Why do the Jail Ministry?
God has provided an opportunity to minister to a segment of our society that others have forgotten or perhaps consider unworthy. God does not despise prisoners, He cares about them. The inmates need to know that God hasn’t abandoned them, that He wants more for their lives than the way they have been living. They need to learn how to read God’s Word with understanding, how Jesus and the Holy Spirit can change their attitudes and desires. They need to understand the Gospel of Jesus.
How can we go into the darkness and unknown of the jail?
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
God gives us courage to enter the gates of the jail, power to leave ourselves at the gate and be led by the Spirit as His vessels. He gives us words, understanding and relief from fear and anxiety. Our Lord has done magnificent things as we submit to His leading.
In May 2014, when the Jail Ministry began, the jail annex was spiritually dark and cold. Our Lord has used the Jail Ministry to plant many seeds for Jesus and there have been numerous professions of Faith and rededications.
Today, we are able to provide Bibles and daily devotional booklets for the inmates and officers thanks to the monies provided by South River Baptist Church through the providence of our Lord Jesus. Men and women inmates are now able to read God’s Word and inspirational devotions daily.
How do we minister to the inmates/officers?
When we go into the jail our Lord gives us the ability to:
- Proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to the inmates and officers
- Encourage them to read God’s Word
- Help the inmates and officers understand the Word of God
- Show the inmates that Jesus loves them through the Word and the compassion He gives us to share with them
- Help the inmates understand that Jesus has not abandoned them and that there is an Assurance of Hope rather than hopelessness
- Disciple inmates that know or have come to know Jesus
The “Blue Shirts” have started a ripple which, prayerfully, will spread not only throughout our community but may flow to other communities, jails and prisons as those the Lord has touched leave the Iredell County Jail.
But most of all, Jesus gets all the glory, for it is not what we do but what He does through us. Praise Him for His provision and faithfulness in using this Ministry to change lives.
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Matthew 25:34-36
Faithfully in Christ’s Name,
The Jail Ministry Team
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve and Tannis Gladden 704-880-6931