2004 Newsletter Archive Vault
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NOTE: The fall of 2004 was the launch of the APM web site which also led to the newsletters being created for online publication. Older newsletters are not published online, but testimonies originally appearing only in printed newsletters have been used on this site. Below is the first newsletter APM published online.
Increased Problems Offer Increased Opportunities
Back in July, The Associated Press reported on a new study conducted by the US Justice Department that shows the corrections population has reached a new high. In 2003, a record 6.9 million adults were either incarcerated or on probation or parole. That means 1 out of every 32 people! Think about that the next time you are in a crowd.
The number of repeat offenders continues to increase also, but this is the stage where Alpha Prison Ministries, and others, have the opportunity to prevent more crime, especially violent crime. Your support does make a difference in so many ways.
When you read the stories of how the lives of prisoners are transformed, your partnership with this ministry means that you helped make it happen. The Holy Spirit used you, your resources, and your energy, combined with God's power to turn a hopeless situation around. These men usually reach others, so the results are multiplied.
But there is another way you are making a difference. Studies made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that of those in state prisons for violent crime, more than 70% (in most categories) have been in prison before. If we are reaching them now, changing hearts as only God can do, then we are preventing crimes from happening.
We will never know in this life just how much of a difference we are making, but God is keeping score. You share in this difference, it matters a lot, and we are storing up treasures in heaven as well. May God bless you!
Taken from the Fall/Winter Newsletter, November 2004
Parole Denied
A letter from an inmate
Earlier this year I mailed a letter with the testimony of my conversion when the Lord gave me Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Then in my last letter of my parole board experience, I wrote that God knows my heart and preparedness for release. These words are being applied through a decision by the parole board that affects us all.
I was hopeful, as were mom and dad, that I would be paroled after receiving a very positive termination report from my therapy group. I was given a 12 month continuance on my sentence. It took a day for me to process and grieve my disappointment. The anger and denial I felt at first deepened to conviction and tears as I accepted the truth. I prayed for the grace to feel and go through the hurt, and truly trust God's providence in my heart.
I write with understanding of the far-reaching consequences of my past choices. The continuance is an equal burden to my parents, family, and friends.
I am looking forward to each new day knowing that God wants what is best for me. I rejoice and rest on the exceeding great and precious promises that God has given us. God has matured my faith to know His truth on which my trust stands. I pray this letter is a testimony of the abundant grace of God.
Prison has been a time for me to grow up, learn humility, and diligently serve the Lord. The continuance has served to create an even greater earnest in me to pursue all the things pertaining to godliness. I am enjoying college correspondence courses from Rhema Bible Institute, challenging me as I continue to mature in Christ, and redeeming my time in prison. I remain faithful each day to fellowship and minister as the Lord opens doors.
Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers.
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hast the eye seen, O God, besides Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. Isaiah 64:4 (KJV)
My love toward you,
Steve
Taken from the Fall/Winter Newsletter, November 2004
Alpha Training Now Being Replicated
An encouraging letter we received from a former inmate
I have been abundantly blessed since I left prison in late December 2003, and the world as I remembered it had greatly changed. I'm very grateful He made Alpha House available to me.
Alpha provided a safe and private place for me to readjust in that world I just barely recognized, and to the changes that wrought within me while I was in prison for 12½ years.
God had trained me for some specific areas of ministry while in prison, and He has given me a relatively clear vision of the type of ministry He wanted me to do when I reentered society.
I am moving on to Midland, Michigan to assist in the operation of a transitional facility much like Alpha, and I have some very specific “do's and don'ts” to take with me. I would not have been aware of these had it not been for the training I received at Alpha. I praise and thank God for both the six months He gave me at Alpha, and for the training and after care ministry I received while there.
George
Taken from the Fall/Winter Newsletter, November 2004
