Reaching out with hope to offenders incarcerated in our justice system

 

What are the goals of Amen Prison Ministries?

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Sharing Christ with prisoners.

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Conducting evangelistic services.

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Pointing the way as a mentor in a one to one relationship.

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Leading a prisoner to a deeper walk with Christ.

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Help ex-offenders make a good transition back to society.

 

We look at prison ministry as a mission field.

 

 

Hope for destroyed lives

Sharing Christ with prisoners is our first calling.  We also mentor and counsel men in the prison system to help them experience a deeper walk with Christ and know His calling on their lives.  As ministers of the gospel our desire is to the men of evil become men of good for the glory of God.  Our next focus is to help ex-offenders make a good transition back into their home community.  Once someone has gone to prison or has just been released, these men or women and their families struggle to get their lives back on track.  We need to provide support for families during these times of crisis.  Hope is renewed when support is given to help transform the spirit, soul, and body (sometimes prisoners are affected physically by incarceration).  The Holy Spirit is the power and we are the instruments.

According to the latest statistics most prison inmates (70 to 80 percent) return to prison again.  The average incarceration is less than 3 years and ninety percent of the inmate population (non-lifers) return to the streets.

 

Why support prison ministry?

Dr. Peter P. Legins, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, Institute of Criminal Justice & Criminology, is considered to be `the dean of American criminologists`.  He is quoted to have  said:  "I have known for years, as have most criminologists in this country, that the greatest hope for an inmate to avoid the revolving doors of our prisons is to undergo a religious conversion experience during incarceration."

Burn Cain, warden of the Louisiana state penitentiary in Angola states:  "I believe moral rehabilitation is the only true rehabilitation."

Faith-based prison programs cut cost and recidivism.

Some facts and figures to consider about the Texas prison system (1998 figures):

We throw more people in jail than any other state, but does that solve the crime problem?  The statistics say no.  What we need is real rehabilitation through spiritual regeneration by promoting prison ministries and encouraging Christian volunteers to reach out to the criminal element.

What are 'faith based' or 'belief therapy' programs?

Belief therapy is a program that really works to cut the recidivism rate in our prison systems down.  A person's belief system effects every aspect of his life and controls his future.  Belief in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Bible are the proven problem answers to man's problems.

More on Belief Therapy by the founder Dr. Paul W. Carlin

The concept of Belief Therapy is the result of Dr. Paul Carlin's research (seen on the left with his wife Jeri) into Rational Emotive Therapy, Cognitive Therapy and TheoPhostic Counseling.  He claims that people do what they do because they believe what they believe.  Thus changing  what a man believes will change his behavior.  The sources of most addictive compulsive behavior and life-controlling problems will continue to recur and run a person's life.  Truth sets a person free.  Thus Godless behavior can be reversed through Belief Therapy.  Most of the ministers associated with Amen Prison Ministries are board certified Therapon Counselors and use the concepts presented by Dr. Carlin in his Belief Therapy program to bring deliverance to prison inmates.  This is a revolutionary recovery program taught at Therapon Institute headquartered in Humble, Texas.  We recommend that all counselors be trained and certified by this organization.

 

What the finances are used for?

We go regularly to state prisons throughout Texas and sometimes Mexico.  We use funds for food, transportation and lodging when ministering in other cities.  Some of our finances go towards helping families of inmates.  We are associated with the Angel Tree organization which coordinates family outreaches.  This organization gets names and locations of needy families from chaplains and facilitates participation of volunteers.  We teach and preach the gospel as well as do practical work to show the love of Christ.  In association with Paul Carlin and PBI Ministries our volunteers provide a recovery program that is effective and life giving by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  Dr. Carlin states it this way:  "The innocent (Jesus) became guilty so the guilty (you and I) can become innocent".

What can you do?

Pray and ask your church to pray for our ministry.  Do what your heart leads you do to help us with the finances of this outreach.  We are soliciting monthly pledges from Christians who want to support prison ministry.  We will take one time offerings or random gifts also but even a small monthly offering of $10.00 per month will go a long way.  This is your opportunity to be part of a well established and effective lay ministry to the lost.  Offerings are tax deductible and we will send you a voucher for tax purposes.  If you would like to help, please contact us by mail, e-mail or phone.