Last week I learned of a ministry that is functional and
active throughout our country. I wanted
to share with you some of the good things I am feeling about this group of
people whose hearts for Jesus are making a difference in the lives they
touch. Under the name of "Forgiven
Ministry," these folks are working through the lives of those incarcerated
in the nation's prisons, spending One Day With God.
From their website, here is a brief description of who they
are and what they do:
The “One Day with
God” Camps began with a vision of one day inside prison walls where parent and
child could reconcile with one another and spend time together with
God-anointed mentors working beside them. The day includes games, crafts,
lunch, music, clowns, an illusionist, face painting, and a parent and child
quiet time. It is a divinely appointed time for both child and inmate
where both can experience the love of God and find forgiveness and
reconciliation. If one child could have a Christ-centered Mom or Dad
return home from prison, there would be a joyous change in that home forever,
and it could change the path that child takes in life.
If your response was anything like mine, you are already
feeling the excitement of mom or dad, getting the spend the day, filled with
all those activities, ending with the parent and child quiet time. I also have grown to appreciate the
thoughtfulness and planning that goes into each of these
"camps." Add to that the
influence on the life of the child, anticipating the return of the parent into
a changed home-life, and an all around improvement over their previous
surroundings. Here's more:
Reaching,
Reconciling and Restoring Lives is our purpose. By encouraging change from
within the individual, we can reduce recidivism, stop the cycle of crime, avoid
the waste of human capital and lessen the burden that offenders and their
families place on society. Eighty percent of the children of incarcerated
parents follow in the footsteps of that parent and end up in prison themselves.
Preventing an at-risk child from turning to gangs, drugs, and crime is one of
the most important ways to make our communities safe and productive for our
children in the future.
If you are interested in being a volunteer for the group,
you can learn more at their website, forgivenministry.org. In
addition, you are encouraged to remember this ministry in your prayers. We are not all gifted in this area of
ministry, but you can close your eyes and seek God's continuous blessing on
those who share Jesus inside prison walls.
Forgiven Ministry and their program of "One Day With
God" seminars provide ways to bring families back together and experience
the presence of God in each of their lives.
Just reading and sharing their work blesses a lot of us.
Malachi 4:6 is their favorite Bible verse, " He
will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their parents."
Do you have a similar vision for a way to
share your faith by showing Jesus lives in you?
Think. Pray. Then think and pray some more. If we are to take the saving message of the gospel
into all parts of the world, surely there is something that each one of us can
do in bringing that to reality.
God bless.
<ronbwriting@gmail.com>
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