Prison Preaching

For me, prison preaching all began about five years ago when a dear brother of ours, Bro. David Mac Charles, came to us. He had been away from the meeting for years and now wanted to make amends with God. However, he went through some tough times that led him to the San Francisco County Jail. This was the time when my husband Bro. Jim and I decided to support him, and we received help from the ecclesia to do so. He was in jail for four years before he went to trial and then to prison. Our ecclesia supported him by being at the trial when we could — as his family is in Canada and could not attend. He appreciated the support, and it strengthened his faith. While he was in the jail, he put his time to use by learning how to preach to the other inmates. At that time we offered the Bible Basics course, which a few inmates took. Then word spread. David was sent to prison, and he still preached the word.

At that time, I also learned of prisoners seeking a Bible course through the website for Bible Basics. The referrals from prisoners were often sent to me. I tutored inmates with the course lessons. This is how I came to be in contact with inmates in other states like Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas.

I always yearned to increase our opportunities to preach to prisoners. They really sin — just like we all do. It is true that many belong in prison because they have done bad things. However, there are some who, when they find themselves in prison, truly begin to change because of the shock of it all. They get sent to the “hole”, where they are totally isolated. Here they may really come to review their lives. It is then that they realize that they can’t make it on their own and they need something greater than themselves. They need God in their lives. Inmates have to reach rock bottom to want to change — but prison is a place where this happens. Then when they do, who will be there for them? Who will show them the true teaching of the Bible? Who will give them a real hope? If they go to the chapel and listen to the chaplain, they will hear false doctrine. (For that matter, many inmates avoid chapels because they say that is where sexual predators and homosexuals hang out.)

I do believe we must have faith that God is still calling out people. We know that He does not discriminate (Acts 10:14,15,34,35). We need faith that God will call those whom He knows, and that they will respond to His word too. God’s word is living! It can change lives. It is true that sometimes an inmate will write and want someone to be his or her “pen pal”. But if they will not consider God’s word, then I’m not here to be a “pen pal”. If the inmate is going to try to teach me his doctrine, then I’m sorry — he has picked the wrong Bible course. There are many inmates out there who are so happy to find someone else who definitely believes in One God.

As of now we have sent out over 350 Bible courses to inmates. We started out using Bible Basics, but have found that we get a better response with the Exploring the Bible course. The word is getting out there in these dark prisons.

The public is not told what goes on inside the prisons because the state effectively “owns” prisoners. Yes, the prisoners are “doing time” for their crimes, but they are also just struggling to survive each day.

The good news from this work is that we have had some baptisms now. Here is a little information about our community of believers in the prisons. They are pretty much in isolation.

Bro. David MacCharles, as mentioned earlier, was sent to prison. He preaches, but the North Facility at the Soledad State Prison in California ­ where he was first held — was very turbulent.

There was a riot early this year. He was going outside when an old inmate, Frank, called him over to the telephones. This saved Bro. David from getting caught in the riot and being beaten. David wrote that while he and Frank were sitting by the phones, people were just passing by them like they didn’t exist, not noticing them. I truly believe the angel of the LORD was watching over him (Psa. 34:7). However, later, when it was all over, other inmates were beating inmates who had not participated in the riot. Prison is cruel and crazy.

Now Bro. David’s security level has been lowered, and he has been moved to another facility where he is free to walk to the library and write letters. He was invited into a Bible study group and is doing well here. He has a job sewing bar tacks on the clothing they make for inmates. East Dorm, where he is now held, does not have the racial tensions that North Facility does. Brethren from our ecclesia visit Bro. David when they can, to break bread with him.

Bro. David was born in Canada, but has spent the larger part of his life in California. At the present time there are preparations being made for him to be deported to Canada for the end of his incarceration. We will miss him.

Bro. William Casivant was referred through the internet. He did the Bible Basics course and it completely changed his life. Bro. William is in a prison in Tennessee. He wrote that he didn’t care about his life before, doing careless and stupid things to get into trouble. When he was in prison, he studied the Quran and became a teacher of it. However, he had the feeling he was leading inmates away from God and it scared him. When he read Bible Basics, he found it all made better sense to him. He said his life mattered now, and he wanted to get baptized.

We made arrangements for Bro. Wes Booker (from South Austin, Texas, but for some time now living in Alabama) to visit William for a baptismal interview, and this went well. The chaplain walked William over to the local church and baptized him in September 2004. He felt like a real person that day. He said the chaplain may have thought he was baptizing him into the Trinity, but William knew better. William says he has his Bible all marked up to help him talk with people. He says, “I have realized that many of these ‘now-a-days Christian sects’ call us a cult, but I can actually say they are a cult — with all of this ‘we go straight to heaven’ stuff, and ‘Jesus is God’ stuff. Sometimes it really gets to me how ignorant these people can really be, but it is not up to me to judge.”

William suffers from a lung ailment. In the past he had part of one lung removed. He has had one operation and needs another, but doesn’t want to have it in prison. He has recently finished a prerelease program, and now we understand that his parole has been granted. But we do not know when he will actually be released.

Bro. Kenneth Stewart. When I first heard from Kenneth, he wrote to request Christendom Astray, by Robert Roberts. I wondered how he came to know about this book. He was in the same prison as Bro. David MacCharles, and yet they didn’t know each other yet. It turns out that Kenneth’s cellmate had sent off for Bible Basics. Kenneth had read the entire book and sent in answers to the questions. I asked for a copy of his answers and they were sent to me; it seemed that Kenneth had answered everything very well. I sent him Christendom Astray, and then I wrote Bro. David and mentioned Kenneth to him. It was arranged for them to meet at the chapel on Sunday. I described Bro. David to Kenneth, and they found one another. From then on they shared literature and talked about the Bible when they could.

Kenneth is black, and David is white. Because of the racial tensions in the prison, meeting each other regularly is very difficult: to be seen talking with someone of another race can bring reprisals. But they trusted in God to keep them safe, meeting as often as possible. But later they could only meet at the chapel on Wednesdays or Sundays because they were in different “yards”.

It wasn’t long before Kenneth asked for baptism. We asked for visitation forms for a few in our ecclesia. Once we were approved, we went in to meet Kenneth for a baptismal interview. Kenneth gave an excellent confession of faith. He was baptized in December 2004, by the chaplain (which seems to be the approved method in many prisons). Since then a few of us from the ecclesia have gone to visit Kenneth when we could; we have quiet memorial services with him and discuss God’s word. Bro. David and Bro. Kenneth miss each other now because — due to another transfer — they can’t meet at all any more. We have to visit them separately.

In the meantime Bro. Kenneth preaches in the yard. Since the gangs know he is serious about his preaching, they stay away from him. Kenneth has a life sentence. He has a volunteer job helping inmates get their GED’s [high school equivalence degrees]. At one of our visits we met Kenneth’s mother, and we are in contact with her. Kenneth wrote a letter to the ecclesia introducing himself and expressing his thankfulness in finding God’s truth.

Sis. Deanna Reagan is in prison in Memphis, Tennessee. She has completed the Bible Basics course. Someone wrote in to the website for it to be sent to her. She came to the understanding that she needed to be baptized. After she asked for baptism, we contacted Bro. Wes Booker since we didn’t know anyone else in the Tennessee area. He said he would be delighted to do it. Deanna sent us a visitation form for Wes and we mailed it to him. It took five weeks to be approved. Bro. Wes visited with her twice and conducted a baptismal interview. Deanna was baptized on September 23, 2006.

Our new brothers and sister have all repented of their past sins, just as we once did. God knows their hearts and minds and has forgiven them. We all sin. We do not participate in the affairs of this world, in voting, or jury service, yet we do obey the laws of the land. We know God has put them in place for our protection. However, in this day and age, there is not much in the way of rehabilitation for these inmates. When they take these Bible courses and write to us, God’s word is transforming their minds little by little, rehabilitating them. The letters, friendship, and caring help to make them feel more like real persons of worth.

Please remember our brothers and sisters in prison when you pray.