Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Over the weekend, my church held a meal-packing event to assemble and send 50,000 dehydrated meals to victims of the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey back in February, where thousands died and millions became homeless. It was wonderful to see families and individuals of all ages from the community and several different churches come together to follow what Jesus told us to do – love our neighbors.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
Technology has made our world much smaller, and who we consider neighbors goes beyond the folks living next door. My wife and I served on the support team, which made it a long, hard weekend, but it was so worth the effort. For those who live a joyless life, the rewards of blessing people you will never meet may be hard to comprehend. But my advice to everyone is just try it – you’ll see.
Many people are depressed these days, yet the Holy Spirit gave us the solution through the apostle Paul 2000 years ago (and psychiatrists today are just discovering this) – serving others:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the very attitude of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:3-5)
Happiness is fleeting, and depends on circumstances. Joy comes from within when you follow God’s Word. I pray that all of you will have opportunities to find true joy in this life. Serving the men and women in prison brings joy to our Chaplains – Heinrich and Rhonda – and I hope your support of this prison ministry through prayer and other means will bring you joy as well. God bless your week!
Grace and Peace,
Rick
Prayer Requests from Chaplain Rhonda
Requests for this week:
B. D. – an older inmate, incarcerated for the 2nd time in less than 4 months; asking for “spiritual guidance”.
C. M. – another older inmate (62), back in CCP; dealing with multiple issues.
T. C. – went out of CCP to have surgery; back in and recuperating; excited to be learning more about a relationship with God.
V. D. & K. J. – both first-timers; both religious “none’s”, and both seeking “spiritual guidance and advice”. Pray that God gets a hold of their hearts.
L. K. Recently left CCP; pray that she will continue on her journey w/ God which she started while in here.
Praises to the Lord for continuing to work and stir in the hearts of the women, as I am noticing increased responsiveness from them.
Prayers from Onesimus Ministries
Lord, grant the inmates health and wellbeing in their physical, mental, and social/relational being.
We pray the will of God our Savior, who desires all people (including inmates) to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
We pray for open doors to the prison volunteers, that in-person ministry to inmates and having church services would resume without delay.
We lift up the staff and leadership of Chester County Prison, and pray God’s blessing to resolve key issues around staffing and covid restrictions.
May there be peace among the inmate population. And may those in solitary confinement find the Lord meeting them in the depths of their despair.
We pray for the various aftercare ministries that assist men and women getting out of prison to build a new life upon the foundation of Christ which may have begun (or re-started) in prison. May volunteer mentors be plentiful, and churches willing to step into the gap, that more women and men could be served.
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/
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