I am in New York this week. I spent yesterday with our field staff, pastors, and partners. There is an eagerness to serve here, and our supporters are thrilled with the new focus of Prison Fellowship. “We’ve missed you,” one pastor told me.
Exodus Ministries – the premiere re-entry ministry in America designed specifically for the inner city – is a great partner of ours, and is thrilled to see our renewed emphasis on empowering the church.
I met a pastor who has been part of planting 20 successful churches in New York City. He was an “Angel Tree kid” – both of his parents were incarcerated and came to know Jesus as a result of Prison Fellowship programs. He remembers a man coming to his grandma’s house and giving him gift “from his dad.” The man then told him, “Your dad loves you, and so does Jesus,” and prayed with him. He is passionate about reaching into the prisons and caring for those coming out because of Angel Tree.
I am geeked! God is so good and faithful – let’s continue to serve Him and Jesus’ Church.
Pray as I meet with a number of our supporters over the next three days and as I visit more of our ministry partners. Ask God to open their hearts to the lost, the lonely, and the forgotten – and their families.