Many Christians who are incarcerated in the United States have that same goal, wanting to serve God, but they have different obstacles. Perhaps distractions and busyness are less of a barrier, but what about access to traditional seminary programs? What about their eligibility for accredited programs, which require a high school diploma or GED? What about library access? Tutoring help? Discussion groups?

This gap between prison inmates and Christian higher education is one that Prisoners for Christ (PFC) and other ministries like it have gladly stepped into. Because of their work, Christians incarcerated in certain United States prisons can pursue seminary right where they are. Here’s a closer look. 

Equipping “the inside church”

Dee Peterson with Washington state-based Prisoners for Christ explains that their team of staff and volunteers serves in connection with The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI). 

“The goal of TUMI in the prison environment is to provide the quality, seminary-level coursework to equip and strengthen Christian ministry leaders for the inside church and also the community as a returning citizen,” Peterson says. She uses the term “inside church” to refer to Christians living within prison walls as the Body of Christ. 

For incarcerated Christians, their fellow inmates are their mission field.

(Stock photo courtesy Pixabay)

“I really think that [building up of leaders for the inside church] is where our focus needs to be, because they, as ‘indigenous’ leaders, really [have] a connection to that prison culture, to be able to relate and know the social systems and the behaviors and values [there],” says Peterson. 

TUMI’s capstone curriculum covers four core areas: biblical studies, theology and ethics, Christian ministry, and urban mission. It can take up to four years to complete the 16 modules, depending on the prison. 

Peterson also notes that TUMI is not an accredited program — deliberately. This fact removes another barrier for many inmates.

“Education is such an important factor to consider when someone is affected by incarceration and what their future is going to look like,” she says. “On average, of all the federal and state inmates, only 41% have earned a high school diploma or GED. So it is a prevalent issue.” 

One inmate’s story 

Not only do seminary-level courses help inmates better understand and teach faith in Christ, but it also helps them prepare for life after their prison sentence is over.

(Stock photo of Mongolian man courtesy of IMB)

“Since 90% of all state and federal incarcerated individuals will eventually be released, this program is vital,” Peterson says.

One U.S. inmate that the Prisoners for Christ team served actually came from Mongolia. His studies while incarcerated changed his life. After he was released in 2017, he returned to his home country, where PFC president Greg Von Tobel says, “He has turned into a godly Christian leader within the communities of Mongolia. He’s been recognized for his leadership.” 

He stayed in contact with one of his TUMI mentors from Prisoners for Christ through Facebook. Later, he reached out to the PFC team to thank God: 

“I have been thinking and praying, and I really feel like I need to be part of PFC. Just looking back at my life and what I’ve been through humbles me. It humbles me that I have grown so much and I have learned so much, especially through TUMI. Before TUMI, I was just a Christian — like, just the basics. But through TUMI, God has stretched my faith, matured me, and made me an active follower for Christ. I still have all of the TUMI books, and often read my ministry project papers I did for all of the TUMI modules. I still have everything, and reading through it, I can see my growth in the Lord. I can’t thank God enough for your ministry and how it has affected me and helped shape me into the person that I am today.”

Find your place in the story 

Seminary training for prison inmates doesn’t happen without people and resources. At Prisoners for Christ, TUMI courses and other outreach programs are facilitated by volunteers just like you.

(Photo courtesy of Hannah Busing via Unsplash)

“There’s 1200-1500 prisons all across our country, and there’s only a small percentage of those that have [adopted] the TUMI culture and schooling within their system of education,” says Von Tobel. “There is a whole mission field yet to be tapped with regards to TUMI.”

If you have a heart to help equip fellow Christians in prison, would you consider getting involved? Prisoners for Christ is one ministry that offers support each step of the way. Even if Washington State isn’t your home, there are other ways to serve with PFC, such as being pen pals. (More on that here.)

“We never send in anyone without being trained and equipped to know what to do or what to expect,” says Peterson.

Connect with PFC through their volunteer application at prisonersforchrist.org where you’ll also find resources for chaplains, inmates, and inmates’ families. 

Header photo courtesy of Ben White via Unsplash. 

Prisoners For Christ (PFC) recognized the ministry opportunity early. They eventually connected with Pando, a closed-access app owned and operated by God Behind Bars out of Nevada. In January 2025, PFC began uploading Christian books, sermons, Bible teachings, and Gospel videos.

(Photo courtesy of Prisoners For Christ)

Mike North, Vice President of Communications at PFC, says, “We’ve been on there almost a year, and the response has been incredible. It’s been greater than we ever imagined!”

Tablets in prison aren’t like civilian devices. Inmates cannot freely access the Internet or search random websites. Instead, usage is heavily restricted to pre-approved apps such as Pando and other monitored content platforms. That control ensures safety while allowing ministries like PFC to provide meaningful, Gospel-centered material.

And prisoners are responding. One inmate named Carl wrote: “I’m so ready to give my life to Christ and follow Him to the ends of the earth… I will follow you forever. Amen.”

To date, PFC’s 46 uploaded videos have been viewed more than 564,000 times. The channel has also recorded 702 professions of faith in Jesus Christ after inmates watch a video that clearly explains the Gospel.

“It’s really humbling and it’s an unexpected blessing to think that we are actually in the cell with these prisoners,” North says. “We are actually meeting them — literally where they are — to present the light of the Gospel.”

(Photo courtesy of Prisoners For Christ)

When asked about PFC’s future vision with the Pando app, North responds, “That we would continue to upload content that’s relevant — and not just relevant, but interesting…. We want to evangelize and disciple these brothers and sisters in Christ.”

The momentum is building nationwide. Greg von Tobel, President and Founder of PFC, predicts, “By five years, I think every inmate in America will have a tablet. So that gives the Christian ministries out there an incredible opportunity to provide their resources to inmates without having boots on the ground.”

Pando is already active on 610,000 tablets, and plans underway could add another 700,000, bringing the total to 1.1 million devices.

That’s a Gospel opportunity unlike anything prison ministries have seen before. But growth takes funding.

Von Tobel says, “If your listeners were so moved to partner with us…there’s a lot more material that we could certainly avail ourselves of putting out there for inmate consumption. So that would be a prayer request.”

You can help bring the Gospel into prison cells across the United States. Click here to give through the PFC website.

Pray for favor and open hearts as the Gospel goes into more prisons through Pando. Pray also for strength and spiritual growth for new believers inside prison walls.

Header photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash.

 “It’s a Bible college inside the prison for inmates,” explains Don Szolomayer, Director of International Affairs at PFC. “There are 143 total lessons in the whole course. So it takes about three to four years, depending. But the goal is once they go through all of that, those who graduate from it now become what we call an inmate chaplain.”

These inmate chaplains are trained to evangelize, teach, and disciple others through Scripture. The impact of this ministry is spreading.

Recently, Nigeria’s prison chaplains took their training to a new level. “About three or four weeks ago, they held a crusade with all of their inmate chaplains that have graduated,” says Szolomayer.

“They got permission from the officer in charge to go cell-by-cell evangelizing. Then on top of that, they had a full crusade out in the yard. This all went on for over a week and a half!

(Photo courtesy of Prisoners for Christ)

“So here is this group of men in this prison who’ve gone through this course, and now they’re putting feet to what they learned. They’re taking it actually step-by-step out into that prison — not just holding it to themselves — but actually going out and evangelizing and discipling.”

Szolomayer says prison staff are even noticing the change. “Something that we hear very often when we go into the prisons and the jails in other countries is, ‘How soon are you coming back?’ Because the officers see the difference that it’s making in their prison.”

Greg Von Tobel, President of PFC, emphasizes that this vision extends beyond Nigeria: “Our primary focus is to share the love of Christ and to save unrepentant sinners and move them to a situation where they’re now saved and can disciple other people.”

Yet, growth depends on resources. “If we had more volunteers that were qualified to go into prisons, we could cover more countries,” says Von Tobel. “Last year, we had 2.1 million inmates that attended our services. Out of that, as best as we can determine, 73,000 men, women, and children said yes to Jesus for the very first time.”

Learn more about PFC at their website and find ways to get involved.

Pray for more inmate chaplains to step up, and that prison officers would continue welcoming Gospel transformation inside. Ask God to multiply discipleship through Nigeria’s prison churches, that they may know Christ!

Header photo courtesy of Mirza Mustofa/Unsplash.

The team of seven, including Prisoners for Christ president Greg Von Tobel, said this was possible because of widespread evangelisation in central and southern Africa.

(Photo courtesy of Ehsan Habashi/Unsplash)

Von Tobel says, “When we get to some of these countries, and we have people already on the ground doing the heavy lifting before we get there, the doors are quite open.”

Born-again prison superintendents can open the doors – Von Tobel says other inmates are simply waiting to hear the Gospel. 

The team also tried something new by having pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Thomas Lenart run an eye clinic in two prisons. Between both prisons, Lenart met over 200 patients.

Lenart says, “Our main goal is for the inmates we’re in front of to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was just another opportunity. Spiritually, we wanted them to know His love and how He cares for them, and He is the great healer. We wanted, in a small way, to just be able to be in front of the inmates and provide them some eye care.”

The team distributed 80 pairs of reading glasses in the two prisons, and Lenart was able to diagnose glaucoma and other eye issues. He later returned to the prisons to deliver eye medications, supplementing empty prison infirmary shelves.  

One patient who stuck out to Lenart was a staff member who approached the team as they left the building. The woman couldn’t read the small print of her Bible. Having distributed all of the glasses, Lenart asked another member of his team if the woman could borrow his glasses to test them. 

After testing them, Lenart asked the team member if he would part with the glasses. “Actually, I won’t,” the team member responded. “They’re all scratched up and she won’t be able to see well – but in the van, I have a brand new pair of +2s.”

Lenart says, “He walked out and gave them to her, and when she put them on, she was able to see the small print. Tears were rolling down her face because she was so happy to be able to read, and she was extremely grateful to be able to use those now to be able to read her Bible.”

Though the ministry was welcomed in Uganda, Prisoners for Christ hopes new ministries like this could be a step into closed countries that are hostile to the Gospel. 

It’s already making a difference on a personal level. At one small Ugandan prison, the team was in the middle of a church service when a Muslim inmate joined. Other inmates tried to shoo him away, but the host national invited him in. The host learned that the visitor was an imam who had been wrestling with evil dreams of his recently deceased mother. 

The team prayed with him. Lenart says, “It was a powerful, powerful prayer. All of us were supporting him, you know, in the name of Jesus, in the blood of Jesus. [After] that prayer, the imam came to Jesus right then and there.”

Von Tobel says, “Our ministry is all about Jesus. We want to point people to the foot of the cross.” 

Prisoners can be an unreached people group. There are few prison ministries outside of the United States; not many people want to go to prisons in developing countries.  

As Prisoners for Christ seeks to double its global footprint, it needs more willing hands. Please pray for staff and volunteers willing to go out into the world and for the financial resources to facilitate these prison ministries.  

Header photo courtesy of Donald Tong/Pexels.

Greg Von Tobel with Prisoners for Christ says amid prisoner communities, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Especially outside of US ministries, there is often a dirge of prison ministry workers. But Von Tobel says his team’s calling is irrevocable. 

“We stand firm. We continue to march.”

For laborers with Prisoners for Christ, that means serving prisoners in more than 160 countries. From hosting medical clinics to offering Bibles, Christian resources, and prayer support, Von Tobel says his team is taking Christ to some of the world’s darkest places. 

“There are many – especially in some of these dark jungle prisons of Africa – many people who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ before,” he says. 

The story is similar in densely populated India and its neighbor Pakistan. 

“Every country has a prison system, and many people come to know Jesus while in prison,” Von Tobel points out. 

He sees prisons as one of God’s great gifts to mankind. 

“Because it can be the last bastion where a lost soul will come to know his creator face to face,” he says. 

Please pray that prison ministries like Prisoners for Christ would be adequately resourced to serve inmate populations around the world. Pray that God would raise up volunteers to contribute to this effort and that hearts would be pricked to tell prisoners about God’s great rescue mission: one which proclaims liberty to all captives.

(Above photo courtesy of Biblica via Facebook; Header image courtesy of Ron Lach via Pexels)

“The prisoners gathered in the courtyard, and they were able to get a copy of a Bible, and they were able to do worship songs,” says Reverend Jason Woolford with Mission Cry.

Mission Cry missionary partner and prison director of a prison in Honduras (Photo courtesy of Mission Cry)

“Our missionaries were able to share the salvation message with them and witness them reading their very own Bible. It was so beautiful. [As] the team was leaving, many inmates shook their hand[s] and thanked them for coming.”

This moment happened because Mission Cry missionary partners had favor with prison officials, which Woolford says is happening not only in South America. 

“We’re seeing it in Africa. We’re seeing it in the Philippines. You name it — we’re seeing where doors of these prisons are starting to open. Wardens who are not even believers [are] allowing us to come in and preach the gospel by giving them the Word of God.” 

If you know Christ, think of how the gospel has transformed your life. God can do the same work in a prisoner’s life and community. 

“When these men or women get out of prison and they come back and their families are able to see that God touched them and did something in their lives, how that will impact generations to come,” Woolford says. 

Find your place in the story

More Bibles await sponsorship at Mission Cry. 

“The Bible that we give, it’s very strategic. It’s the Mission Cry Bible in Spanish. It’s the New Testament, and it has a discipleship program in the back, and [other study helps]. We produce this Bible and get it in the hands of people around the world absolutely free for $2 a Bible.” 

Visit missioncry.com to partner with their team on their upcoming shipments. Please pray as well!

“You’re making a difference in the lives of people around the world with the Word that is the only thing that doesn’t return void,” Woolford says. 

“Pray for protection over our leadership, our Mission Cry missionaries on the ground and [for] favor — that God would continue to prompt and prick the right hearts at the right time so that we can continue to do what we do by people that partner with us in giving.”

Header photo courtesy of Mission Cry.

Peyton Burkhart with Prisoners for Christ says, “The first few issues, I was doing interviews with ex-cons who were sharing their testimonies, and I was writing an article for it. But after they [the newspapers] started getting into the prisons, we had inmates send their stories to us to use. We found that that was a really great way to connect with the prisoner.”

A Wide-Reaching Impact

Now after around 30 years of producing Yard Out, the publication is in 1160 prisons across the country with a print run of about 51,000 as well as online copies. There are three issues a year, one of which includes a special art contest for prisoners. Each issue clearly presents the Gospel with Scripture references and then shares testimonies, poetry and letters to the editor from prisoners. This powerful publication is spread through inmates and chaplains.

(Image courtesy of Prisoners for Christ)

Burkhart says time and time again they’ve heard stories of how Yard Out has impacted incarcerated men and women. “There’s so much drama and conflict in their lives. They’re broken and lost. It’s just amazing how God reaches into that circumstance and touches them. And we get letters from inmates who are gang members. They’re tough men covered with tattoos, and they go into a chapel service, or they find a Yard Out under their mattress in the solitary confinement, or some expression where God reaches out to them. And they’re just broken by the discovery of grace and forgiveness. They may be in front of their old gang members who they used to fight with and do drugs with, and they’re just shamelessly crying for Christ, touched by the presence of God in their life. So it’s very transforming for them.”

Encountering Miracles

Many stories stand out to Burkhart after years with the publication, but one of his favorites is from a prisoner who planned to kill himself with a shiv he’d made. He was hopeless and around two in the morning one night he was ready to end his life.

(Image courtesy of Ron Lach on Pexels)

Burkhart says, “Suddenly there was a guard, a prison guard at his door. He asked him, ‘Do you believe the Bible?’ And he replied, ‘Yes, I do.’ And the guard asked him, ‘Why don’t you do what it says?’ And he quoted a verse out of Leviticus. It says, ‘Do not cut yourself.’ So the inmate looked that up and he described it as a neon sign that was flashing off the page at him, ‘Do not cut yourself’.

“So he realized God reached out to him. He asked about that officer the next morning and wondered where the tall thin black officer that was on duty the night before. They said, ‘Well, we don’t have a tall, thin, black officer who works here.’ He realized that he had seen an angel who had intervened to keep him from taking his life, and he consequently committed himself to Christ.”

Get Involved

The ministry continues to share the Gospel and see men and women commit their lives to Christ. However, they are not working in a vacuum. They need prayer and support from the Church.

Greg Von Tobel also with Prisoners for Christ says, “We pray for everything in this ministry, everything from just the normal everyday needs of the ministry all the way up to major gifts to continue to financially support this ministry. So we’re always looking for new supporters. We’re always looking for new volunteers. We’re always looking for how we can creatively get in front of the inmate population with the Word of God.”

Consider joining Prisoners for Christ as they present the Gospel to incarcerated men and women. Learn more on their website at prisonersforchrist.com or request a copy of Yard Out here.

Image courtesy of RDNE Stock Project on Pexels.

That’s why prisoners are the focus of World Missionary Press in 2025.

“It’s an open mission field, and the response is amazing because there is such a sense of hopelessness in many of these places,” WMP’s Helen Williams says.

WMP has been sending its annual datebook to chaplains and inmates for decades. “We’ve been providing a date book for prisoners for years, almost as long as I’ve been here, and I’ve been here 28 years,” Williams says.

“We send [material] to federal prisons, state facilities, local jails – wherever the chaplain will use it.”

The impact is profound. WMP datebooks provide hope to people forgotten by society, whether guilty or innocent, serving a life sentence or a misdemeanor.

“It’s not a good place to be, but [the date books provide] something to grab on to every morning,” Williams says.

“We get so many letters that say, ‘I couldn’t get through my day without it.’ They say, ‘I keep it on my bunk. It’s the first thing I read in the morning.’”

WMP: UNBound

After decades of outreach, WMP is rolling out new materials and trying to reach more chaplains. The ministry is also adding a second web press and a fourth bindery to its production facility to fuel the expansion of its WMP: UNBound prison ministry program.

First shipment of 2025 WMP Scripture booklets for prison ministry.
(Photo, caption courtesy of World Missionary Press)

In the coming weeks, “we’ve got a new booklet coming out that speaks of hope; this is specifically designed for those [who] are incarcerated,” Williams says.

“It’s based on hope, not just surviving the situation, but finding a way to be stable and have something to lean on.”

Pray for the WMP prison ministry team as they work to expand the program and add necessary staff.

“Last year, we printed about 750,000 [date books], and the goal [is] to triple what we do in volume within the next year,” Williams says.

Consider partnering financially with WMP to bring hope to the hopeless.

“If they want to donate to the UNBound program, that would be wonderful,” Williams says.

“Pray that the Lord brings the people [who] can help get this thing going and keep it growing and growing.”

Header and story images courtesy of World Missionary Press.

“At the time, I didn’t want any part of that,” Von Tobel recalls. “I was very pleasant to the man and said, ‘Thank you very much, but I’m not sure that’s something for me.’”

Fast forward another six months. A second church member approached Von Tobel with a different Bible Study invite. This one convened at a similar location: the county jail. 

“I was not so nice to this man as I was to the first man,” Von Tobel laughs. “I just said, ‘I have no idea why you’d be interested in taking the Gospel to the inmates that have done so much wrong.’”

Then God employed what Von Tobel calls a spiritual two-by-four. During a pulpit interview, his pastor discussed a singular topic: prison ministry. That third prompting from the Lord, along with a nudge from his wife, finally did it.  

Von Tobel was off to jail. 

“I was arguing with the Lord as I was driving down to the King County jail about why I was doing this,” he says. “What do I have in common with individuals that have much wrong and are incarcerated?”

That night, Von Tobel says he saw the Holy Spirit fall afresh. About twenty prisoners attended the study, and several came forward during the altar call. 

Von Tobel never stopped returning to prisons. Thirty-five years ago, he left the brokerage industry and stepped with his wife into full time ministry, founding Prisoners for Christ. 

To Christians who face a wall of judgment, fear, or lack of commonality with inmates, Von Tobel has an invitation: 

“Come and see. Come and taste what jail and prison ministry is all about. Some of our longest standing volunteers all took that step of faith at one time or another to say, ‘Ok, Lord. I have no idea why I’m doing this except that you’re nudging me to do this.’”

Before COVID-19, PFC was active in Washington State at about 40 institutions, with others in Arizona and Idaho. The pandemic closed almost every prison, and Von Tobel says it took about three years for them to reopen. 

“In some states, those doors are still not open, but we continue to travail in prayer and intercession to get our volunteers back,” he says. 

PFC has 3300 volunteers in 35 countries around the world. Because restrictions tend to be highest in the US, Von Tobel says opportunities in other countries’ prison systems are more abundant. 

“We never want to give up on our homeland or the prison ministry here in the United States, but the opportunities in third world prisons dwarf what the opportunities are here.” 

He and his team take international trips each year to preach the Gospel to prisoners and host training sessions about prison ministry for nationals. 

“We’re training those on the ground because we believe that those on the ground have the best opportunity to minister to those they’re in front of,” Von Tobel says. 

Here in the states, that looks like everything from intercessory teams to pen pals and volunteers helping distribute resources to prison chaplains. 

Please pray for the ministry of Prisoners for Christ: that inmates would experience sincere heart transformation by the Word of God, and that many lives would be changed as a result. 

If you feel led to join the effort, click here to learn about volunteer involvement, or consider donating to PFC. 

“If God can use me,” Von Tobel says, “he can certainly use other believers that have no experience in this arena.” 

Courtesy of Alan Bowman via Unsplash.

Header image courtesy of Pixabay. 

Malawi prisons are known for overcrowding and violence. Its 23 district prisons and other facilities are meant to hold only 7,000 people yet currently hold more than 16,500. 

Helen Williams with World Missionary Press (WMP) explains that a new local partner has forged a positive relationship with prison officials just this year. They visited the Zomba and Domasi facilities, where they shared worship songs, teaching, preaching and testimonies, plus WMP scripture booklets with inmates. 

“The prison authorities, chaplain, and those in charge of the prisoners took [our partners] aside and told them the best way to interact with the prisoners. It was well organized,” Williams says. “There was a foundation to build on for this. It wasn’t just ‘walk in and hand out something.’”

(Photo courtesy of World Missionary Press)

At the Zomba prison, the team met with 350 inmates, and 210 of these men accepted Christ! 

“When they were finished there, the authorities that had let them come in and share said, ‘You’re welcome to any prison in Malawi to reach out and win souls, because your help is urgently needed where the inmates are desperate to get a hold of God’s Word.’” 

Talk about an open door! 

“These opportunities to take God’s Word and put it in [inmates’] hands, spend time with them, and then leave it (Scripture booklets) there for the Spirit to do the work is a stark example of sharing the light in the darkness,” Williams says. 

Would you pray for WMP’s partner as they move forward with this opportunity to serve? 

“My understanding from the communication we’re getting is that they are establishing Bible studies in these prisons, which their team members will help monitor. It will be recurring trips, but they will also now have an open door to other prisons,” Williams says.  

Pray for this growing work in Malawi, that God will call more people out of darkness into the light of Jesus. 

“This is a time to really ‘take advantage,’ if we will, of the ministries that are there that are willing to go,” Williams says. 

“Pray that the Lord would send the harvesters, bless them, and use His Word to establish a strong work for the gospel in Malawi.”

Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of Ehsan Habashi via Unsplash.