How Mighty is Our God and How Faithful He is to His Promises

Each day, I am reminded more and more how very faithful is our God; and how intimately he is involved in our daily lives, even in those times when we are not even aware of His presence and intervening Power!
And this past week brought this concept home to us in a very clear and personal way.
Many years ago, we met a young, single mom with three children--two pretty little girls, and a tall, serious young adolescent boy I'll call Brian. She was a hard working, dedicated Mom who wanted only the best for her children and she did all she could to assure them of their security in Christ. I remember especially many Saturdays, working at our kitchen table, preparing materials for the next day's Children's Church at the little Free Methodist Church around the corner. Mome, the girls, Brian and me would cut and paste, and copy and color and have a good time.
Over time, we moved on and new people came into our lives, with new issues and new ministry. But God had begun a relationship in our kitchen that was about to take a surprising turn. Here is a letter we received just this week:

Dear Jim and Carol,

I just found out that you are involved in prison ministry. Brian is in the (Illinois) Prison. I have been praying that I could find some one to correspond with him. He received the Lord in prison five years ago and gets very discouraged. Oh, how I have prayed that the Lord would do a work in his heart....God has given me new hope through you. I know God has deliverance for my son. Please write to him. I think he has given up on God and on life....I will be waiting to hear from you. Your Sister in Christ...

Don't tell me that God is not a personal God and not intimately involved with the planning and direction of our lives.
We have written Brian and are waiting to hear back. We know we will because God set this up 15 years ago. Please pray for Brian and for his family.

Prisoners of Hope Continues to Grow at an Astounding Rate

Incredibly, we have enrolled 765 men and women inmates in the Christian discipleship studies. We responded to 822 requests for information during 1998; and 22% of those eventually enrolled in the study program.
We are always looking for volunteers to help with grading, record keeping, and letter writing. Jim is looking for new partners to help withthe Tuesday night Teen Challenge worship service for juvenile boys at the Maricopa County Jail.

God Works Miracles Still

We don't always hear from the men and women once they are released. We think about them a lot and wonder how they are doing back in the world.
But, once in a while, God shows us that He has made lasting changes in many lives. Felix studied with Jim at Phoenix West State Prison for well over a year. During that time, Felix was faithful in attending the weekly study on his unit and encouraged others to do the same. Felix was released six months ago after spending in excess of 9 years in prison. Felix had some advantages not always available to other parolees. He had a family to return to and a job offer--real blessings to him.
But his most miraculous blessing of all was revealed when he applied for his provisional driver's license. Felix was sure that it would be several years before he would be able to get his full license restored, since he was required to pay full restitution for his crimes. Imagine his shock when the Dept. of Transportation pulled up his record on the computer and informed him that his record was clear.
"You don't owe any money! Our records show that you came in here and paid it off on June 7, 1997!" "That's impossible," exclaimed Felix. "I was in prison on June 7, 1997. Call a supervisor over there. There has been a big mistake." But even the supervisor insisted that Felix's record was clear. Paid in full--$30,000!
Felix owed a debt he could never repay; someone came in and paid a debt they did not owe. Felix is free. We owe a debt we can never hope to pay (restitution for our sins); Jesus paid a debt He did not owe (His death in our place). We are free! Accept that miaracle today. It's yours for the taking.
Felix wanted to do something for us to show how much he appreciated Jim's support over the past months. It just so happened that we were thinking about remodeling our office and Felix is a professional painter. See how God works? We have a wonderful, bright new place to work and it is a joy. If you are looking for a hard working, professional painter, we can recommend Felix!
We received a phone call a couple of weeks ago from Bill. I remember spending time with Bill while he was still in the program at church on the Street, recently released from prison and very unsure of his future. His future looks pretty bright at this point. He is working full time, and has his own apartment. he invited us over for a home-cooked meal. we feasted on a chicken pasta dish fit for any king (with cheeese cake for dessert). It is hard to describe the feelings you come away with as you realize that you did, in fact have something to do with all this--that for some reason unknown to you, God has chosen you to be a part oif these people's lives--and chosen them to be a part of yours.

Prisoners of Hope Goes High-Tech

We are still struggling with ways to meet the needs of our Spanish students in the most efficient and timely manner. We recently installed a Spanish translation program on our computers. We type in our students Spanish comments, push a button and pray. If all goes well, the program translates the Spanish into English so we can intelligently respond. In turn, we type in our english response, push the same button, and "Ole!" Our response is now in Spanish! There is a 'catch' however. Spell it right! Misplace a vowel or an accent mark in the Spanish version and your translation can be very, very interesting. If nothing else, we are most likely the talk of the Hispanic inmate population throughout the country. And it just proves we are human, but we do try harder.

A Couple More Letters to Share

In closing, let me share just a couple more letters received in our office just recently:

I have no family in Arizona and right now the only family I have is people in the church that I was attending before coming here, as I belong to the Assembly of God in Phoenix....I'm not used to being around many people, as all my life I've been a loner as I never trusted people because the prople I use to trust are the ones who used me. I'd get to know some one and they would turn around and rip me off. So I never wanted anyone to be my friend until the Lord came into my life...(Florence, AZ)

I want to give you my deepest thanks for your encouragement in my studies; and thanks to everyone at Prisoners of Hope for making this material available to me. I am learning a lot about myself and my relationship with God, and I have all of you there to thank for this....(Goodyear, AZ)

And, we thank you, too, for your encouragement of us; for your prayers; for your financial support; and for just being the good people of God that you are. We cannot continue to meet these needs without your help. Thank you for your generous response.

God bless you,

Jim and Carol Carper

Prisoners of Hope Ministries, Inc.

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