Praise God for His work and grace during the recent Prison Journey to the Heart! The Journey team, consisting of almost 70 volunteers, conducted Journeys with more than 200 inmates in 6 different prisons. God moved mightily, touching participants’ hearts with the truth of His Word. 

Many people were praying for the Journey. God answered those prayers as He softened and prepared the hearts of inmates to yield to His Holy Spirit. One volunteer who has assisted with many Prison Journeys over the years shared about the incredible receptiveness he saw right away in the men. He commented: “From the first half hour we began our week, our inmates were completely engaged and impacted. I’ve never seen this much receptiveness so quickly. Within the first opening welcome we gave them, several were wiping tears from their eyes. It was astounding.”

The prison in the previous testimony allows Journey volunteers to eat with the inmates. At the graduation, one inmate had tears in his eyes as he shared how he was impacted because these volunteers chose to sit and eat with him. Praise God for the volunteers who took advantage of this unique opportunity to spend a meal with inmates and for how God used this simple act to show these men the love of Christ! 

During this Journey, two major topics discussed were bitterness and forgiveness. After hearing this teaching, many inmates took the important step of forgiving those who had hurt them. One inmate shared that after he heard a message about forgiveness, he had prayed to forgive his spouse. Not only did this offended man forgive his wife, but he even asked God to bless her despite how deeply he had been hurt. 

In another prison, an inmate heard a message on the seriousness of harboring bitterness and the importance of walking in forgiveness. The prisoner began to forgive people who had hurt her. God opened the woman’s eyes to bitterness she was holding toward someone and that she needed to forgive that person. The woman chose to forgive her offender. 

After forgiving her offender, the next evening something miraculous happened. After years of no contact with the now-forgiven offender, the inmate suddenly heard from that person! God does amazing work in our lives when we are willing to take steps of obedience in following His will. 

God is moving mightily in the lives and hearts of the incarcerated. Please pray that He would continue the life-changing work He has begun in these inmates who attended the Journey to the Heart.