Everyone has a role to play in the God-given work of restoring those affected by crime and incarceration. As some of you know, my own Prison Fellowship journey began with an invitation I received to visit the Prison Fellowship Academy in Iowa. What I experienced that day changed my life and set me on the trajectory to one day become the ministry’s leader.
It was in that same prison in Iowa where I first met Jesse Wiese, who was then a participant in the Academy I visited. We recently sat down with Jesse and his longtime friend, Quovadis Marshall. Jesse and Quovadis met in the same Iowa Academy and remain friends today, more than a decade later. They shared with us how their unlikely friendship developed, despite their being of different races and coming from different backgrounds. They talked through the challenges of building friendships across racial boundaries in prison where, as Quovadis shared, “I would’ve never thought of making a white friend in prison. It’s a death sentence. You’re crossing lines, these well-established rules.”
But cross that line they did, and today, both still have ties to Prison Fellowship. Jesse serves as our vice president of program design and evaluation, working to shape the very program that shaped him. And Quovadis is lead pastor of the fast-growing Hope City Church, a congregation that welcomes those returning to the community from prison. Both are taking what they learned in the Academy and giving back to their communities.
Another Academy graduate giving back to his community is Darrell Redmond,
who spent 26 years in and out of the Virginia criminal justice system, beginning when he was only 13 years old. Violent crime was a normal part of Darrell’s life, with family and friends being both perpetrators and victims. When Darrell entered prison for the last time, he didn’t think he’d ever go home. But that changed when he joined the Prison Fellowship Academy. In Darrell’s words, the Academy took “the worst building in prison” and turned it into a haven. Once there, he learned and practiced the Values of Good Citizenship: community, affirmation, productivity, integrity, responsibility, and restoration. Darrell graduated from the Academy, went home, and became part of the solution in his own community. Darrell started a nonprofit, Give Back to
Da Block, to help young kids facing similar futures. And he works to build connections between law enforcement and his community as a way of fostering trust. What a testament to the life-changing power of the Lord working through the Prison Fellowship Academy!
Whether it’s volunteering, faithfully praying for the ministry and those we serve, or supporting
the ministry financially, there’s a place for you in the life-changing work the Lord has given us to do. And trust me when I say it’s life-changing not only for those we serve, but also for you!
Would you consider deepening your involvement in the work of Prison Fellowship, so that more people in prison and their families can grow in the love of God through Christ? I can attest that your life will be all the richer for it.
Glorifying Him,
JAMES J. ACKERMAN President and Chief Executive Officer
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Prison Fellowship P.O. Box 1550, Merrifield, VA, 22116-1550 US
