mentors and support systems like the kind Mr. Dungy provides.

Please consider supporting us as we deliver the good news that prison can be a new beginning, not the final chapter.

hopeaglow.com

*Back To Prison With Michael Vick
Meeting Florida inmates, the Eagles' QB pushed a message of hope and responsibility
Sports Illustrated, Mar 2011




Thursday, March 24, 2011

You Are Not Alone in Your Pain

When we go through trauma, it often feels like we are alone, or at least, alone in our pain.  We may know other people have experienced similar hurts, but it doesn’t feel like anyone understands, or worse yet, like no one cares.
Feeling alone, invalidated, or even ashamed, is common for people who go through deep hurts, especially when that pain is perpetrated by someone we love.  Deliberate hurt is called ‘abuse’, and failure to nurture, validate, and take care of a vulnerable person is ‘neglect.’  Some of us want to pretend abuse and/or neglect never happened, hope we can ‘outgrow’ it or ‘move past’ it.  The truth is: abuse and neglect exact a painful toll on their victims. It is only by facing the pain of our past and processing through it that we will be able to rise above it.


Thousands of men and women have done just that—they have paused in their flight from hurt and shame long enough to acknowledge it, and gone on to work through it.  I challenge you, today, to allow yourself to face the truth about your past, not only about what you have done to others, but what has been done to you.  There may be a reason (though not an excuse) that you have raced down the path to destruction, if that has been your course.  The only way to get on the right road is to re-trace your steps and stand once more at the ‘parting of the ways.’

 To accept responsibility for the wrongs you have done, and learn to hold others accountable for their wrongs against you.  Please hear me when I say, abuse in any form is never the fault of the victim.  No matter what you may have done or said, you are not to blame for being abused or neglected. What if you’ve experienced abuse and/or neglect, but you say, “That had nothing to do with my choices?”  Perhaps you’ll want to consider the following facts:
Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.  (2009 Childhelp Info Center)

 You are not alone in your pain, or in your efforts to cope with a life that may have shattered by it.  Don’t you think it’s about time that you acknowledge the disappointments of your past and step bravely into a future filled with hope and a new beginning?



Today's post is by guest blogger, Linda Settles
Visit her website.
http://www.redeemingourtreasures.com/

Linda is an author and a friend of Hope Aglow Ministries. We are thankful for her wisdom and her desire to share with others the freedom she has found in Christ.


"I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts."  Psalm 119:45  NIV

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I went to jail




"In jail, everyone cries at night."

I always cry when I go.  It's wrenching- listening to the stories of these women. They are so humbled by their circumstances. They sit with me at a few tables pushed together in a small, echoey, cinder block room. They all wear baggy, bright orange canvas jumpsuits. They have no makeup, no fancy hairstyles, they aren't allowed a hairdryer, just a comb. One lady Melissa, who is about 35 and the  mother of a high school age daughter, tells us all, "Your life is pretty much at a bad place if you are sitting in here."  She says, "We all know everything we have tried isn't working."

They have no pretenses, they can wear no masks. They are citizens of a new country, one called Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority. It's in large block letters on the back of their jumpsuits; a constant reminder that this is no hotel or summer camp.  Although, not even your worst summer camp experience can begin to touch the awfulness that is incarceration.

I ask them how they cope? Every woman in there looks at their Bible, and two of them pick theirs up. They all say "God."


,
Their only view of outside. The height from the floor to ceiling is about 30'


 I see them for about an hour and a half on Sunday afternoons. We always chat a little, then we sing. The last two times I have been, a dear sister incarcerated there named Dee has sung for us. She has a beautiful voice. The first time I heard her I just cried! I couldn't help myself.  Her soulful voice reverberated all around us and straight into my heart. I have learned that no instruments are necessary when you are desperate for the Holy Spirit to be there. He brings his own accompaniment.

Dee is a beautiful canary in an ugly cage and God is using her in a mighty way. She is reaching out to the other women there in the jail.  She is a strong believer, our sister, who made one very bad decision. She understands what brought her to this place and she never wants to come back.  Pray for her. She is hoping to be released very soon.

All the windows are bricked up. There is a very small slit at the top.


Our sisters in jail need your prayers. It's so difficult to be there. They are cut off from their family, helpless to comfort their children who miss them, voiceless to explain to their teens how sorry they are, and unable to soothe them when they are angry because Mama wasn't there for Christmas, or their birthday, or high school graduation.

For the most part their life is a wreck. They can't pay their bills, they can't help their parents or husband in any way. They can't go to the funeral of their own mother without wearing handcuffs and shackles and the orange jail clothes. They are escorted by a policeman and that's if they let you out. You can't have broken any rules to be allowed out of jail even for the funeral of your own mother.

They have broken the law and they have hurt people, but they are hurting too. They are crying out to God. Jesus tells us to remember them, to care for them as if we were there. I have been there, it's not a place where you feel cared for. I get to leave, they have to stay for years.

Time is no friend.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Letter from a prisoner

I've done so many things that counted for nothing.I always rebelled against my father, who was a preacher, and grew up believing nothing could touch me.

I started by forging checks. Checks led to credit card crimes. The Feds got me on forgery and possession of marijuana.


But that didn't teach me anything.I still didn't believe anything really bad could happen to me. I got out of prison and decided 9 to 5 work wasn't going to earn me the kind of money I was used to. I was in so much pain, and had so much hurt. I picked up where I left off and got arrested again.

The cycle continued. Out of jail, then back in. And always the same feeling of not being able to forgive myself for shaming my family. I was so tired of my life.

I hit bottom after getting arrested yet again. I wanted to die so badly. I said to God, "You've got to give me something to hold onto because I can't go on."

I opened my Bible after that to Isaiah 54:7-8, and read words that burned into my heart.

 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
   but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
In a surge of anger
   I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
   I will have compassion on you,”
   says the LORD your Redeemer. 
 
That was the beginning. There were more ups and downs. I had messed up my life from age 24 to38. It was time to stop testing God and to trust him with every part of my life.
 
I'm looking forward to starting over. I really believe my life up until now was orchestrated by God to bring me to him.
 
 
I'm going to serve him after I leave here. There are a lot of young people out there living like I did. God can do the same thing for them that he did for me.
 
I did so many things in my life that counted for nothing. Now my life is filled with joy following him.
 
-Morris Galliard
*Free On The Inside

 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

More victory in Angola-

  This is a terrific video from Haven Today. Charles Morris interviews the Lousiana State Penitentiary radio DJ ( an inmate). It's very inspiring.

Warden Burl Cain has made unbelievable improvements there. It is a testimony to what faith in God can do. In my opinion Angola is a model that every prison should follow. Our own  Director, Garry Sims was an inmate there when he first heard the gospel message from Ed Martin, founder of Hope Aglow many, many years ago.


 Pray for Garry, his brother is suffering so much with terminal cancer. He needs our support. Send him an email, let him know you care.
garrysims@earthlink.net

Thanks for reading!

God is alive and well on Death Row

Monday, March 14, 2011

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 If you aren't visiting the prisoner because you wouldn't feel comfortable in a jail, or you don't feel like you can relate-
At least send us...

Please donate to Hope Aglow.
Click here for our secure donation site, no amount is too small.


Thank you so much.
Hope Aglow, a voice of  love and mercy to the voiceless men, women and juveniles incarcerated in America.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

" Man, you weren't arrested, you were rescued!"

 It comes as no surprise to most of us that drugs definitely have a negative effect on the ability to make good decisions. For those men, women, and juveniles who find themselves behind bars because of choices they made involving the use or distribution of drugs, or crimes committed related to illegally obtaining money for the purpose of funding a drug habit, or for alcohol abuse related DUI offenses, incarceration can be a blessing in disguise.


"The evidence indicates that drug users are more likely than nonusers to commit crimes, that arrestees frequently were under the influence of a drug at the time they committed their offense, and that drugs generate violence.  The percentage of Federal and State prison inmates who reported they were under the influence of drugs at the time of the offense is about forty percent."*
 *U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics Report on
Alcohol, Drug Use and Crime
NCJ–168632, 




In Lennie Spitale's book, Prison Ministry: Understanding Prison Culture Inside and Out, this prison chaplain writes about his many conversations with inmates over the years that have " wound up praising God for sending them to prison- and meaning it from the bottom of their hearts.They realize, he says, "that God has saved them from their self-destructive courses and slowed them down long enough, to think about, and comprehend, ultimate reality. It is grace that has enabled them to take a long hard look at themselves and realize- perhaps for the first time- that they were literally destroying themselves, and in many cases the lives of those around them."

This is why we believe Jesus tells us to remember the prisoner. The man in prison has been placed in a very receptive position. God is very close to those who are helpless, broken, wounded, and he wants us to be too.  





Friday, March 11, 2011

Saved in prison, used by God


"When a judge sentences a man to a life sentence, 
it's life and you've got to live it. 
It's like getting a two thousand piece picture puzzle
and now you've got to put it together. 
You've got to put your life together.
Get your mind right. 
Recognize that God has a job 
for you to do and a duty to perform... 
When you come up here, it's up to you- 
you can surrender to do right or to do wrong. 
My choice was that I was going to make it."


This is a quotation from Eugene Tanniehill, he was convicted of a 1960 murder during an armed robbery. He was given a life sentence plus 25 years for the murder/armed robbery, and an additional 4-1/2 years for three counts of forgery. Active for the past 35 years as an inmate preacher, he is known as the Bishop of Angola. He was released in 2007, after receiving a pardon from the Governor.

The gospel is about changed lives. But, how will they hear if no one will tell them?  At Hope Aglow, we tell men and women that with Jesus, their life which may seem impossible to them right now, can be made brand new. We tell them God has a plan and a purpose for them right where they are. Today they can start all over, sins forgiven. It is the HOPE of Hope Aglow.









Tuesday, March 8, 2011

May he rot in hell.

Many are they that rise up against me
Many there be which say of my soul
There is no help for him in God

But thou, oh Lord are a shield for me
My glory and the lifter of my head
 Psalm 3


How many times have you heard this from the lips of the angry, suffering victim of a crime after they were interviewed? May they rot, (or burn) in hell. Anger is a typical response toward someone who has hurt you or one of your family, or a close friend.



 We at Hope Aglow are intimately acquainted with the suffering that goes on inside prisons. Prison is a daily reminder of the harm that has been done, and the consequences. God will forgive you, but quite often your victim or their family, will not.

It is difficult. It takes a lot of grace to deal with the magnitude of what has been done, and to be able to forgive yourself when the whole world hates you. It is very hard to lift a prisoner's head. Only God can do it.

Many of the men and women in prison are themselves struggling with a need to forgive parents or caregivers who victimized them during their childhood. Many of them have so much anger, hurt and resentment inside, so much pain. It's hard for us to understand. Actually we cannot, we can only pray to the God who sees- El Roi. He is just,completely true, holy and fair.

God hears the groans of the prisoner. He is very close to the brokenhearted. This is where healing begins, at the point of brokenness. This is why the gospel is so vital inside a jail.

Monday, March 7, 2011

What does Hope Aglow do with $5.00?

  Psalm 102: 18-22

Let this be written for a future generation,
   that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:
 “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
   from heaven he viewed the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners
   and release those condemned to death.”
So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion
   and his praise in Jerusalem
when the peoples and the kingdoms
   assemble to worship the LORD.


Bibles developed especially for incarcerated men and women.
 Developed in conjunction with Prison Fellowship, these paperback Bibles and New Testaments are powerful tools for prison ministry. We hand these out for free to anyone that requests a Bible. Sadly, they must first be requested by filling out a form which is given to a volunteer coordinator, who in turn passes the request along to us.

A prayer request for all men and women in prison is to have free access to these materials. We cannot carry an armload of Bibles into jail and walk up and down the cell block handing out Bibles. Those days are gone.
Fortunately, prisoners may still request a Bible, and we are blessed to have the resources to purchase and hand them out. Thanks for your donations. They mean so much. A Bible is a most precious possession.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Resources!

Below is a link to the Billy Graham Institute for Prison Ministries website*,  a part of Wheaton College.  Their stated mission is: "to be a training and resource center that equips the church for effective ministry to offenders, ex-offenders and their families."

Resources for families, volunteers and anyone affected by incarceration   


"I do not know of any more fertile ground for the gospel in all of the United States than our jails and prisons.  I make that statement unequivocally and without reservation.  If you are looking for a more fruitful harvest field, apart from leaving the country, you will be hard-pressed to find it." 
Lennie Spitale
 
 
Those impacted by crime and incarceration (including families, ex-offenders, ministry volunteers and professionals as well as correctional officers) are in need of information, research and resources.

"The quickest way to find out what resources for spiritual counsel is available in the facility where your loved one is housed is by calling the Chaplain or Volunteer Coordinator and asking what local ministries regularly volunteer in the facility.  You may then contact the ministry directly and request that they visit with your loved one.  You might also check the ministry directory to see what national or state-level ministries are available in your area and contact them directly.  Your loved one may also request a visit from the facility chaplain as well."*


http://www.bgcprisonministries.com/index.php?id=193  < Ministry Directory







Friday, March 4, 2011

...in prison together!

  "Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.  Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.  Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering" Hebrews 13:3

Remember those in prison as you were together with them?  Did you know that the Greek term used for "those in prison" - συνδεο means, (passively) be a fellow-prisoner ,(figuratively):-be bound with?

Imagine being shackled to a prisoner, you could not forget them if you tried. 




Prisoners are incarcerated because they are being punished for crimes against society. Why does the Bible tell us to remember them? Not just remember, but really remember, like... I am right there with you.



These are Barnes notes on this verse. I think they are worth reading in their entirety, because believe me- anyone in prison is suffering.

"Remember them that are in bonds - All who are "bound;" whether prisoners of war; captives in dungeons; those detained in custody for trial; those who are imprisoned for righteousness' sake, or those held in slavery. The word used here will include all instances where "bonds, shackles, chains were ever used." Perhaps there is an immediate allusion to their fellow-Christians who were suffering imprisonment on account of their religion, of whom there were doubtless many at that time, but the "principle" will apply to every case of those who are imprisoned or oppressed.

The word "remember" implies more than that we are merely to "think" of them;  It means that we are to remember them "with appropriate sympathy;" or as we should wish others to remember us if we were in their circumstances. That is, we are

(1) to feel deep compassion for them;
(2) we are to remember them in our prayers;
(3) we are to remember them, as far as practicable, with aid for their relief.

Christianity teaches us to sympathize with all the oppressed, the suffering, and the sad; and there are more of this class than we commonly suppose, and they have stronger claims on our sympathy than we commonly realize. In America there are not far from ten thousand ( now 2.3 million)  confined in prison - the father separated from his children; the husband from his wife; the brother from his sister; and all cut off from the living world. Their fare is coarse, and their couches hard, and the ties which bound them to the living world are rudely snapped asunder. Many of them are in solitary dungeons; all of them are sad and melancholy men. True, they are there for crime; but they are men - they are our brothers. They have still the feelings of our common humanity, and many of them feel their separation from wife, and children, and home, as keenly as we would.*

*Barnes' Notes on the New Testament by Albert Barnes (Jun 30, 1962)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Which sheep do we have to feed, Lord?


you have so many-                 

these cute ones?




 
 
 
 
these behind bars?






these behind bars seem dirty



Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep."   John 21: 17 NIV












Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Visiting Daddy in jail-


"There are four main questions that children ask or want to ask their incarcerated parents:

  • Where are you?
  • Why are you there?
  • When are you coming home?
  • Are you okay?      
There are also two questions in the hearts and minds of prisoners’ children that they rarely ask. These questions are often “behind the scenes” in their conversations.

  • Do you blame me?
  • Do you love me?
Often when one parent is incarcerated, children become overly concerned about and attached to the other parent or primary caretaker. They fear that she or he too will be taken away. Many children are extremely angry. They feel abandoned by parents who risked incarceration by their conflict with the law. Parents generally see little connection between their criminal activity and their children, and certainly do not commit a crime for the purpose of abandoning their families. But children often interpret the parent’s behavior solely in connection to themselves.” If you cared about me you wouldn’t have gone to jail (left me).”*


Incarceration affects the whole family. It is especially devastating to innocent children. The average age of a child whose parent is in prison is only eight years old.  Jesus' command for us to "remember the prisoner, extends to the "widow and the fatherless" as well. Please pray for these children, and for the volunteers of Hope Aglow as we counsel and comfort parents in prison. They are broken and hurting very much. Only Jesus love and forgiveness can begin to touch the pain that is there.


* Ann Adalist-Estrin, adapted material from How Can I Help , Children of Prisoners Library.


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

America is the land of the second chance...

Free to leave- now what?
“We know from long experience that if [former prisoners] can’t find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit more crimes and return to prison. … America is the land of the second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.” – President George W. Bush


 A better life?
 

A better life is impossible without a better heart, and a new way of thinking. That's the mission of Hope Aglow- sharing the way to a better life. We consistently share the message of the gospel with incarcerated men and women, and they are hungry for it. We provide Bible studies, devotional materials and Bibles to all who ask.

We are a Sunday church service, a letter from a friend,  and a visitor who genuinely cares. Would you support our work? It doesn't take much for us to do the work we do now, but we have dreams of building bridges for inmates to start this better life through learning job skills, getting involved in a church, and staying plugged into a recovery program.

We have a small start on this ministry of outreach to newly released men and women, but we want to grow! Please pray for us. Prayer makes all the resources of God available to us.

Thanks!