Sometimes God uses a broken person to fix a city. When God gave Nehemiah the vision to rebuild Jerusalem, he was in exile. He was a captive. He was bent under the weight of anguish. But that brokenness was the raw material God used to send him back to the City of Zion and restore it – and its people.
In our day, God is raising up a whole new set of Nehemiahs, whose brokenness makes them uniquely suited be used by God to fix the violence, crime, addiction, and despair that plague communities. Donald is one of those Nehemiahs. After spending his youth on drugs and guns, Donald is in prison in Michigan, but God has given him a vision to, in his own words, “rebuild what I helped destroy – our communities.” As God redeems his past mistakes, Donald has a unique opportunity to help other young people benefit from his perspective and see past the persuasive lies of “the streets.” His testimony is credible, because he’s been there!
Donald’s story is powerful but not unique. All across the country, God is drawing men and women out of darkness and into light, so that they in turn can be a light to others. As only He can do, God is making former criminals into the answer to crime!
Prison Fellowship’s Prisoners to Pastors program is one of the places where we are seeing many Nehemiahs emerge. As men and women behind bars intensively study the Word of God, He is giving them a vision to rebuild and restore what has been broken. Will you join them – and us – in this work? Learn how at www.prisonfellowship.org/get-involved.
