July 9, 2024
“I have a praise report!”
Inmates don’t typically have praise reports. Usually, I hear a complaint or a story of what happened to another inmate who was injured or got into trouble.
The prison where I teach weekly has over 800 inmates divided into four housing units. Two of the units are air-conditioned; the other two are not. During the sweltering summer months, temperatures inside those units may run 20° hotter than outdoors. Our recent 100° days have made it brutal. “Swamp coolers” blow humidified air into the units with windows that cannot be opened. Tempers often flare in the miserably hot and humid, non-air-conditioned units, and praise reports are rarely heard there.
The inmate continued his praise report. “When I came to prison my wife said she would divorce me. I was able to talk with her last week on the phone. After a few minutes she asked, ‘What’s going on with you?’ I told her I was learning how to be a good husband and father even while incarcerated and had given my life to Christ. Then she told me, ‘I think I want to work things out with you.’”
Another inmate told me, “Do you remember I told you my wife and family had stopped all communication with me? I got a letter from my wife last week and heard my daughter has applied to make an in-person visit. Thank you for praying with me.”
God is at work in the lives of the inmates who are seeking Him.
In the past two years, DoorWays® has provided Cultural Backgrounds Study Bibles to 97 inmates who requested one. Sometimes, they ask me to write a note in their Bible. This is what I write: “With love from the partners and friends of DoorWays® who are praying for you.”
Most often their reply is, “Wow! That’s really cool.”
Thank you for making it possible for me to help teach these men how to be good husbands and fathers while they are incarcerated and after their release. Together, we are making a difference in their lives, their families, and in the Kingdom of God.
And it is really cool!
Ric Shields