20 years in Prison for Stabbing and Other Violence

As an 8 year old child his father showed him how to clean and assemble a handgun. As you can imagine, from then on things went from bad to worse and he ended up addicted to drink, drugs and violence. He told me he had served 20 years altogether in his 47 years of life.

Amazingly, he has come out the other end and is now going round schools warning children of the dangers – and consequences –  they face if they go down a similar route. He told me doesn’t hold back when he describes prison life in all its messy details.

What brought about this remarkable change? He met Jesus in prison and is now  a born again Christian. Needless to say his father is at a loss to understand him and has rejected him. He told me that God had never let him down and, although he has never had a lot, he has always had enough.

I was really touched by his story. I gave him my website URL and invited him to send me his testimony, setting out what he was like before he became a Christian and the change that happened in his life afterwards. We discussed local churches and I suggested one he might like to try out. Finally I prayed for him that God might use him powerfully to reach others.

A great day!

Used, Abused and Unloved By Those He Trusted

He’s now a grandfather, but his early days were horrendous. Abused physically and sexually by his father, he grew up confused, angry and feeling unloved.

No surprise therefore that he spent a total of 20 years in prison, five of them for armed robbery. He went down the drugs route, ending up on crack cocaine.  

man behind bars

Now he’s moved on and slowly getting a sense of perspective and that it wasn’t all his fault. Thankfully he treated his children and grandchildren in a more loving way.

I told him that I knew someone who loves him as he is, and has always loved him. I shared about God, Jesus, sin and repentance. He told me he recently went to church. I told him about the church I attended, and he said: “that’s near where I live”. He couldn’t come this week, but might be able to come next Sunday. He took away a gospel tract.

Had The Privilege of Praying With Two Women Today

    The first woman had met with a couple of Christians some time ago but had drifted away from them and God. I prayed with her, encouraged her and she was happy to take away a Luke’s Gospel. I shared some of my testimony with her to indicate to her the reality of a loving God in the person of Jesus. I also gave her a link to a good British website http://www.newchristian.org.uk and invited her to read the “Share Your Story Here” section which had personal stories on the left hand side of the page.   

A lady team member called me over to pray with the second woman. She had relationship issues with her partner who was heavily involved in drug taking. She also had a medical problem that was concerning her.  We both prayed and afterwards she said how peaceful she felt. We explained that was the presence of God.