Thank you for your prayers and financial support during this reporting period. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness. Since our last reporting period, we have seen a total of 583 male and female offenders come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we baptized another 54. In addition, we enroll an average of 55 new offenders into our Bible correspondence course each month.
Thus, we believe we are striving to be obedient to our Lord’s Great Commission, namely winning offenders to Christ, baptizing those whom we can in the jail and prison venue, and teaching them God’s Word via written Bible studies. In fact, I recently baptized a man who admitted that he had been “baptized” as a baby, but through our Bible teaching and preaching, he realized that he needed to be baptized scripturally by immersion. Also, when I asked another offender for his testimony prior to his baptism, which is my custom, he admitted that he had never accepted Christ, so we took care of that issue immediately. There is a myriad of opportunities for soul winning and ministry in this very productive corner of His harvest field.
Some of our prayer requests include the following:
1. My medical issues: a mass on my lumbar spine and back problems, arthritis, blood sugar issues, and cataracts
2. Financial needs to meet fixed monthly living expenses
3. More volunteers to assist in substitutions and in filling preaching and teaching opportunities
4. Carol’s emotional and spiritual comfort resulting from the recent Homegoing of her mom
Finally, I am including excerpts from letters that offenders have mailed to us. Timothy writes, “I thank the Lord Jesus for your church and the amazing work it is doing in Jesus’ name for those who are in prison. I attend the awesome church service that is provided for us.” Chris testifies, “Thank you for bringing me to the Lord and for leading me into His service.” Jerome states, “I am 65 years old. I am an ex- Marine, and I served in the Vietnam War. I thank and praise Him that a year ago I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord at your church service.”
With the 2.2 million Americans representing 1 in 110 of all adults who are currently incarcerated in America’s jails and prisons, I share David’s admonition in I Samuel 17:29, “Is there not a cause?”
In His service,
Larry Johns