Update: Helen Graduates From the Academy!

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by Lou Haviland

After more than four decades in prison, Helen finally discovered her purpose in life.

purpose

Throughout Helen’s* more than four decades in prison, she has asked God, “What is the purpose behind all these years?”

For a long time, Helen went through the motions, serving her time dutifully. It wasn’t until she signed up to participate in the Prison Fellowship® Academy at her facility that so many pieces of her life’s puzzle fell into place.

LOSING EVERYTHING

At 37, Helen committed a crime resulting in a life sentence. After her sentencing, she felt lost, without any purpose. Her marriage was over, and custody of her kids was granted to her husband. She saw them infrequently but kept in touch by mail as much as possible.

When Helen was growing up, her parents taught her about God, but it was in prison where she really began crying out to Him for strength.

“When you come to prison, everything you have is stripped from you,” she says, “so you have to go back to what you've been trained to know and believe all your life and rely on that. It's been my faith in the Lord that's kept me. I could not have done a single day in prison without God in my life.”

You can read more about Helen's life in our original story here.

A GOD-PROVIDED FAMILY

Helen is a new Academy® graduate. When she first heard about the program’s yearlong, biblically based curriculum and its focus on the Values of Good Citizenship, she knew she needed to be part of the next class.

The program helped unburden her of years and years of pain, loss, and grief.

“We all laid our fears and tears on the line,” she told those attending her graduation ceremony, “and [we all] spoke openly and honestly of things that had held us in bondage for so long.”

Through the Academy, God has also provided Helen with a close-knit community of women who are like a family to her.

“I have had young women that have been like daughters to me,” she says. “And I've had young women that have been like granddaughters to me as well. … We’ve built a bond that I know I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. It’s beautiful.”

Watch Helen share a message of encouragement with her fellow graduates in this new video!

* Name changed to protect privacy