John Sims is an inmate at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo County, serving a 23-year sentence for first-degree burglary. During his time in the medium security facility, Sims has struggled with depression and hopelessness at the thought of the long years still to be served there.
But there was hope to be found inside those prison walls. With the help of Prisoners to Pastors, a joint project of Prison Fellowship and World Impact, John was introduced to a God who had a plan for his life.
“When God found me, I was suicidal,” Sims tells the San Luis Obispo Tribune. “The years ahead of me were daunting, but not anymore.”
The Prisoners to Pastors program is a four-year program, combining seminary-level teaching with practical preparation for a life beyond the bars. The objective is to produce leaders inside the prison and, later, in the communities to which they return.
“Prison culture is such that men are taught to isolate,” says Dave Dove, the Prison Fellowship area director for the Monterey Bay area. “That is the way they survive in a brutal and repressive environment. This program cuts completely against the grain of that culture to create an environment where men are willing to be honest with each other about their deepest struggles and needs.”
For some, this preparation will not leave the prison yard. “Prison is my ministry now,” says Robert Morales, who is serving a 35-years-to-life sentence for armed robbery. “I have attained a place in life where I am comfortable I may die in prison. I am here for a sacred reason — to call others to God.”
For others like Sims, there is the added challenge of finding the needed support and encouragement after release.
“The bigger challenge is bridging the program back into the community and finding churches that will receive them and then take it to the next level,” says Dove. “We are pretty good at locking people up and keeping them there. We are not as good at welcoming them back to the community and supporting them in a way that keeps them from returning.”
In order to ease prisoners like Sims back into society, Prison Fellowship is working with local congregations to establish “Bridge Churches.” A Bridge Church adopts a former inmate for a year, providing encouragement and mentoring, as well as assisting the ex-prisoner in their search for necessities like clothing, housing, and employment. If you or your church are interested in becoming a Bridge Church, click here for more information.