Prisoners are often neglected and forgotten by the world, but during COVID-19, prison conditions are almost unbearable.
With pastors being shut out and lockdowns happening within prison walls, depression and suicide cases continue to rise among prisoners and staff.
But one man was determined to reach prisoners with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and wait until you hear how he found a way to do it.
Typically, even in prison, prisoners have some freedom to move about and have a routine.
It’s the routine and brief interactions that make being there a bit more bearable.
But thanks to lockdown restrictions, many prisoners have had their routines stripped away, leaving them truly in isolation day after day.
This lack of structure and seclusion has resulted in chaos.
Manny Mill knows this all too well as a former prisoner himself who fled the FBI and later served a term in prison.
Dedicating his life to prison ministry, he is the current executive director of Koinonia House which works with local churches to integrate and disciple inmates released from prison.
Mill shared his concern with what’s happening in prisons across the country.
The Christian Post reported:
“Lockdowns take you out of your routine. Prison is all about routine,” he said. “If you get locked down in a situation like this with the fear that you can die, it will bring a complete disruption to your routine. Fear can set in. It can also paralyze you. That’s where people commit suicide.”
Lockdowns create a prison within the prison, he said.
“Officers go out to the parking lot and get a gun from their car and blow their brains out. It can bring you to the point of despair. And then you have no hope. If you have no hope, you have no life and no reason to live,” Mill stressed.”
But not willing to forget the prisoner, Koinonia House has stepped up in the most incredible way.
Instead of giving up, they provided DVDs for prisoners to watch and even hosted online worship services via Zoom!
They were determined more than ever to get the message of Jesus Christ inside the prison walls.
As a result of their dedication, prisoners are hearing the Gospel and choosing to give their lives to Jesus and leave their former ways!
The Christian Post continued:
“A former prisoner named Eddie testified in the ministry’s video, “It was there in prison, where I rededicated my life to the Lord. The Bible tells you in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation. It was that scripture that resonated in my heart.”
When he became a Christian, his desires to do evil things left him.
“There is nothing too hard for God. Nothing too hard for God,” he declared.”
What a beautiful reminder that no person is too far gone for the love of God to reach them.
Prison ministries are a beautiful example of God’s redemptive grace and shows us all that He will use even the most difficult of circumstances to bring people to Him.
May God continue to bless Koinonia House and all the prison ministries doing the hard work of reaching those whom others deem “unreachable” with the Gospel.
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” — Matthew 25:35-40
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