Dear John,
Summer has arrived, and with it we’ve seen the return of both Prison Fellowship Angel Tree camping and sports camps. In fact, we recently held a sports camp “double header” in Oklahoma and Dallas.
We partnered with the Oklahoma Thunder and Life.Church to host a basketball camp for boys and girls in the Oklahoma City area. Slam dunk champion Kenny Dobbs also joined, and, along with a ball and Bible, each child received a free pair of New Balance sneakers that Thunder player Darius Beasley donated.
The next day, the Dallas Cowboys hosted more than 100 kids for a football camp at The Star, their new practice facility in Frisco, Texas. Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel was the keynote speaker, and each child who attended heard the Gospel message and went home with a swag bag filled with a football, a Bible, and other items.
In Dallas, one mom, who alone cares for her two children, told a Prison Fellowship staff member that her 12-year-old son is a good boy and a good student, but his dad’s incarceration has left him feeling really beaten down. The sports camp meant so much to him and gave him something to look forward to, she said. What a joy it is to be able to minister to the kids and families of the incarcerated!
As the pandemic continues to wane, prisons that are homes to our Prison Fellowship Academy sites are reopening. I’m so inspired by our Academy graduates who persevered during the COVID-19 crisis—and now are looking for ways to give back.
I recently heard about a man in Nebraska who graduated from the first class of the Prison Fellowship Academy at his facility. He is serving a life sentence and has struggled with the prospect of decades of loneliness stretching ahead of him. He recently received an unexpected sum of money, and instead of using it to purchase comforts for himself, he asked how he could donate it back to the Academy or Prison Fellowship Angel Tree.
When asked why, he simply said, “I never would have thought when I walked into the Academy that the complete strangers next to me would become my closest friends. They helped me to open up. Everything has been given to me in here. I was a thief. And what thieves do is they take. Maybe, just maybe, by giving back, I can start to make it right."
The life-changing power of Jesus and your support <[link removed]> make transformational stories like this possible. Praise be to God!
Finally, I want to remind you that as I approach in August my fifth anniversary as president and CEO of Prison Fellowship, I will be answering questions on social media from our supporters. If there is something you’d like to ask me about the ministry of Prison Fellowship, you can submit your question here <[link removed]>. I look forward to hearing from you!
As part of the Prison Fellowship family, may we lift up any prayer requests <[link removed]> for you or your loved ones? We’d be honored to intercede on your behalf as we gather as a team to pray.
Praising Him,









JAMES J. ACKERMAN

President and Chief Executive Officer










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