[Redemption story] From gang life to grace

Dear John,

Chew's story is proof that God's grace knows no limits. But you also had a part in it. You played a life-changing role that can only be explained by the fact that God was working through you.

It's an amazing story, and I know it will warm your heart. But I pray it will also move you to stand with us in 2020, because so many others are still waiting to be transformed.

Chew's life went tragically wrong

Chew grew up in a major Midwestern city. He and his family were new to this country. They were poor, but hardworking. Chew's parents were determined that their children would get a chance at the American dream.

They faced the usual problems that immigrant families face. Life wasn't easy in the neighborhood where they settled. But when Chew was just a little boy, tragedy struck…

His older brother committed suicide. And that tore his family apart.

Confused and angry, Chew took to the streets and joined a gang. He got protection and a sense of belonging. But it came at a terrible price. Chew was soon up to his eyeballs in drugs and violence. And then, one day, he committed a terrible crime.

Before the dust settled, he'd been caught, convicted, and sentenced to a long term in prison. But even that didn’t slow him down. “My decision, when I got to prison, was that I was going to live my life no different than I was living on the street,” he says.

But, although Chew didn't know it, God was about to transform him.

Will you allow God to transform another prisoner or their family through you today?

You reached out to his family

The first hint that things might change came when Chew was about three years into his sentence. “I finally realized that the life I was living, it wasn’t the life that I thought it would be,” he remembers.

“I realized that I was living on the wrong side, that I was doing the wrong thing,” Chew says. It would be several more years before Chew surrendered his life to Christ. But he was searching. And that was a start.

In the meantime, you and others were reaching out to Chew's family. His children were just 2, 3, and 5 years old when he was sent to prison. Chew knew he wouldn’t get to see them grow up, but he ached for a way to show them how much he loved them.

You provided it through Angel Tree. “The chaplains would promote it pretty well,” Chew recalls. “I started when my kids were small.” And then, one day, Chew was invited to join the Prison Fellowship Academy.

God transformed him at the Academy

He hesitated at first to accept the invitation. “My expectation was just to go in there and educate myself. My intentions were not to be converted to Christianity, or to be a follower, or a believer,” Chew says.

But he couldn’t help but be impressed by the people he met at the Academy—especially a pastor named Tom and a volunteer named Bruce.

“It didn’t matter how many people would spit in their face, or mock them, or just ignore them, or treat them as if they’re nobody,” Chew recalls. “Just me witnessing their compassion, the sincerity of how they loved us, and nurtured us, and guided us through this journey—it touched me in a way that nothing has ever touched me.”

Chew placed his faith in Christ at the Academy a short time later.

After that, it no longer mattered to him that he might spend many more years behind bars. Chew knew that, in Christ, he was free. “That was very exciting for me,” he says. He now had a reason to live. He also knew he had a God-given purpose to fulfill…whether inside of prison or out.

In the Academy, Chew learned how to be a new kind of man—a man whose identity is defined by Jesus Christ…a man of courage, conviction, and character. He grew by spiritual leaps and bounds as he learned how to apply God's Word to all areas of his life. There was a lot of practical training too. It included classes about parenting, dealing with conflict, interviewing for a job, setting a budget, and much more.

Others still wait for their opportunity

Miraculously, after serving 18½ years in prison, Chew was released. He’s spent the last two years building a new life outside of prison. And every step of the way, God has provided.

Chew's children are grown, but they remain close. He has a good job, a good home, and a growing desire to serve God. Chew also has plans to start his own business, where he’ll provide jobs and training for other former prisoners and help them rebuild their lives.

He’s already giving back by leading a weekly reentry program and mentoring several other Academy graduates who were recently released from prison. Chew has devoted himself to being a loving brother, a better father and a humble man.

His story is the story I wish I could tell about every man and woman who has seen the inside of a prison cell. And we can write amazing stories of life-change for many more of them…if you make it possible today.

GIVE A BIBLE TO A PRISONER

Change lives with your gift today

This is what your partnership in 2020 will make possible for prisoners and their families. As you reach through prison bars with the Gospel, you will be part of helping prisoners all across the country find the forgiveness, purpose, and hope that they once thought were beyond their reach.

For many, the journey to hope begins with a Bible. That's why your gift to help provide Bibles for prisoners is especially important.

Please help today. Remember, each $16.50 you give will place a large-print, special edition Life Recovery Bible into the hands of a prisoner who longs for a chance to know God better.

Thank you in advance for your generous response. And please remember to pray for those in prison, as the Bible urges us to do in Hebrews 13:3.

Thank you once more for helping reach prisoners and their families with the Gospel!

Yours in His service,

James J. Ackerman

President and Chief Executive Officer

Prison Fellowship

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