Good evening! We have completed another great trip into the Prison House and we thank God for the lost that have been found! Many men who were downtrodden and discouraged have a new understanding that hope is more than just wishful thinking! Glory to God! That's the cover, here's the story:
Today was the second day for us going in to the Beto I Unit with Mike Barber Ministries (FB, like 'em, share 'em) and we have good reports to give. The staff, Major, Lieutenants, Sergeants, and CO's did a brilliant job at coordinating our efforts to maximize our impact inside the unit. We moved seamlessly between the various rows and wings of the Unit and with plenty of time to share the Love of Jesus with the men housed there. We saw reactions from all those we spoke with and were well received by all of the men, even an Orthodox Jew turned DEVOUT Muslim, all praise and honor be to God Almighty! When you realize that your time with these men is limited and that your words need to impact that life in a very short span of this lifetime you begin to truly prayerfully consider, not only your words but also, your discernment of a willing heart versus an unwilling one. The Word of God records that the work of the evangelists in Acts was to bring the message and "some received and some don't". Hear me when I say I walked one row back and forth 3 times singing "Be not dismayed for the Lord will take care of you through the storm and through the rain, He will take care of you" BEFORE the Lord said, "here, stop here." The Word was for a young man, I mean YOUNG, mid 20s maybe. He confessed immediately that he was on his way home in 50 days. The Word of the Lord came and spoke with such fervency and such strength that the young man at the bars was in tears, I was tearing up and even his cell mate who was curled up under a sheet pretending to be asleep was potentially added to the Kingdom just for being THAT close to the presence of the Lord. What a mighty God we serve. Just a side note: If you're reading this there is a GREAT potential that you too can experience loving others inside the prison house, it's free to get in! Think on it huh! They will even "feed" you. But I digress.
A second short testimony is on this: the Mike Barber Ministries volunteers are assigned in teams and they send each group together to different areas, each with a lead (point of authority and covering) and the process works well. On our short break (men's room/refreshments) I was selected, among others from other teams, to go on a special assignment to the infirmary. This was an honor and promotion from the Lord indeed for it was in that place that we began to move in the deeper things of God. We saw "terminally ill" labeled men, met them, spoke to them, prayed with them, declaring liberation to the captives from the spirits of infirmity and despair and even rebuking the spirit of death from a man who had lost all hope and nearly given up completely as his diagnosis was liver failure from chronic hepatitis c, which is NOW CURABLE! We prayed with a man who had just had surgery to remove parts of his intestines due to a cancer diagnosis, he was near or above 70 and in a wheelchair and when I asked "do you know Jesus" he said "no". He had never met our Savior guys! He's an American man, African American at that, and had NEVER been led to Christ?? How lacking in this are we? What in the WORLD? I asked him if he'd heard the gospel and he had but had never been counseled nor had he sought out Jesus by asking for salvation - 0 experience with Jesus! I asked if he wanted that and he said yes. He said "Jesus Save me!" With hot tears in his old and tired eyes, but now there was a fire there that wasn't there before, a hope, an expectation that Salvation also includes Deliverance and Healing as provided through the cross! We prayed the prayer of James 5, he confessed his faults and I mean really talked about some things with repentance in his mannerisms, and we prayed according to the Word of God that he be healed and I FULLY expect to hear that report later after it's confirmed by the Medical Staff. Amen? Amen!!
On our way out of the infirmary I met with the PA in her office. She is a Spirit filled child of the Most High God who years prior, at 20 years old and attending Rhema Bible College, requested that God send her to the people that were closest to hell: today she manages and oversees this infirmary AND a hospice on Michael's Unit, the ONLY hospice in TDCJ that resides inside of a Maximum security prison! She rejoiced to have been blessed with such a fortune and what a blessing that is to know that there are genuine thankful loving people touching the darkest areas of the Penitentiary! Glory!
Well, that is encouraging and I hope you have found encouragement here. Comment or write us and let us know what you think. We're waiting to hear from you.
Here is Mike at one of the services here, we will get more pictures, we'll share them. We love you and we're praying for you.
Be blessed!
JD Pierce
President
Christ Carries Me Ministries
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