Pray
Oswald Chambers wisley said: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.” Prayer truly is the great work and whether or not you are able to come volunteer on a Prison Journey or not we would greatly covet your prayers. You can view some specific ways you can be praying below.
Prayer Requests For Prison Journey:
- For safety for the many volunteers as they travel from all over the country to help with the Prison Journey and as they go into the prisons.
- Favor with the prison security and smooth processing of the volunteers in and out of the prisons each day.
- That satan would be bound from interfering with the Prison Journey in anyway. We wrestle not against flesh and blood and appreciate you praying in the name and through the blood of Jesus that the enemy would be bound
- That the Lord would open the inmates’ spiritual eyes and ears to hear and receive Truth
- That the Lord would prepare the hearts of each volunteer that they might be pure vessels through which the Lord can minister His life to the inmates.
- That God would save each and every unsaved inmate on the Journey bringing them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.
- That the Lord would stir up in each of the inmates a deep desire to seek the Lord for themselves.
- That the Lord would provide financially for the various needs connected with the Prison Journey.
- That the Lord would minister His love and graciousness through the volunteers to the Prison Security staff.
- That the Lord would keep all the volunteers healthy as they spend long days ministering in the prisons.
Sponsor an Inmate
The inmates are people from all walks of life who’ve made a mistake, sometimes a small one, sometimes huge and heart-wrenching ones. All of them need Jesus, and often, because of their current circumstances, many are much more open than they may otherwise be. Some are indifferent, and yet after a bit, you’ll see the light go on and watch God change that indifference into an intensity to seek after Him. Inmates are sometimes one of the most grateful groups of people we’ve ever ministered to. They often can’t believe that people would voluntarily spend so much time in a prison just to show them the love of God.
What are you actually covering?
o Journey workbook They use their workbook each day for the Journey, and then they take it back to their bunk where they can keep studying and processing through it. Sometimes they share it with others who aren’t even on the Journey!
o Messages and DVDs The impact some of these DVDs have on the inmates is astounding. The truth of God’s Word shared through the various messages penetrates so deeply!
o Picture This is a special aspect of the Journey for the inmates. In the prisons that allow it, we have a group picture of the volunteers and inmates taken. We then have the photos printed, and on graduation day we give them out to each person. The inmates treasure those pictures!
o Team Leaders During the Prison Journey all the inmates are put in teams of usually around eight to ten with normally two volunteers as the team leader and assistant. What’s great about this format is that it enables the inmates to have people to talk with one-on-one, it gives a smaller group setting for really deep and personal discussion about the powerful topics that are being covered. It also ensures that there’s someone available to answer questions and get issues resolved. Having volunteers makes the biggest difference in the world because the inmates can see normal, faulty people who are filled with the love of God, and it impacts them hugely!
So when you sponsor an inmate, you’re also helping to cover costs like food, housing, transportation, and materials for the volunteers as well!
Sponsor a Volunteer
During the Prison Journey all the inmates are put in teams of usually around eight to ten with normally two volunteers as the team leader and assistant. These small group times are a vital part of the Journey because it gives the opportunity for life to life discipleship. They provide a small group setting for deeper discussion about the topics being covered as well as the opportunity for them to ask questions and share what they are going through. Doing small groups like this does require a large group of volunteers and you sponsoring a volunteer is a huge blessing both to the volunteer being sponsored as well as the inmates they will minister to on the Journey.
What it covers.
o Food You’re helping to pay for the two meals the volunteers have each day outside the prison.
o Housing We stay at a beautiful camp for a really minimal cost thanks to the generosity of the camp leadership. When you sponsor a volunteer, you’re helping pitch in for the cost of where they all stay.
o Transportation The camp is about 45 minutes (sometimes even further) from the prisons so you’re helping to cover the cost of gas to and from the prisons each day, plus the airport runs as volunteers come and go.
o Materials Our volunteers lead each team through the Journey program, so they need Journey workbooks as well. You’re helping to not only pay for the printing and purchasing of that material, but also transporting it down to the Journeys!
o Equipment Sound systems, projectors, computers, DVD players and electric keyboards, are brought in by the volunteers in the prisons that do not provide this equipment to run these Journeys. You’re helping to get all that stuff where it needs to be in order for these Journeys to happen!
o Things for the Inmates Chipping in for a volunteer even helps cover costs for some of the inmates’ part of the Journey, like the materials, pictures, etc.
Buy a Journey Workbook
The Journey workbook makes up the core of the Journey material. It leaves a physical reminder of what God did during the Journey, and it allows both the leaders and the attendees to go back and be blessed by the truth in its pages!