Remnant Fellowship Prison Ministry – Updates, Testimonies, and a Missionary Report
David Martin
God continues to do wonders in the lives of the inmates involved in our Remnant Fellowship Prison Ministry. Most of you who are a part of this Church and Ministry have never experienced even one DAY as an “inmate”…incarcerated…surrounded by people who are any combination of angry, depressed, and sometimes violent. Sure, you may encounter people with some of these upsetting characteristics occasionally, but very few of us actually LIVE in such circumstances, with our schedules and rules and boundaries VERY TIGHTLY monitored by armed guards. If YOU were in such circumstances, would YOU be capable of CHANGING? Would YOU be open to the Truth if you heard it “behind bars?” We are excited to report that there is an ever-increasing number of men and women right in the middle of such circumstances who ARE embracing CHANGE! They are taking our classes and are OVERCOMING their surroundings. They are becoming CHRISTLIKE in the midst of an atmosphere that often times crushes the spirits of those around them. Yes, something AMAZING is happening in a growing number of Prisons…the Prisons where this message is having the chance to take root. Men and women are becoming NEW CREATIONS. If these inmates can change and testify to the power of GOD in their circumstances, how much MORE should we…who are not subjected to anything close to what they live through every day…be changing? Our freedoms and choices ABOUND. Our schedules are not dictated to us minute-by-minute. We walk into our kitchens and have pantries and refrigerators FULL of choice foods and beverages. When you hear the testimonies of these increasingly humble men and women, it is moving. It makes you feel overwhelmingly blessed as you truly “count your blessings” and name them one by one. Please don’t let up in PRAYER for these dear men and women. To quote the phrase coined by Gwen Shamblin years and years ago as Weigh Down started, they are “rising above the magnetic pull” of their circumstances, and they are overcoming! Take a look at a few testimonies from some of the inmates participating with this Church and Ministry…followed by a “missionary report” from the couple that we featured in recent weeks – Vernon and Phyllis Eikenberry. They felt GOD’S leading to move to Georgia…and they are very close to some of these facilities. GOD is moving powerfully!
Bennie at Ware State – After doing the Strongholds correspondence class he now is seeing God in everything…and God brought him a nesting bird outside his cell window to watch. He was praising God for that and is now praying again after three years…with a huge smile on his face!!!
Herbert at Ware State – He was encouraged after watching the “Life from Death” concert DVD last week and then so amazed that the prison went into lockdown right after that. But he saw that being in lockdown can be used for God’s purposes…so he can turn to God, look to God, and draw closer to Him!
Canada – Saskatchewan Prison – The maximum security chaplain commented that the warden has seen a change in the men who are in the Strongholds class. The guards who monitor the chapel have been convicted by what they hear as well, and they have professed that they, too, need to be the heads of their families and start going to church.
And now, here are a few words from Vernon and Phyllis Eikenberry…
There have been many tests these past few weeks since we moved here but the blessings are that we have been able to provide an alternative to motels for our Prison Ministry team! We have saved motel costs for a total of 15 times in just four weeks! That number represents some who have come more than once. And of course the other blessing is that there is the best fellowship time with all of these Saints!! God has also opened up doors to possibly four new prisons in the next couple months…because we now live closer to these prisons and can do this ministry on other days beside the weekends.
Every single life counts. Every soul that GOD has created that turns back to Him is cause for rejoicing in Heaven! Please keep this powerful Prison Ministry in your prayers. It is making a real DIFFERENCE in the lives of these men and women and their families. Praise GOD for the opportunity that ALL of us have…to CHANGE!
