Went to Death Row at Parchman yesterday. I met Jersey and Leslie and Devon among others. There are 39 men there. 20 are active in a church now. Prior to three years ago, they were allowed out of their cells for one hour per day. One man said to me that - prior to 20 months ago he went 7 years without leaving his cell and that he didn’t shower during that time. It was his choice, but still, that is hard to imagine.
A Musician Tells His Stories
Devon made sure to pull me aside. He shared a rap song that told two stories … Before Christ and After he accepted Christ. It was well written and performed. One fellow told me of his garden, and another told me of the guitars that have been brought in. He had been a musician prior to getting locked up and he was giving guitar lessons in prison.
The current prison administration is making a great effort to treat these men, sentenced to death, as human. This is a big change, and we are glad to have been invited to participate in that process.
On Lockdown...
Prior to heading to Death Row, I spoke to about 40 men who were on lockdown. These are the most violent of the inmates, other than the men on death row. We had no security in our service. They were attentive and responsive. I prayed with many of them.
The Pastor came to me and said most of these men were in gangs and he had never seen about 10 of them bow their head for anyone or anything. They confessed Jesus/Yahshua as their Lord and Savior saying that they wanted to leave darkness and move to the light. They wanted to leave corruptible for incorruptible and mortal for immortal. You could see the darkness on the men … You could feel it … but some came through the door … asking for Jesus to lead them and guide them going forward.
How Can You Help?
If you'd like to support the ministry and the work we do every day, every week and every month to bring the light to men and women everywhere we can reach with the gospel, you can text 'FAITHEXCHANGE' to 53555, or simply go to http://faithexchange.org/partner to learn more about partnering with us.
Your support helps us continue to bring hope and transformation to those who need it most. Thank you for standing with us in this mission.
Much Love,
Dan Stratton
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