There are so many reasons to provide a chaplaincy service at Chester County Prison. Every day creates opportunities to share CHRIST as THE ANSWER to all the many and wide-ranging problems that face incarcerated men and women. This may sound overly simplistic, but I have no doubt that meaningful or lasting change will ever occur without a change of heart…a life turned over to the rule of the Jesus Christ.
Tears do flow, but if they are not tears of repentance, then they are merely an expression of frustration because of the consequences and inconveniences that sin and breaking the laws of God and society cause. In the past year we celebrated with those who put their trust in Christ for the first time, or who confessed their luke-warmness and backsliding. We were overjoyed with those who converted to Christianity from other faiths, including a Buddhist and a Jew. Baptizing them in the Name of Christ with water from a foam cup in the chapel creates memories that cannot be erased.
I am especially excited about what God is doing in the Maximum Security Section where I present Behold Your God every Monday morning. This is a new slot on the Chaplaincy Schedule which was allowed by the Prison. These men meet every night like a small congregation, pray and prepare their lessons whilst occasionally sharing communion on Sundays. While this may be waved-off as “jailhouse religion,” I believe we have no other option but to support them and to leave the results/fruit to the Lord of the Harvest.
Rhonda and I have been placed in the front-row seats by you (our supporters) to see how God Himself saves and comforts those who are broken, those who are lost. It is a team-effort and like Paul says in I Cor. 3, I realize that some plow, some sow, some water, and some reap. Thank you and may God bless every tear, every prayer, and every dollar!