Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

As I write this on Monday afternoon, we’re anticipating our first Monday night inmate services at Chester County Prison in over 3.5 years.  Last week was to be our first night back, but storms knocked out partial power at the prison, cancelling all evening activities.  Today’s TV weather report calls for the same thing tonight – during travel to the prison they expect strong thunderstorms and possible tornadoes.  Sure feels like the enemy doesn’t want us back out there lifting up the name of Jesus and preaching salvation available for sinners who would confess with their mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

 

Our God is so much stronger than any storm, and His will be done.  Jesus demonstrated Lordship over nature when he commanded the wind and waves to cease from a boat in the middle of a storm.  I have no doubt He can do the same for the team going into the prison tonight, and we’ve asked Him for that in Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

We’re back from the prison! God positively answered many prayers to hold back the storms. In fact, I didn’t see even one storm warning on my weather apps.  God is so good. And for those of us He calls into prison ministry, the truth of Romans 8:28 was very evident last night.

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

 

This may sound funny, but it felt good to be back inside Chester County Prison.  The men that came out to the services were so happy to see us and commented how much it meant to them that we were there. It was a wonderful evening of prayer, singing, testimonies, and bringing them the Gospel message.  The turnout was better than expected, with 20 men at the first service and 13 at the second service.  No doubt the numbers will climb once word gets around that we’re back.

 

So, for the first time in 3-1/2 years, here are inmate prayer requests collected by the team during the Monday evening services in the prison chapel.  We ask their names so that you can pray for them by name, and they very much appreciate that we send out their requests to you.  Thank you for lifting these men up in prayer, and the things they care about. God bless you.

 

Grace and peace,

Rick

 

 

 

Inmate Prayer Requests from Medium Security (7pm service):

 

• Mark – for leniency and mercy in my case, and for my family and friends on the outside.
• Dion – for freedom, and for the best possible outcome for everyone’s cases.
• Phil – for another chance, and for my sister who will have her 2nd baby in 2 months – that Mom and baby would be healthy.
• Dave – for forgiveness.
• Bernard – for forgiveness, and peace throughout the cell blocks, and for our country that is in trouble.
• Scott – for my 3 children to be doing OK without Dad being there.
• Brandon – for mercy, and for a close friend who’s grandmother just died.
• Eric – for guidance.
• Charles – for redemption.
• Vincent – for a way out of here, and for my children, my grandchildren, and my brothers and sisters.
• Phil T – For my coworker Jesse with bladder cancer who can’t work.
• Wayne – for my girlfriend who is going through radiation therapy.
• Elwood – for my family and my girlfriend.
• Mario – for transformation.
• Nazir – for everybody in the jail.
• Andrew – for fairness.

 

Inmate Prayer Requests from Minimum Security (8:30pm service)

 

• Nick – to be back with my family as soon as possible.
• Rob – my health.
• James – for those that accuse us, and for my Mom Carol who has tumors, pray they are not cancer, and pray for my sister.
• Jordan – for the guys back on the blocks and for my mother. And that I get released at my Friday court date.
• Donovan – for my family and friends back in Georgia, especially those involved in some feuds.
• Keith – for my friends and family back in Louisiana.
• John – that I would not lose my house.
• Dan – for my son, Dan jr. going to Sweden.
• Eric – for my family and my kids.
• Will – pray for everyone and their families, for my family and my significant other to receive and recognize God’s grace, and for my 2 young daughters to feel God’s love.
• Dan T – for our country and our leaders.

 

 

Prayers from Onesimus Ministries

 

Ongoing thanks and praise to our great God for allowing volunteers back into Chester County Prison to minister in-person to inmates.

 

Continued prayers lifting up our wonderful Chaplains Rhonda and Heinrich, may God bless them with everything they need as they minister to inmates, staff, and families connected with CCP.

 

For prison operations to run smoothly with volunteers back in the mix, and prison staff to be accepting of additions to the prison schedule as more volunteer teams get phased in during the upcoming months.

 

For various volunteer groups to be eager with anticipation of their return to prison ministry, and that God would bless them with the volunteers needed.

 

For the aftercare ministries who disciple recently released men and women, that they would be blessed with all the resources and volunteers needed to help former inmates build upon the foundation of Christ.

 

If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at info@onesimusministries.org.

 

 

These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/

 

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, click HERE.

 

www.onesimusministries.org

 

 

 

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

God hears our prayers. And God answers our prayers. His answers are often not exactly WHAT we expected, and not WHEN we expected, but His will is perfect and ours is not. So it only makes sense to roll with what He gives us.

 

Our big news is that Chester County Prison is finally back open to religious volunteers! We may wonder (and complain) why it took 3.5 years to resume inmate worship services, but God’s timing is perfect.

 

We are excited to get back into the prison and interact with inmates, showing them Christ’s love as we lift them in prayer and worship alongside them. We get a glimpse of what Matthew recorded in the verses below. 

 

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

 

We also experience the truth of this passage as the volunteer team returning to the prison is smaller than before. So we appeal to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers.

 

If you know anyone who’s wondered about prison ministry (as I once did), or feels the distinct call of the Lord to jump in, please forward this email to them.  Or if that’s you, let’s have a conversation. Simply reply to this email and we can answer questions and guide folks through the process of joining the team and getting the appropriate clearances (all free).

 

We appreciate our Chaplains, Board members, the prison ministry team, and all of our supporters.  God has blessed us with many servant hearts willing to do what He calls us to do, and God always provides.  Thanks as always for your part, and please reach out if you’re feeling the Spirit’s nudge to get a little more involved.  God bless you!

 

Grace and peace,

Rick

 

 

UPDATE: This was going to be the first email in quite a while to contain inmate prayer requests collected at the evening services, but the severe storms that rolled through last night knocked out power to parts of the prison and all activities (including church) had to be cancelled.  So Heinrich stepped up and provided the requests below.

 

Inmate Prayer Requests

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Prayer Requests from Chaplain Heinrich

 

Here are the requests for this week:

 

J.S. – “I am low of funds and on faith”.

 

K.H. – Insisting that he wants only Jehovah’s Witness literature to read.

 

B.E. – “May I have religious material on Pagan/Wicca”.

 

W.M. – “I seek material on Santaria”.

 

F.H. – “I would like to go over some stuff about my family with you”.

 

 

Prayers from Onesimus Ministries

 

Thankful praise to our great God for allowing volunteers back into Chester County Prison to minister in-person to inmates.

 

Please pray for the Onesimus/Prison Fellowship team going back into the prison after 3.5 years, and that the services would run smoothly.  Also pray for more team members to be trained up, especially for the 8:15pm service.

 

Pray for smooth operations as many of the staff may not be used to the volunteer team coming in and the chapel being back in business. Also pray for “fertile soil” in the quantity and attitude of the inmates that come out for services.

 

Ongoing prayers for strength and wisdom for our wonderful Chaplains Rhonda and Heinrich as they tirelessly serve the inmates, staff, and families connected with CCP.

 

Prayers of health and well-being for all inmates, and may there be peace among the entire prison population.

 

Pray for the various ministry teams from different churches that will go into the prison throughout the week to minister to different cell blocks.

 

Pray for the volunteers and clients in the aftercare ministries, where recently released inmates find ongoing support of the faith life initiated (or revived) while they were in prison.  May the needs of these ministries be met with adequate resources and volunteers, and may everyone involved get a very real sense of the Lord’s presence in their lives.

 

 

If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at info@onesimusministries.org.

 

 

These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/

 

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, click HERE.

 

www.onesimusministries.org

 

 

 

 Praise the Lord!

This afternoon we got word from officials at Chester County Prison that effective Monday, Aug 7th, cleared volunteers may resume our 2 weekly inmate church services in the prison Chapel. 

Our team is preparing to hold worship services Monday evening at 7:00pm and 8:15pm.

Please join us in thanking our Heavenly Father and pray for the team that all will go well during our first inmate church services in 3.5 years. 

Grace and peace, 

Rick

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I find it very interesting when you see several things come together, almost like God is trying to teach us something 😉  For example, this morning’s devotion by Rick Warren was centered on the first verse I ever memorized, in Philippians 2…

It’s not that uncommon to read a devotion based on a scripture we’ve memorized, but add in the facts that selflessness has been one of my greatest personal challenges (which is why I consider that scripture one of my life verses), plus I’m on vacation with my family at the beach this week, which gives me pause to wonder,  “Lord, what are you up to here?”

Being in close quarters with my kids again (they are both grown and live on their own now) gives me ample opportunity to practice the words I’ve memorized. And it’s like God gave me a nudge and said “you know that life verse you hold dear? Let’s put it into practice this week, shall we?”

Like many parents, I don’t feel like I did the best job raising my kids. I was often distracted with my job, friends, my own interests, or even ministry when I should have been fully invested in their young lives. Thank God my wife is such a great mom and consistently modeled selflessness so they could see how God wants us to interact, especially with those closest to us.

And we serve a God of second chances. And third chances. And forth.. you get the idea.

That’s one of the main messages we like to preach in the prison- that God hasn’t given up on them and there will be plenty more opportunities to do it right, the way He would have us do it.

We’re thankful for our front-line workers in the prison, Rhonda and Heinrich, and the many opportunities they have each week to provide consistent messages of love, forgiveness, and second chances to the inmates and staff at Chester County Prison. And we’re thankful for all of you who stand with us to support them through prayer and other means, that God’s word would continue to go forth and change lives behind bars. God bless your week, and surprise someone in your life with a totally selfless act this week. See the difference it makes.

Grace and peace,
Rick

Prayer Requests from Chaplain Rhonda

Here are the requests for this week:

Prayers from Onesimus Ministries

If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at info@onesimusministries.org.

These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, click HERE.

www.onesimusministries.org

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I was blessed to retire from corporate America at the end of last year.  You can read all the books on retirement you like, it’s still a strange experience with surprises along the way.  If you over-analyze everything like I do, you begin to question everything now that you’re “on your own”.  Going from evenings and weekends to having ALL of your time available can be daunting. 

 

Of course it’s great at first – like extended vacation.  Sleeping in, catching up on projects at home (or not), catching up on reading, having time to go to the gym and not be in a hurry for anything – a whole new world.  Yet through it all, I was plagued with wondering if there’s more I should be doing.  God blessed me now with an abundance of time – am I using it effectively for Him?

 

I prayed about it for months, had others pray for me as well, and sought wise counsel from mature Christian brothers and sisters. Finally, inspiration came through helping a friend solve his HVAC issues.  He was quoted hundreds of dollars for what seemed an easy fix.  I dropped by and got him fixed up in no time, saving him hundreds.  On the way home it struck me – I could help out others just like that.  I love to troubleshoot and solve problems, and I’ve done all sorts of home repair work for decades. 

 

That evening, I read a biker devotional describing how different kinds of bikes (sport bikes, touring bikes, and cruisers) excel at different types of riding.  They’re all different, but it’s still riding (and still lots of fun!).  Like how people are all made with different skills and strengths, but with one overall purpose.

 

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.  Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

 

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. (Ephesians 4:4)

 

The picture was becoming clear, and now the big question was how to use these skills and gifts for God’s glory?

 

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.(1 Corinthians 10:31)

 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.(Colossians 3:17)

 

An old idea re-emerged with new vigor- why not become a Christian Handyman?  I told some family and friends about the idea, and they all thought it was a good fit.  Now I’m excited to start my own Handyman business to help people out, save them some money, all while spreading the love of Christ.  Lots of details to iron out, but it feels good to have a mission again.

 

What about you?  What are you good at? Are you using it for God’s glory? Our Chaplains are gifted at counseling, ministering to inmates, sharing the Word, and being God’s shepherds over His flock in Chester County Prison.  We’re honored to obey God’s will through supporting Rhonda’s and Heinrich’s gifts, and we are so very thankful for all of you and how you join us in that support.

 

May you all experience the rich blessings of our great God as you exercise your gifts to His glory!

 

Grace and Peace,

Rick

 

 

Prayer Requests from Chaplain Heinrich

Please pray for:

 

C.C. – 18 year old young man incarcerated for a serious crime that will alter his life. Pray that he finds Christ. Thank God for concerned neighbors who have reached out to him prior to the crime. May those seeds from God’s Word germinate in the darkness of his heart.

 

F.H. – Concerned about his family back home.

 

W.M. – Seeking information about Santeria, a polytheistic Afro-Cuban religion full of many mysterious elements that was developed in Cuba and then spread throughout Latin America.

 

B.E. – He wants information about the Pagan/Wicca “religion”.

 

 

Prayers from Onesimus Ministries

Thankfulness for the safe return of Chaplain Heinrich and his wife Susan from their travels abroad.  May the encouragement from completion of a local dialect Bible translation stick with them, and may the refreshing received from family visits be felt for years to come.

 

Thanksgiving for a return to “normal” for Chaplain Rhonda now that Heinrich is back from an extended leave. 

 

Continued prayers of strength, endurance, and wisdom for both Heinrich and Rhonda as they minister to everyone (inmate., staff, family members) connected with Chester County Prison.

 

Pray that discussions of the Chapel opening at the prison become reality, and that services for the inmates would resume very soon.

 

Also pray for quick expansion of activities within the chapel, that daily activities could expand into nightly activities where volunteers could come in and minister in person to inmates.

 

For health, physical and mental well-being, and peace to be evident throughout the prison population.

 

Pray for quick recovery from recent covid cases at the prison, and protection of inmate health ongoing.  And protection of the progress made towards reopening the prison – may these cases not be a setback.

 

And finally we lift up those that minister to released inmates, building upon the progress made while incarcerated.  May all the aftercare ministries flourish with adequate resources and volunteers, and may all clients get a very real sense of your presence, Oh Lord.

 

 

If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at info@onesimusministries.org.

 

 

These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/

 

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, click HERE.

 

www.onesimusministries.org