Dear John,
It has been a whirlwind summer, and I am so excited to be traveling again, visiting our programs, volunteers, and donors. As the summer winds down, our work to serve those impacted by crime and incarceration is intensifying, including new partnerships, program launches, and the beginning of our march toward Christmas.
I’m thrilled to share that we are now partnering with Moody Bible Institute to distribute tens of thousands of new devotionals to those living in prison. Working with Moody’s Today in the Word staff, we’ve created unique devotionals for men and women to guide them through three months of engaging God’s Word and truth. The needs of men and women in prison are very unique, and these devotionals will serve as another way God can move and work in their lives—providing hope while behind bars. We are grateful for this new partnership and look forward to sharing stories of lives being changed through these devotionals.
We know that providing resources like this devotional and the Inside Journal Life Recovery Bible serve to help people living in prison begin the journey of healing. And that journey often leads to people joining our Prison Fellowship Academy, which is life-changing for so many of its participants. We recently were privileged to share Anthony Reed’s story. Anthony, who joined the Academy while serving 16 years in prison, credits the program with being the impetus for changing his life. Now a transformed man living with his family and running his own lawn care business, Anthony is paying forward the second chance he received by employing others coming out of prison.
Understanding the great impact the Lord is having through the Prison Fellowship Academy, could I ask you to pray for the new Academy cohorts that are beginning to launch? Rebecca, who just completed her Academy orientation week, shared with us:
I am thankful for Prison Fellowship Academy. As a Christian woman trying to cope with the constant challenges of prison life, God blessed me by allowing me to be a part of the Academy's fellowship. I watched as Prison Fellowship gently entered our world of isolation and offered us genuine compassion, love, and life-changing, godly principles to our hurting community. I know that my peace comes from the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus, and having sisters in Christ to study with while we grow together is far more abundantly beyond what I could ask or think. I am eagerly looking forward to the adventures that God has planned, to see where His Word takes us as it lights our path.
Finally, our 2021 Prison Fellowship Angel Tree sign-up deadline for incarcerated parents is approaching, and our mailbox is filling up with applications and letters like this one from a dad named Steven, who writes from a Florida prison:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys have been a miracle and haven’t let me down in the last three years. Because of you guys, my daughter gets a gift from her daddy, and it means the world to her, just like she means the world to me. … You guys are a work from God, and I don’t know what I would have done without you.
Your continued support makes stories like these possible. You are making an eternal impact on those living in prison and their families. Thank you for your faithfulness and prayers—we cherish them daily.
Praising Him,
JAMES J. ACKERMAN
President and Chief Executive Officer
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