Nearly a century ago, a weeklong celebration of Black history took place and later grew into Black History Month. And 50 years ago, in 1976—the same year Chuck Colson founded Prison Fellowship—President Ford encouraged all Americans to celebrate “in tribute to Black History Month and the message of courage and perseverance it brings to all of us.”
One Prison Fellowship Academy participant named James describes what Black History Month means to him.
It’s the time for love of people and love for ourselves. Even though our plight is a bad one, we understand that it has built strength and character. And if we understand what it means, we can be good to each other.
It’s also an opportunity for us to learn from the mistakes that [were] made so that we don’t repeat those mistakes, and instead honor and recognize people who have sacrificed and trailblazed for so many individuals to be in their positions today.
As we give honor and celebrate together, I’m reminded of one civil rights leader who sounded the call for prison ministry. Rev. Aaron Johnson served as secretary of corrections in North Carolina. He also worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and survived being beaten and dragged from a segregated dime-store lunch counter.
But do you know what brought him to tears? The plight of the prisoner.
Rev. Johnson dreamed of sharing the Gospel with every incarcerated person across North Carolina. In 1990, he urged Prison Fellowship's leadership team to help him reach this goal. It was an audacious plan, including 345 events inside 95 North Carolina prisons. With the help of 125 special speakers and 2,700 volunteers, it’s estimated that more than 75 percent of the state's prison population heard the Good News!
That first widespread evangelism campaign grew into today’s Prison Fellowship Hope Events, where local churches encounter Jesus together with the Church inside. Hope Events reach incarcerated men and women in many states across the country every year!
None of this ministry would be possible without the support of friends like you. Please be praying about how you can join us to encounter Jesus with those incarcerated. If there’s any way we can be praying for you, please let our prayer team know.
Serving Him with you,
HEATHER RICE-MINUS President and CEO
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