United States (MNN) — Hopelessness can lead to terrible choices in any person’s life. But for prison inmates, it carries a particular weight.
Dee Peterson is the director of discipleship at Prisoners For Christ. She believes that some of the strongest emotions surrounding incarceration have to do with forgiveness: Some inmates feel there is none left for them.
“When the human soul is feeling that they can never be different, they cannot be restored, that who they are at that moment, that that’s it, that is how they will always feel, that’s who they will always be… That is just a dire hopelessness,” she says.
(Stock photo courtesy of Harry Shelton via Unsplash)
According to the United States Department of Justice, the number of suicides in state and federal prisons increased 83 percent between 2001 and 2019, totaling 4,500 people. Each one of those men and women could have found life in Jesus — the only way to truly reckon with their pasts and face their futures with hope.
Prisoners For Christ enters this battle for hope not only with in-person ministry to inmates. The staff and volunteers in their literature department mail out more than 4,000 Bibles and biblical resources to reach prisoners each month.
It’s work that’s worth the fight. One inmate wrote back to PFC saying he had decided to end his own life but then had picked up one of their special-edition Bibles.
“I wanted to see what the Bible says about suicide,” he later wrote to PFC. “I couldn’t find anything, so I started just flipping through the pages. I stopped at the addiction and trauma section, and my attention was directed toward the end of it, where it said, ‘No matter how unloved and worthless you feel, God loves you and values you highly. God has good plans for your restoration. God has the power to transform any life. I am rooting for you. Blessings, Sister Dee.’
“Sister Dee and Prisoners For Christ were used by God today to save my life,” he wrote.
“Talk about impact,” Peterson says. “We were blown away by it and encouraged and just so grateful to God that He uses our ministry.”
If you know a prisoner, connect with PFC today. Prison chaplains or family members of inmates can request biblical materials to be sent to their loved ones. These resources include booklets, books, devotionals, Bibles, Bible studies, and even a special newspaper called Yard Out, created by inmates for inmates.
(Image courtesy of Prisoners for Christ)
If you want to help more inmates find hope in Christ, consider financially standing with Prisoners For Christ to cover the cost of postage and new biblical resources.
“[Prison ministry] transforms people at their lowest point in life. To be a part of that is a huge privilege, and it’s important,” says Peterson. “And that’s not just one life. That has the potential to affect generations of families. That’s a mom or dad who leaves prison or jail a changed person.”
Learn more about PFC’s work in the United States and around the world here.
“We know that the Lord is working. We can’t even fathom everything that He is doing, but we know He is good and He transforms lives,” says Peterson. “No one is beyond that forgiveness and redemption. No one.”
Header photo courtesy of Hasan Almasi via Unsplash.
