Hans Daza Bolaños leads the work of Crossroads Prison Ministries in Colombia. Through an interpreter, he says many prisoners are encountering Christ’s love and truth through their work.

“Students, the prisoners, have been overjoyed and have said to me, ‘We have never had anyone pray for us by name like this. We have never had anyone write to us personalized letters of encouragement. We’ve never had anyone do that before’,” he shares.

In an overcrowded, dirty prison block, prisoners feel unseen – they’re just another unwashed face in a sea of rejected humanity. Everything changes when a prisoner receives a hand-carried letter – addressed solely to him or her – filled with Bible verses and encouragement.

“It really makes them feel like somebody cares.”

Visit Crossroads’ website to learn how the program works.

From wealth to poverty

Bolaños didn’t begin his working years in ministry but the Holy Spirit led him there anyway. Over the past two decades, God brought Bolaños from upper-class clientele to the outcasts of Colombian society.

“I had a very prestigious and well-paying job at a well-known bank… but, in the year 2006, the Lord called me to resign,” he says. He spent the next several years in a fruitful church planting ministry.

“Together with my lovely wife Sandra, we were able to plant two churches in the first two years.”

(Photo courtesy of Hans Daza Bolaños via Facebook)

Many took notice of Bolaños’ gifting – including Antonio Prieto Surmay, the former director of Crossroads: Colombia.

“He started talking to me about prison ministry…. initially I didn’t want to work in prison ministry but Antonio saw a lot of potential in us, so he arranged a meeting,” Bolaños recalls. “I resisted but… [he] encouraged me to pray and think about it because they (Surmay and other leaders) felt we had tremendous potential.

“I wanted to see what’s going on inside the prisons…how could churches help the prisons?”

It turns out Bolaños’ passion for local church ministry and Crossroads: Colombia’s needs were a perfect pair.

“In the last year and a half, we have impacted about 600 students,” he says, and 400 local believers are involved as volunteers. These individuals are growing in their faith as they grade Bible study lessons, correspond with prisoners, and help with letter deliveries.

Moving forward

Bolaños isn’t satisfied with maintaining the status quo. His eyes are on the horizon.

“There is one prison in Bogota, Colombia, where we have the potential opportunity to work with 5,000 students,” he says. “There’s also a huge potential in other parts of the country.”

(Photo courtesy of Hans Daza Bolaños via Facebook)

Just as his predecessor saw tremendous potential in him, Bolaños sees endless possibility in Crossroads: Colombia. One prospect pairs Bolaños’ knowledge and experience with the transformation of prisoners’ lives.

“I see this as one way through which we can establish and plant new churches.”

When prisoners experience Christ’s love and hope through Crossroads’ curriculum, they share their encounter and the lessons with their spouses and children. This opens entire families and communities up to the Holy Spirit’s movement.

Additionally, some illiterate individuals are learning how to read and write through Crossroads’ Bible studies. Bolaños wants to acquire additional resources so that Crossroads: Colombia can give students a Bible and more when they finish their coursework.

Click here to contact ministry staff if you’d like to help Crossroads: Colombia.

Header image is a stock photo obtained via Pexels.

New Name, Same Ministry

In the beginning of 2017, Crossroad Bible Institute rebranded and changed its name to Crossroads Prison Ministries. (Photo courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries via Facebook)

As of late last month, Crossroad Bible Institute is now known as Crossroads Prison Ministries, a name which seems to better reflect the ministry’s mission.

Crossroads Prison Ministries’ Cynthia Williams explains, “I think it came (the name change) as a result of our leadership as a ministry really thinking about and wanting to bring our name in line with our ministry and our vision and our goal, which has always been to reach out to prisoners.”

Furthermore, Crossroads Prison Ministries has experienced some shifts in its structure for how it does ministry.

“We’ve seen just a basic shift of from more of an academic model to more of a relational model of reaching out to prisoners, and this is now reflected both in our name and in our new logo,” Williams shares. “It’s really just a refreshing of the whole vision and mission of the ministry, and really kind of getting back to the grassroots focus of what we do.”

Currently, Crossroads Prison Ministry works to unite Christians with prisoners to create mentor and mentee relationships with the life-changing impact of the Gospel. Williams says the ministry is excited about the re-branding and that it’s been a joy to see God at work throughout all the changes.

Reflection the Mission

Part of the hope behind the re-branding is for the ministry’s new name and structure to better reflect the ministry’s mission.

(Photo courtesy of Crossroads Prison Ministries via Facebook)

“Crossroad Bible Institute sounded more like an academic institution. And of course while we have Bible study courses and curriculum, that was not the primary focus of what we were doing,” Williams says.

Now, it’s clear in the new name, this outreach is all about prison ministry and reaching those behind bars with the Gospel. And as the ministry continues in the process of changing its name internationally, can you do something?

Pray

“There’s a process we have to go through…to get this unfurrowed around the world in our different extension centers. And that of course is a lengthy process involving many steps. It touches all of our materials and the things we provide,” Williams explains.

So please, pray for these changes to go smoothly, for it to be well received, and for there to be a positive and supportive approach to it.

To get involved with prison ministry, click here!

Click here to donate to Crossroads Prison Ministries!

And to learn more about the re-branding and name change, click here!