My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We had a bit of a scare yesterday with Chaplain Heinrich in the hospital undergoing emergency heart surgery, but we serve an awesome God who had everything under control the whole time. Obviously, it was not yet Heinrich’s time to depart this life, and we are thankful to still have our brother in our midst. Please continue to lift up his wife Susan and the Botes family as Heinrich travels the road to recovery. The family passes on their appreciation to so many whose prayers carried them through this situation.
The Monday night prison ministry crew held down the fort last night, engaging with our incarcerated brothers across our 2 services with prayer, worship songs, testimony time, and a Biblical message. I appreciate my brothers Phil and Matt who covered the prayer times and collected the requests below that we can all lift up during this week.
God had put Romans 12 on my heart, which I shared at both services. The book of Romans, Paul’s longest epistle, reads like an essay, emphasizing Christian doctrine through the first 11 chapters. Then chapter 12 pivots to application of all that knowledge of our beliefs. We begin by becoming “living sacrifices”, giving up our will, our comfort, and our desires in favor of God’s greater purpose. Then we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, letting God change the way we think. He has the perfect formula – let His Word guide our thoughts, since thoughts determine attitude, and attitude determines behavior. In just the first 2 verses, we see how we are to sacrifice our will and old way of thinking to transform our lives with a new way of thinking. The rest of the chapter describes what that looks like, from how we see ourselves and our giftedness, to our belonging and support of our faith community, and helping others with all that God has given us. In our interactions with others, we must let God be the judge and conquer evil by doing good.
God shows us in His word how so much begins with our thought life, and I believe that’s also the space where our prayer life lives. We thank you all for growing your prayer life by including these requests each week. We pray you are blessed as you bless others with the covering of prayer.
Grace and Peace,
Rick
Prayer Requests from last Thursday (12:00 Service, plus Inmate sessions):
- Keith– I have less than 16 months left, and may be going back down to Maryland in November to run concurrent time there. I’m grateful for the Lord’s working in my life every day. I had an unexpected blessing- my ex-wife revealed casino winning from our past that remained unclaimed ($8000) and she is helping get the claim process done. Please continue to pray for my girlfriend Anita, my family, and for peace in this crazy world.
- José– only a few days left in here, I’m nervous to go home and be on my own. I need to get some work, get into a good church, and surround myself with Christian brothers and sisters. Pray that I can lead my girlfriend and daughter to church. Pray for a good, calm rest of the week. Thankful that I’m so blessed. Pray for my friends and family, and thank you Jesus for watching over us. [NOTE: José may already be released by the time of this writing – please pray for him to find the structure he needs to thrive in his new Christian life on the outside, and not fall back into old habits.]
- Kenny– they found I have high blood pressure and now I’m on blood pressure meds for 2 days now. Already having less headaches. Pray that my family is doing well, for my girlfriend, for my good friends Frances and Jimmy, and for my time to go smoothly and quickly. Thank God for second chances.
Prayer Requests from Medium Security (7:00pm Monday service):
- Praise that volunteer Jose is 99% recovered from covid and should be back next week.
- Naseem– to better understand walking in the Spirit versus walking in the flesh, and what it looks like. To be a better man for the LORD, for my family, and for my wife. Also, I was a college athlete, and would love to pursue an athletic career in basketball.
- Ross– for my bail hearing this month, Sunday was 13th anniversary of Mom’s death, and for a guy in my program whose daughter just passed away.
- Drake– got a good plea deal today, praying for an even better one. I still need glasses so I can see, and praying for correspondence courses.
- Mike– to get a bail hearing, I’ve been here 5 months with no information. I miss my grandmother who was always there for us.
- Rick– praying for my Mom, not sure if she is still alive – getting conflicting information. Pray to be reunited with Spooky my cat.
- Taylor– after 2-1/2 months in here I finally got court date Oct 1 – looking to get a good deal and hopefully get home soon.
- Derek– for everyone incarcerated in here – all the men and women. My Mom has cancer, my Dad has dementia, and pray for all the youth in the corrections center next door.
- Jim M– for Chaplain Heinrich to recover quickly from surgery, praise the LORD they were able to find and correct the problem.
- Dan T– for my brother-in-law to overcome obstacles preventing him from accepting Christ.
Prayer Requests from Minimum Security (8:30pm Monday service)
- Mike– thankful for the volunteers coming in here, pray for the hostages and their families. Also my brother Will has eye issues and needs surgery.
- Jeremiah– my brother Tyrell just released after 15 years in prison, prayers to help him get back on his feet.
- Darren– my court date for parole coming up on 26th, pray I can develop my home plan before that. Pray for my old boss John and his family. Pray I can back into my kid’s lives, pray for my ex-wife Bobbi and kids, for my girlfriend Amy and her dad who has cancer. Also pray for a friend (Ashley) going up state and not doing well, pray she’s all right.
- José– my family, my kids, my wife, my Father, and my Mom.
- Andy D– praise that my sister agreed to attend a bridge course at a local church. Pray that God will meet her as he did with me 23 years ago.
- Rick C– for Chaplain Heinrich’s speedy recovery and praise that he’s still with us – God is good.
- Ryan– my friend Tom who helped me get sober is struggling, and we fear he’s off the wagon.
Prayers from Onesimus Prison Ministries
- Our prayers are with the Botes family for their peace and Heinrich’s recovery from heart surgery.
- Board member Andy has an upcoming surgery on October 9.
- We pray for a successful Benefit Dinner at Green Street Grill on Oct 25 (see www.onesimusministries.org).
- God bless our wonderful chaplains at Chester County Prison- Jack, Rhonda, and Heinrich.
- We lift up all the male and female inmates, the prison staff, and all their families.
- Pray for resolution to staff shortages and high turnover impacting operations and causing undue stress for supervisors, staff, and volunteers.
- Blessings upon recently released men and women to transition well with the new life in Christ they found (or renewed) in prison. Protect them from attacks of the enemy as they establish their new footholds in life outside of prison. Help them stay in God’s word, engage in local churches and have great fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters.
- For God’s blessing and provision upon Aftercare ministries across Chester county – may they have the resources and volunteers they need to do God’s will for the ex-offenders that come their way.
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 outreach@onesimusministries.org.
These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/
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