Prison Fellowship

Remember Those in Prison

  • DONATE
    • One-Time
    • Monthly
    • Angel Tree
    • Other Ways to Give
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe
    • Angel Tree Christmas
    • Pray With Us
    • Justice Action Center
    • Share on Social
  • STORIES
    • Stories
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • The Restoration Series [Videos]
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Why Help Prisoners?
    • What We Do
    • In-Prison
      • Prison Fellowship Academy
      • In-Prison Programs
      • Hope Events
      • Inside Journal
      • Women’s Ministry
      • Create: New Beginnings
    • Preparing Prisoners for Reentry
    • Angel Tree
      • Register your church or group for Angel Tree
      • Angel Tree Overall
      • Angel Tree Christmas
      • Angel Tree Camping
      • Angel Tree Sports Clinic
    • Justice Reform
      • Second Chance Month
      • Sign the Justice Declaration
      • Get a Copy of Outrageous Justice
    • Warden Exchange
  • RESOURCES
    • Subscribe to Our Email
    • Support for Friends and Family of Prisoners
      • Coping with Incarceration
      • Resources for Prisoners
      • Resources for Children of Prisoners
      • Supporting Successful Prisoner Reentry
    • Resources for Churches and Volunteers
      • In-Prison Ministry
      • Reentry Ministry
      • Family Ministry
      • Justice Reform
      • Mentoring Ministry
    • Resources for Angel Tree® Church Coordinators
    • Resources for Chaplains
    • Resources for D.O.C.
    • Justice Reform Resources
    • For Media Outlets
  • ABOUT US
    • Leadership
    • Chuck Colson
    • Our Beliefs
    • Financials
      • 2020 Annual Report
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
    • In The News

The Civil Rights Leader Who Sounded the Call for Prison Ministry

March 6, 2018 by Grayson Pope

  • THE CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER WHO SOUNDED THE CALL FOR PRISON MINISTRY

    How One Man’s Faithfulness Brought the Gospel to Thousands of Prisoners

    by Grayson Pope

Rev. Aaron Johnson was tough. After all, he had survived being beaten and dragged from a segregated dime-store lunch counter. But it was the plight of prisoners in North Carolina that brought him to tears.

He had worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights movement. He held the position of Secretary of Corrections in his state. All of this prepared him for the moment in 1990, when he pleaded with Prison Fellowship's leadership team to help him reach prisoners with the Gospel.

As told in his autobiography, Man from Macedonia, Rev. Johnson opened his mouth to start his appeal, but tears came instead. Moments later, the entire leadership team was weeping with him over the hopeless state of so many prisoners around the country.

When his voice returned, he said, "I am the man from Macedonia, and I've come to ask for your help."

Echoing the Apostle Paul's vision of a man in Macedonia begging him to come and help, Johnson's request for in-prison evangelism sounded straightforward but enormous. He wanted to reach every prisoner in North Carolina with the Gospel—in just one week.

But could Rev. Johnson and Prison Fellowship® pull off such an audacious plan?

ACTS 16:9-10

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Rev. Aaron Johnson

THE MACEDONIA PROJECT

The first answer to Rev. Johnson's prayer came within two weeks. The Maclellan Foundation awarded Prison Fellowship a $1.5 million grant—half the funds needed to pull off the appropriately named Macedonia Project. With enough money to get started, Prison Fellowship got to work building a strategy.

The next two years involved a flurry of activity: raising money, organizing and training volunteers, recruiting platformed speakers, and enlisting prison chaplains and wardens. North Carolina wardens either chose to put on their own event or relied on Prison Fellowship's ready-to-use format. Either way, Prison Fellowship recruited volunteers and churches to help at each prison.

Aaron Johnson shakes hands with Richard Payne at a Prison Fellowship event in 1991. 

When the Macedonia Project was finally underway, a variety of in-prison events were offered. There was a basketball game where prisoners could take on a team of local college players, testimony from guest speakers, and a clear Gospel presentation. Volunteers and church members talked with those who needed follow-up, or prayed with anyone who chose to accept Christ.

In the end, Operation Macedonia included 345 events inside 95 North Carolina prisons, executed with the help of 125 special speakers and 2,700 volunteers. More than 75 percent of the state's prisoners heard the Gospel.

By 1994, Prison Fellowship conducted similar events in Oregon and New Mexico prisons. Soon, they had spread through the country.

HOPE EVENTS

Today, Prison Fellowship brings the Gospel to prisoners through Hope Events. Like those early events, each Hope Event™ introduces prisoners to the Good News of Jesus Christ through yard events featuring inspirational speakers, musicians, and other attractions. In 2017, more than 19,800 prisoners attended 107 Hope Events. More than 3,500 of those prisoners made first-time decisions or rededications to follow Christ.

Since 1991, these events have reached more than 700,000 prisoners through musical performances, dynamic preaching, testimonies from former prisoners, and other attractions. And they continue to bring hope around the country.

2018 BLACK HISTORY MONTH HOPE EVENTS

  • 12 events in Illinois
  • 959 prisoners in attendance
  • 225 decisions made for Christ
  • 209 recommitments to Christ

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

For the last 25 years, Prison Fellowship has offered Hope Events in Illinois in honor of Black History Month. This year, 12 of these Hope Events were held in prisons across Illinois, where about 60 percent of prisoners are African-American. The events featured a message encouraging unity amongst people, prisoners, and races.

Mary Johnson, Illinois Field Director, said, "Our desire was to unite our hearts to [the prisoners' hearts]; to encourage them, to bring hope, truth, and for them to feel remembered and loved by the outside Church."

Rev. Johnson's dream of bringing the Gospel to prisoners continues today through the work of thousands of high-capacity volunteers who work tirelessly to bring the hope of Christ to men and women behind bars.

hope-events
hope events

Photos of Rev. Aaron Johnson Used with Permission from The Micah Project

Article Written by Grayson Pope

HOPE EVENTS

Do you want to help bring hope and healing to prisoners? Sign up to volunteer for in-prison ministry and help us share the Gospel at one of the 130 Hope Events planned for 2018.

DID YOU ENJOY THIS ARTICLE?

Make sure you don' t miss out on any of our helpful articles and incredible transformation stories! Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter, and you' ll get great content delivered directly to your inbox.

Your privacy is safe with us. We will never sell, trade, or share your personal information.

SUPPORT THE WORK OF PRISON FELLOWSHIP

SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

 

MORE FEATURED ARTICLES AND STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Virtual Reporters Roundtable to Focus on Crack/Powder Cocaine Disparities on Tuesday

A Desperate Prayer: How Teresa Stanfield Broke Free from Addiction

#EndTheDisparity Virtual Reporters Roundtable Scheduled Following Lobby Week

Faith Groups Urge Tennessee Lawmakers to Address Criminal Justice Issues This Session

How a Cancer Diagnosis Brought Susan and 300 Prisoners Together

The Power of a Prisoner’s Prayer

Prison Fellowship Reacts to the Passing of John Baker

Update on Prison Fellowship and COVID-19

Free to Advocate: How Justice Ambassador Robert Taylor Defied the Odds

Inspiring History Makers: How February Hope Events Honor Black History

Filed Under: Feature Stories, Prison & Prisoners Tagged With: Civil Rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Hope Event, Illinois, North Carolina, Reverend Aaron Johnson, the Macedonian Project, The Man from Macedonia

RESOURCES & INFORMATION

  • For Families & Friends of Prisoners
  • For Churches & Angel Tree Volunteers
  • For Media Outlets
  • For Wardens & Prison Officials

PF®

NEW ON OUR BLOG

  • Virtual Reporters Roundtable to Focus on Crack/Powder Cocaine Disparities on Tuesday
  • A Desperate Prayer: How Teresa Stanfield Broke Free from Addiction
  • #EndTheDisparity Virtual Reporters Roundtable Scheduled Following Lobby Week
  • Faith Groups Urge Tennessee Lawmakers to Address Criminal Justice Issues This Session

FIND US ONLINE

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE
LINKEDIN

RECEIVE UPDATES

Sign up to receive news, stories, and information based on your needs and interests.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

PFM®

  • CONTACT US
  • EMPLOYMENT
  • PRIVACY
  • FINANCIALS
© 2021 PRISON FELLOWSHIP®

Angel Tree®, Angel Tree Camping®, and Warden Exchange® are programs of Prison Fellowship®.