We received some great feedback about our newsletter last week, Inside the Barbed Wire. Since the newsletter was about the goings-on over at Montgomery County Jail, Chaplain McNutt wrote in to thank us and share include another neat story about what God is doing there in the lives of prisoners!
Hi, Mark!
Great job on Inside the Barbed Wire! Thanks for sharing our story with others.
Yes, it is a battle for the truth in here. I spend a good deal of time skimming through hundreds of donated materials, from people’s libraries, from local churches, etc. That’s another reason I love receiving things from you: I know they’re going to be theologically accurate and relevant to salvation.
There’s a guy here named Wesley in SHU-C. He lives behind a thick steel door with only a tiny window. When I brought the book cart to him, he said he didn’t know what to ask for. So, I gave him one of your books. He read it. I came back later. He asked for another book by you. I gave him your two booklets. The next time I went back, there was a worn scrap of paper covering his window. It said, “IF YOU DIED RIGHT NOW, WHERE WOULD YOU SPEND ETERNITY? JESUS LOVES YOU!”
Wesley is willing to give up his tiny window and is literally using everything he has to tell others how urgent it is to look to Jesus. He now asks me to deliver the books that he has read to his wife, who lives in D-5, and tell her how he loves her very much.
The Watchmen is his favorite book, and he sees himself in that role. Wesley has plans. He plans to get out of jail. He plans to go home to Magnolia, TX. He has plans to hand out your salvation tracts. And he plans to write you a letter. I’ll let him tell you the rest.
That’s all the time I’ve got tonight, Brother Mark. I’ve got an early call at jail tomorrow.
Thanks again for giving prison ministries some air time.
Chaplain McNutt
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
______________
That is a crazy “wow”!
As Chaplain McNutt is saying, a lot of junk is sent to these chaplains. A lot of those materials are unbiblical and loaded with false teachings. That is why it is important to get only solid, biblical materials into the hands of chaplains and prisoners.
Think about how Wesley must be yearning and crying out to God for people to listen to truth. All of us outside of the barbed wire have the privilege of telling the whole world, but prayer and that small window are Wesley’s only voice right now. We take so much for granted.
John 8:32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Acts 26:29
And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
Even though Wesley is behind a thick metal door, he’s been set free. I imagine he feels pretty liberated right now! It’s spilling out in the only ways he has available to him. What an amazing God we serve!
Please, please, please get involved in local prison ministry or find good, solid ministries that work with chaplains or inmates. The two I am most active with are Prison Book Project (https://prisonbookproject.org) and Mission Possible, Inc.(https://bisprofiles.com/fl/mission-possible-727882#google_vignette).
Until the nets are full,
P.S. We had some folks who sent in some of their Halloween pictures. They turned a worldly and satanic celebration into an opportunity for good by giving out the gospel! Courtney started stuffing baggies in mid-October to be ready to reach the kids in her huge neighborhood. They handed out 300 baggies with candy and tracts this year.
Jose and his wife served up hot dogs and S’mores and gave out candy, hot chocolate, and gospel literature to the 40 kids that came by their house. Don’t be surprised if you find out that I am moving to Abilene, TX, on October 30th of next year to get me some hot dogs!
