Pastor Quovadis Marshall opens up about his transformation from prisoner to pastor. And it all started with a second chance.
Men and women leaving prison after serving their sentences face countless challenges when they return to their communities.
“Incarceration is only part of the punishment,” Pastor Quovadis Marshall, who is known as Pastor Q, says. “Oftentimes, men and women who are released feel like they’ve stepped into a second prison.”
PASTOR Q'S SECOND CHANCE
Pastor Q knows from experience. Reflecting on the weeks and months following his release from prison decades ago, he recalls thinking, ‘Does anyone care? Will I ever be accepted? The people that I’m doing life with in the workplace, what will they do if they find out about what I’ve done?’
His second chance began with the Prison Fellowship Academy®, a yearlong in-prison program that enabled Pastor Q to replace destructive behaviors with renewed purpose and biblically based life principles. Led by volunteers from local churches, the Academy prepared him to shepherd his own flock after his release from prison.
“That kind of ecosystem created a great environment for me to be released back into. So that what was started in prison could continue to grow into what I’ve become today.”
BECOMING THE KEY FOR SECOND CHANCES
He has a heart for unlocking second chances for other formerly incarcerated men and women.
“Twenty years ago, the church gave me a second chance,” Pastor Q says. “And right now, as a pastor in my community, where I committed my crime, we are giving second-chance opportunities to thousands of people.”
April has been designated Second Chance Month® to bring attention to the barriers formerly incarcerated people face as they reenter society. You can make a difference in the lives of men and women in your community—and share the Gospel—by standing up for second chances.
This Second Chance Month, find out how you can be the key for those in need of a new beginning.
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