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Big Problems Bigger God

For those of you who attended our annual banquet in September, you heard Chaplain Thompson speak of how state budget cuts are affecting prisons, prison ministry, and the volunteers who minister in prisons. While much attention has been given to the economy and how it impacts our everyday life in society, the situation in prisons has never been worse.

The irony is, while many volunteers are still willing to serve in prisons, the staff cuts and prison closings make it difficult, sometimes impossible, to provide the required supervision to allow the volunteers in. We still have a great need for volunteers, and the rewards are even greater because of the additional challenges we face.

There is yet another frustration that prisoners are forced to deal with. In order to meet their earliest release dates, they are required to meet certain criteria, such as getting a GED or completing programs. The waiting lists are so long that they miss meeting these requirements on time, meaning they are denied parole through no fault of their own.

So while the budget cuts are supposed to be saving money, how can that happen if taxpayers are spending over $30,000 per prisoner per year keeping them longer? We obviously won't solve this problem in a short newsletter, nor is that our purpose as a ministry.

However, we must still function regardless of the current challenges. The need for ministry has never been greater. The need for God's grace and blessing in the lives of prison inmates has never seen such a ripe harvest field.

It would be so easy to focus on the problems. We live in a world which is very good at that, and sometimes we get infected by it, but our God is always bigger than the problems. When things seem their worst, that's when our faith is tested the most, and when God can be God if our minds are renewed by his word.

Prison has always been a place where men have the chance to lose their hope. Right now it's worse, but the gospel shines brightest when the darkness is even darker.

Taken from the Fall/Winter Newsletter, November 2009

 

Yes, We Get Email Too

We don't talk about our web site or the email it generates too much in our newsletters, do we? As of this month, our web site has been live for 5 years, and the “web guy” writing this has been doing the APM newsletter for the same amount of time. You may have also noticed that the design has been upgraded this month to reflect a new look with the new APM logo unveiled at our September banquet.

It's hard to believe that was 5 years already since launching the web site. So what has it done for Alpha? It shows up on page 1 of Google for several key terms, even #1 in some cases, so we reach out to people seeking ministry. We are contacted by family members of those in prison. We offer hope to those looking for help we can provide. We've even had volunteers sign on with us after finding our site and investigating us further. And much more.

Our director, Leon, does an awesome job; he responds to every request. If a mother contacts us about her son in prison, that son receives a letter from Leon. Not all Leon's letters get answered, but Leon is meticulous about seeing that he makes the effort to follow through.

Not all the email is requesting something from us either. We have former inmates and Alpha House residents drop a line just to say thanks and express how much APM has meant to them. We have been told on many occasions that we were the only organization that consistently responds. This applies to email, web site inquiries, phone calls we receive, or letters from inmates. My 5 years with APM has been a privilege because of the people I serve with, and the standard of excellence this ministry has.

Following are just a couple excerpts from recent emails:

A Mother's Plea for Her Son, Nathan

I am in need. I have a son in prison and I want so much to know that he is being ministered to. I sent him a number of postcards and I am not sure he is getting them. I am concerned that he is writing me off. He doesn't let me in on hardly anything, and I am very concerned. I am in the dark as to a lot of things concerning him. When he was in jail before heading to prison, I sent a letter in to him so I and his sister could come in and see him, but he was sent off to prison, and the letter was sent back to me.

He has a young son and now his wife is divorcing him. That is a lot to take. I would like you to look into to seeing if you can get his young son on the Angel Tree list or equivalent for Christmas.

I pray for God to surround Nathan, and that no weapon formed against him should prosper. I want a spirit of forgiveness to flow and not a bitter root. I want him to be ministered to with the gospel, and to let my son know that in Jesus, he's a new creation and that he is loved very, very much. God bless you, and it will be a comfort for me to know that my son is being ministered to in the Lord's love.

Pledge for Support After Our Banquet

Leon, it was nice being there last night. Me and my wife had a great time and saw the true love of Jesus in people. I was at the T's 4 Him house for little over 2 yrs, and was the house manager for over a year. I'm one of the ones who gets out of prison and who is so thankful for what I have, most of all, who I am in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).

I am laid off work right now, for the last 2 yrs I've been working as a wood finisher. Elmer and Dan are mentors to me. I'm 48 and will always need wisdom from good, Christ-like people. My wife is retired from AT&T, she gets a small pension every month. With me being laid off it gets hard at times, but starting November, we are going to be sending Alpha a donation every month. Won't be a whole lot but something.

I did 14 years, been out over 4 years, been sober over 5 years. When I gave my life to Christ in prison, I gave it all up and picked up the cross and marched. Please, if you need me for anything: to help you talk to people who need help, if you need me to help with my truck for anything, just let me know, and let me serve. I don't want nothing at all. Just to be apart of prison ministry.

Taken from the Fall/Winter Newsletter, November 2009

 

Son of a Drug Dealer

Nick's testimony published in September 2009 can be read in full here…

 

It's Gonna Be All Right

If you have been noticing something and wondering if it's real or imagined, it's very real. Yes, God's people, even in America, are under attack like never before. It's not just from the political system with new laws that seek to undermine religious freedom. And it's not just public opinion straying away from biblical values either.

The attacks are from demonic forces and also manifest themselves directly into the lives of Christians as strife, marriage and family problems, financial hardship, sickness, fear, and a host of other afflictions that are the tactics of the devil. These problems have always been with us, but lately, they are increasing in volume, severity, and frequency.

You probably know someone, perhaps several people, who have been hit with these demonic attacks—maybe even you are among them. Are God's people doing something wrong? Has God's protection left us? No…quite the opposite. If you are fighting the good fight, you are a target for the enemy, and he seeks to undermine your faith.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that we are in the “season” of the end. The idea of a one world government brought on by an economic collapse is more feasible than we have ever seen before. We know from prophecy that this will happen in the end times, and the Scripture warns that the enemy will step up his attacks on believers.

The increase in demonic activity is just further evidence that the end is near. The devil's time is short and he knows it. He is lashing out against us in a futile attempt to dim our light in these dark times.

But God still reigns! We are still overcomers. We are more than conquerors. God's promises to us are even more real during times of testing. When we overcome with our faith, we grow stronger.

The Bible describes a “turning away” from the faith in the end times as the devil goes about deceiving during his final time on the Earth. Jesus even asked the question, “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the Earth?” The answer is obviously yes, but the question demonstrates that many will not stand firm to the end as we were instructed.

In John 10:10, Jesus gives us the devil's mission statement; the devil only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. God wants to bless us, and the devil wants to steal that blessing. Jesus came to give us life, but the devil would just as soon kill us. The Holy Spirit gives us power, but if the devil can deceive us, he will destroy that power.

As the days around us get darker and darker, the church is to shine brighter. As people are hit with financial disaster, God's people who are blessed are a beacon of hope. As the world plunges into sickness and plagues, God's people demonstrate life, health, and wholeness. Is it any wonder the devil would want to derail us so we fail this mission?

If faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we don't see, as we are told in Hebrews 11:1 (NIV), then the strategy you can expect from the devil is to cause you to focus on circumstances so you get your eyes off from faith. Satan has a talent for making circumstances appear to contradict the promises in the Bible. Faith will transform our circumstances to comply with the promises in the Bible, but we must be certain and trust God even when we don't yet see.

Our enemy is working harder than ever to discourage people from trusting in God and the promises in the Bible. He can't touch our salvation, but if he can weaken our faith and get us to believe subtle lies, we miss out on God's best because nothing in the Kingdom of God comes without faith. As you see or experience the devil's attacks, stand firm, because faith is your victory and you will grow stronger when tested.

Read the following excerpt from Ephesians. The devil and his cronies have nothing on us!

Taken from the Summer Newsletter, July 2009

 

Excerpt from Ephesians (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Taken from the Summer Newsletter, July 2009

 

It's All in the Family

It seems lately there is no shortage of bad news, but there is no shortage of good news either. Paul tells us in the Bible that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. As the world around us gets darker, God's light shines brighter.

The devil is attacking families and seeking to destroy the core fabric of our culture. Through your support of APM, you are directly helping to destroy the devil's work and bring hope to hurting people and their families.

As Leon, our Executive Director, has pointed out on a number of occasions, he has observed a consistent pattern with men we have ministered to through Alpha House. During his time with APM, he has overseen 129 Alpha House residents, and 126 of them were from broken homes!

There is a specific reason that the purpose of this ministry is “to disciple men who happen to be prisoners and former inmates.” Men are the leaders of the family, and many are in prison. To reach them is to break a pattern the devil plotted and schemed to create, and mend a broken home he sought to have as collateral damage.

The numbers for the US are alarming: overall, 1 of every 54 adult men are incarcerated. Among minorities, it is even worse. For Hispanic men, it's 1 of every 36, and for blacks, it's 1 for every 15! For young blacks in the 20-34 age group, it's 1 out of 9!

Almost anyone confronted with these numbers would agree that this problem is terrible. But the people who support this ministry go one step further. You are helping to do something about it.

Is the problem huge? Would it be easy to get discouraged? Yes, but we are not judged by the size of the problem. We hear the words, “Well done,” by doing what we can. Every person reached represents an entire family.

Taken from the Spring Newsletter, March 2009

 

Iron Sharpens Iron
The following is an excerpt from a letter we received in February, 2009:

Over my four years of returning to prison, I have given out the address to Alpha House, along with your name (Leon) to contact, to many men. And because of the position and influence God has given me as a primary service leader, liaison to Chaplain Bible Studies “Iron Sharpens Iron” men's movement leader, I have shared info about Alpha House to literally hundreds of men.

Iron Sharpens Iron involves men meeting weekly in small groups of 3-4 men (the same men each week) for coffee, snacks, and fellowship discussing topics and answering questions that are designed to allow each man to examine himself—then share with the other men in that group. As the men get to know each other better over time, trust and respect develop—leading to more open sharing, more transparency and taking off the masks we often wear, more commitment and accountability, and a healthy, intimate relationship with other men.

God is really blessing and prospering this! It takes place right in the prison housing units. We have 40 men that meet every week in my unit!! Praise God, and it is happening all over the compound! It is a need that God is meeting. Please keep this ministry lifted up before the Lord as it is transforming men's lives.

Thank you,
Bill

Taken from the Spring Newsletter, March 2009

 

Lord, I…
A poem by Larry, a current Alpha House resident

Lord, I call upon you to deliver me from these troubled times I've gotten in,

Lord, I allowed this world's desires to drag me into its darkened den.

Lord, I'm a prisoner behind brick walls, bars, chains, and barbed wire fence

Which seems to have no end, I had to call upon your only Son for deliverance.

Lord, I ask and pray for you to open my eyes, and teach my heart to love again,

So I may have eternal life with you in heaven.

Lord, my life has been full of sins. It probably started around age 9 or 10, when I stole from a friend,

Which gave the devil a foothold into my life.

Lord, I call upon you for deliverance from all my sins.

Lord, I ask you to take away the devil's foothold I let in…

Lord, I pray for one more chance.

Lord, I promise to spread my wings and take a stance,

Against all evil that tries to advance my way.

Lord, I promise not to fly back to my old ways.

Lord, I'll take my stance firmly in your name,

Which is Jesus Christ, who was slain for all our shame.

Taken from the Spring Newsletter, March 2009

 

All Things for the Good

We have been looking forward to sharing with you a story behind a story. Now is that time as we reveal God's blessing on this ministry, and how he worked out details that blessed another ministry and the people they ministered to.

In our September 2008 newsletter, we announced that in late August APM had acquired a new Alpha House. Through previous newsletters, we shared with you how we have been needing this and were actively seeking a new Alpha House for several months. Many of you have been praying, so you will especially enjoy reading more details about how those prayers we answered.

As we began our search for a new Alpha House, our plan was to seek a larger facility and sell the current one. Because of state laws and zoning, we had some above average challenges. It's no secret that the current real estate market makes things even more difficult, but we also knew God is bigger than those barriers.

Buying a new complex would not have been the toughest part. Finding a buyer for the current Alpha House had a newer problem because of the mortgage crisis. Funding for “investment property” is all but impossible right now.

We tell you these problems not to lament the situation, but to share how our awesome God raises his people above circumstances. Another ministry called T's 4 Him was facing their own set of challenges, and here's where the story gets even more interesting.

The T's 4 Him ministry, like APM, helped former inmates integrate successfully back into society. They provided not only housing, but mentoring and life skills through integrated job training designed to build character and dignity. T's 4 Him residents lived and worked together in a controlled, Christian environment.

The work that these residents did was construction. They learned the skill while working with a licensed contractor. Not everyone stayed in construction after completing the training, but many did, and the experience was valuable either way.

When the ministry began, they were able to acquire distressed properties from the city of Grand Rapids and restore them to new condition for selling. When the city discontinued that program, the ministry began building new houses and then selling them.

As changes in the housing market began to threaten the feasibility of this ministry model, things in the natural would have looked bleak. T's for Him could no longer continue, but God is faithful and had a solution. Their situation was the perfect opportunity for APM, and the compatibility of the two ministries meant that their current residents would still have a place to stay.

So God provided a new Alpha House that was already being used for prison ministry. There is yet another benefit to the way the Lord worked this out so perfectly. Whenever local residents learn that a facility is housing “ex-offenders,” they are understandably concerned. Over time, that concern not only subsides, they gain an appreciation as the neighborhood is actually improved because of the Christian standard.

Many of the neighbors we already had with Alpha House, who were also apprehensive at first, have expressed that they were wrong, and would be sorry to see us go. Neighbors of the new Alpha House are relieved that it is still run by a ministry.

The story doesn't end there either. Last month, the APM board voted unanimously to accept former T's 4 Him board member, Elmer DeRitter, as the newest member to our board. We are pleased to him with us, and that answers another prayer.

Taken from the Winter Newsletter, January 2009

 

Staying Christ Centered
Excerpt from a letter we received in October 2008 from a volunteer

First of all let me express my thanks for the wonderful evening we shared on September 23. It was a terrific experience. Great food, wonderful fellowship, meaningful music and a very inspiring speaker in the person of Mike Benson made for a very memorable time. We're looking forward to next year already.

Secondly, thank you for the opportunity to serve as an Alpha volunteer. From my first contact with you a year ago, it was clear to me that serving Christ in this ministry was divinely directed. During this time I was in a transitional phase in my own faith and struggling with how and where I fit into the organized church puzzle.

Alpha's undenominational approach was exactly what I needed in my life. Frankly, God's call to return to the Catholic Church was a surprise to me, but after answering this call the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, culminating with my hiring as the Catholic Chaplain at the Saginaw County Jail this spring. I was hired precisely because I had a wide and varied experience in working within and across denominational barriers.

When we stay Christ centered, the issues of doctrine and dogma that we Christians too often allow to separate us recede into the background, and Jesus stays first and foremost, where he truly belongs. While this is something I've always known in my heart, it was my work with Alpha that demonstrated how this works in the practice of jail and prison ministry. I shall always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to expand my own horizons and grow into this ministry that God has called me to.

It is my hope and prayer that I will be able to use this position to help the Alpha program move forward, serve the cause of Christ in more prisons, and expand into new geographical areas. We'll discuss this more in the future as the Lord directs.

Yours in Him,
Phil

Taken from the Winter Newsletter, January 2009

 

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