Stay tuned to find out
some of the major issues
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that are plaguing
men in today's society
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and how it has a
direct correlation
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to mass incarceration.
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My name is Jason Bradley,
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today is Brian Hamilton
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and he is the CFO of 3ABN.
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He also heads up 3ABN's
Prison Ministry Department.
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Welcome to Urban
Report, Brother Brian.
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Thank you,
Jason, it's a blessing,
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privileged to be here.
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Yes, well, it's
good to have you here.
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Thank you.
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You know, for as
long as I've known you,
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you've been very passionate
about prison ministry.
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Yeah.
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Is there any
that... What's behind that?
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Where does your
passion stem from?
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Okay, well, our story
began about nine years ago.
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We received a phone call
one evening about suppertime,
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and that phone call was
kind of a defining moment
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in our family, in
our lives of our family.
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That phone call was to tell us
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that our son was
in a county jail,
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facing charges that
would put him behind bars
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for, basically,
the rest of his life.
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Wow.
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Yeah, it was tragedy,
it was a tragic situation.
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It was a shock to us.
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It threw us into
a whole new world
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that we had had no
experience with before
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and that's the
world of incarceration,
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county jails, prisons.
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They're not
user-friendly places,
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I'll tell you that.
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Yeah, it's not
the Ritz-Carlton, no.
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Yeah.
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And they're not
particularly friendly,
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there's not warm and fuzzies
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related to
correctional officers,
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and prisons, and jails.
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And so, of course, we
were in shock, and grief,
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and we made our
trip out to California,
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that's where he was at.
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Our first visit
was two days later
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before we were able to see him.
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It was, in fact,
it was November 4,
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that happened to be my birthday.
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Wow. Yeah.
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So that started us on
this whole new journey.
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But, you know,
the Lord has a way
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of taking tragic situations
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and if our lives
are committed to Him,
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He takes those tragedies
and turns them into triumphs.
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Yes.
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He takes our hurts and pains
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and He can bring
blessings out of them.
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No matter how
bad the situation is
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that people face or
could be facing today,
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and I don't know,
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you know, our viewers situation,
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but if you put it in
the hands of the Lord,
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He can bring a
blessing out of any situation
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and our life is a
living proof of that.
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Amen.
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So as we went in
to visit our son,
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we began to see young men
that were behind the glass,
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just like our son was
behind the glass with the phone
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and their wives,
or their parents,
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or their brothers, or
sisters, or girlfriends
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and couldn't help but somehow
our hearts went out to them.
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Yeah.
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Just like our heart was
going out to our own son.
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And God sort of opened our eyes
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to a whole new ministry area
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that we'd never give
consideration to before
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and that's prison ministry.
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Yes.
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We came back to 3ABN
after that first visit
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and the Lord opened
up an opportunity for us
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to join with a team
that was doing ministry
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in a state prison here in
Illinois called Big Muddy.
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Okay.
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So I joined that team that
would already was working there
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and, you know,
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it was just such
a healing experience
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for us to go in.
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I mean, these guys are
like our sons, you know.
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Yes.
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And we could relate
to them so much easier
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because of the fact that,
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you know, we have a
son that's in a situation
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like they're in and
they could relate to us.
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Yes.
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So that's how the
door opened for us.
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Okay.
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And now it's been
a good eight years,
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Diane and I have been going
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into sometimes two or
three prisons every week.
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Different days of the week,
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and we have the federal
prison in Merion that we serve.
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And then two state
prisons, ones in Pinckneyville,
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about 45 minutes away.
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Okay.
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And another one
called Big Muddy,
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this is about 35 minutes away.
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Okay. Wow.
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So that's how we got started.
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And we do a
service of Bible study
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teaching principles of,
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you know, of
Scripture, God's love.
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You know, I have a
text here I'd like to share.
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Yes, please.
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And it's found
in Luke chapter 4,
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starting with verse 18.
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And this is
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when Jesus got done
reading a passage in Isaiah
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in the synagogue in
his hometown Nazareth,
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this was the passage He read.
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He says, "The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me
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because He has anointed Me
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to preach the
gospel to the poor."
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And we're not just
talking about poor financially,
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these are people
who are poor in Spirit,
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who are downtrodden, okay?
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Yes, they've all lost probably
all their earthly possessions.
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In fact, I can remember about
a month after the situation
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happened with our son, Diane
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and I had to fly
out to California.
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Go in, and take all of
his worldly possessions
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out of his
apartment, his clothes,
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you know, his bedding,
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everything he
owned and dispose of it,
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give it away, bring some home
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'cause he'd never need it again.
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It was almost like death.
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You know, when person dies,
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you have to go
and take everything
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out of the closet and...
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So we had that
grieving experience,
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you know, to do that.
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That would have been
extremely hard for you.
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Oh, it was, you know,
it was our second son,
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Trent came and
joined us for that
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and helped us
through that experience.
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Said, "I came to
preach the gospel to the poor.
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He has sent Me to
heal the brokenhearted."
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Prisons today are
full of broken people,
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brokenhearted people.
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And for everyone in prison,
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there's a whole
family of brokenness
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associated with
that person incarcerated,
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there's parents,
there's brothers and sisters,
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there's husbands and
wives, there's children,
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all affected by this.
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So he says, "To preach
the gospel to the poor,
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He sent Me to
heal the brokenhearted,
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to proclaim
liberty to the captives."
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We've discovered it
with our son's experience,
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you can be more bound,
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bound in the chains of sin
and Satan outside of prison
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and you can be
incarcerated today
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and be free.
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Yes, and that is
very interesting.
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Yeah, and then
that's a whole new insight.
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So "Sent Me to
heal the brokenhearted,
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to proclaim
liberty to the captives,
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and recovery of
sight to the blind,
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and set at liberty
those who are oppressed."
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So those words have taken
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on a whole new meaning for us.
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Yes, yes.
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And so as I was saying,
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we spent about
the last eight years
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involved in prison ministry.
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Always looking for material
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that would be helpful
to people incarcerated.
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I have a few stats,
Jason, that I brought.
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Before you go
into those stats...
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Okay. Sure.
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You know, it's important
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that people know that
it's not just the inmates
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that are doing the
time, like you said,
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you have families that
are experiencing this hurt
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and it's like
you're doing the time
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with your son
because you're separated.
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Absolutely, yeah. Yeah.
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And that's...
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When we go into or say do
a prison ministry event...
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And you've come with us
on a number of those events,
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so we've had a
great time together.
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Absolutely.
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That's one of the things
we do to introduce ourselves
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to the inmates says,
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"Hey, there's something
you and I have in common
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that you have no idea
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and that's we're both
doing time, you know."
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Yes.
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Our son is locked in,
as long as he's locked in,
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we're locked out.
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And the same
with their sweethearts
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and their families and all,
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when they're locked in,
the others are locked out.
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We're all doing
time together, you see.
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Yes.
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And when you said that,
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you know, there are some
people that are in there,
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that are more free
than people out here...
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Yeah.
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I remember being in a
prison and seeing Lemuel Vega,
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he, you know, he
calls for volunteers
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and when they volunteer,
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he'll usually
give them something.
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Well, he gave these
two gentlemen Bibles.
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Oh, yes.
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And these men began to cry.
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They were so hungry and excited
that they got the Word of God
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and they started to cry.
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Yeah, and moved by the thought
that someone cared enough
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to give them
something like that, you know.
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Yes. Yes, that's true.
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Since my son is in California,
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I have some
stats for California.
00:10:22.45\00:10:25.45
There are about 34
prisons in California.
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Okay.
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Three of them are women's
and all of the rest are men's.
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So out of 34,
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you have 31 prisons
that are full of men.
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Wow. Three for women.
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California has about
118,000 persons incarcerated,
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just a little over 118,000.
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Wow.
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Of that, 5,200 are women
and the rest are all men.
00:10:51.68\00:10:55.28
A 113,000 men
incarcerated in California.
00:10:55.32\00:11:01.29
Their prisons are
at a 132% of capacity.
00:11:01.32\00:11:06.16
132%?
00:11:06.19\00:11:08.73
132% of capacity,
that means they are full
00:11:08.76\00:11:12.50
and then 32% on
average fuller than full.
00:11:12.53\00:11:16.81
Man!
00:11:16.84\00:11:18.17
Some more than that and
some a little less than that,
00:11:18.21\00:11:20.94
but on average.
00:11:20.98\00:11:22.94
It's pretty costly to
house and take care of someone
00:11:22.98\00:11:27.72
who is incarcerated,
00:11:27.75\00:11:29.08
and California has one
of the most expensive cost.
00:11:29.12\00:11:32.95
Yes.
00:11:32.99\00:11:34.32
On average, it's
about 70,800 per year
00:11:34.36\00:11:36.62
per inmate in California.
00:11:36.66\00:11:39.13
Wait a minute, 70,000 and...
00:11:39.16\00:11:41.36
$800.
00:11:41.40\00:11:42.73
$800 and there a 132%...
00:11:42.76\00:11:46.84
Of capacity.
00:11:46.87\00:11:48.20
Of capacity. Yeah.
00:11:48.24\00:11:49.57
Illinois, we have 40 prisons,
three of them are women's.
00:11:49.60\00:11:52.74
We have about 43,000 persons
00:11:52.77\00:11:55.54
incarcerated with
3,000 of them as women.
00:11:55.58\00:11:58.88
So that means 40,000 men.
00:11:58.91\00:12:01.55
So you can see,
this is really a man's,
00:12:01.58\00:12:05.62
a men's, a male's problem.
00:12:05.65\00:12:07.66
Yeah, that's
alarming statistics.
00:12:07.69\00:12:09.02
Yeah.
00:12:09.06\00:12:10.39
If you look at it
nationally, we've got
00:12:10.43\00:12:11.76
about a 111,000
women incarcerated,
00:12:11.79\00:12:15.13
that's a terrible number.
00:12:15.16\00:12:16.50
Yes.
00:12:16.53\00:12:17.87
But men, we have 1,400,000
men incarcerated nationally
00:12:17.90\00:12:23.10
compared to a 111,000 women.
00:12:23.14\00:12:28.31
This was kind
of startling to me,
00:12:28.34\00:12:29.74
90% of murders
are committed by men,
00:12:29.78\00:12:32.95
88% of robberies
are committed by men,
00:12:32.98\00:12:36.35
75% of everyone
arrested are men.
00:12:36.38\00:12:40.86
So if you're thinking
00:12:40.89\00:12:42.39
about the greatest
predictor of incarceration,
00:12:42.42\00:12:47.36
it's if you're born male.
00:12:47.40\00:12:49.46
Wow.
00:12:49.50\00:12:50.83
That's the greatest
predictor of incarceration.
00:12:50.87\00:12:53.94
So you have to ask
yourself, "Well, why?"
00:12:53.97\00:12:57.81
Yeah. "Why all of this?
00:12:57.84\00:12:59.17
What has caused it?
00:12:59.21\00:13:00.54
Particularly for men,
00:13:00.58\00:13:01.91
what are the
problems that men face?
00:13:01.94\00:13:04.65
What has caused this to happen?"
00:13:04.68\00:13:08.08
Well, the people that have done
some study into the conditions
00:13:08.12\00:13:12.62
and the state of manhood
00:13:12.65\00:13:14.52
have come up with these
interesting and tragic...
00:13:14.56\00:13:20.76
Or what should I say, reasons.
00:13:23.77\00:13:26.63
First, "I guess
men as a general rule
00:13:26.67\00:13:29.64
are confused about their
role and function in society."
00:13:29.67\00:13:34.04
What is a man's role?
00:13:34.08\00:13:35.48
What is his function?
00:13:35.51\00:13:36.88
They've never been
modeled that or taught it
00:13:36.91\00:13:40.48
and they're just
guessing at what it is
00:13:40.52\00:13:43.08
or don't have a clue what it is.
00:13:43.12\00:13:44.89
Or they're finding it
in all the wrong places,
00:13:44.92\00:13:47.49
the music today,
television programs,
00:13:47.52\00:13:51.56
all kinds of things
00:13:51.59\00:13:52.93
where they're
teaching all the wrong things
00:13:52.96\00:13:55.20
about respect and all that.
00:13:55.23\00:13:56.60
Yeah, our media
00:13:56.63\00:13:58.90
is projecting a totally
inaccurate image of manhood.
00:13:58.93\00:14:03.84
Absolutely.
00:14:03.87\00:14:05.21
"Men are generally, I guess,
disappointed with their life
00:14:05.24\00:14:07.71
and what life has dealt them."
00:14:07.74\00:14:09.94
And you think if a
person is disappointed
00:14:09.98\00:14:14.12
and felt let down,
00:14:14.15\00:14:16.72
usually the reaction is anger.
00:14:16.75\00:14:20.36
And so you can think of all
the violent crimes committed,
00:14:20.39\00:14:23.12
they're committed by men.
00:14:23.16\00:14:24.49
These are angry men.
00:14:24.53\00:14:25.86
Okay? Yes. Yes.
00:14:25.89\00:14:27.63
"Men are lonely,
they lack intimacy,
00:14:27.66\00:14:32.13
they need intimacy but
are afraid of intimacy,
00:14:32.17\00:14:37.71
and don't know how
to solve the problem."
00:14:37.74\00:14:39.67
Yes.
00:14:39.71\00:14:41.08
"Men are in pain
emotionally, and in general,
00:14:41.11\00:14:46.28
men are drifting without
purpose or meaning in life."
00:14:46.31\00:14:48.98
Those are some of the factors,
as they've done research,
00:14:49.02\00:14:52.82
they've discovered about men.
00:14:52.85\00:14:54.92
So when you look
at the situation,
00:14:54.96\00:14:57.19
it's no doubt that men act out
00:14:57.23\00:15:00.50
and they act out
with anger and aggression
00:15:00.53\00:15:03.77
because of their situation.
00:15:03.80\00:15:05.63
Men medicate their pain
00:15:05.67\00:15:07.30
and what do they use to
medicate their pain with?
00:15:07.34\00:15:10.27
Alcohol, drugs,
sex, pornography.
00:15:10.31\00:15:14.88
So those things
don't solve their problems,
00:15:14.91\00:15:18.91
they just medicate it
or put a band-aid on it.
00:15:18.95\00:15:23.12
But when the
medication wears off,
00:15:23.15\00:15:25.89
problem's still there.
00:15:25.92\00:15:27.46
Yeah.
00:15:27.49\00:15:28.82
Go right back to it again and...
00:15:28.86\00:15:30.19
Yeah.
00:15:30.23\00:15:31.56
It's like traditional
medicine, it doesn't solve...
00:15:31.59\00:15:33.23
it doesn't
attack the root cause.
00:15:33.26\00:15:35.10
Yeah. It just
masks the symptoms.
00:15:35.13\00:15:37.00
Right, that's exactly right.
00:15:37.03\00:15:39.83
"Other men become workaholics."
00:15:39.87\00:15:42.64
They're distant
from their families,
00:15:42.67\00:15:45.01
homes fall apart,
00:15:45.04\00:15:47.08
or turn to excessive sports,
or other things to again,
00:15:47.11\00:15:51.38
mask the pain, the
hurt, the confusion,
00:15:51.41\00:15:55.18
or just drifting through life.
00:15:55.22\00:15:57.05
Yeah.
00:15:57.09\00:15:58.42
And so just recently, in fact,
00:15:58.45\00:16:01.46
it was my son who
put me on to this.
00:16:01.49\00:16:04.43
Uh-huh.
00:16:04.46\00:16:05.93
He says, "Dad, I'm
attending a program."
00:16:05.96\00:16:08.76
Then I says, "Oh,
really? What is that?"
00:16:08.80\00:16:11.27
And he says, "It's a
program on authentic manhood."
00:16:11.30\00:16:16.24
And I go, "Wow,
authentic manhood,
00:16:16.27\00:16:19.37
never thought about that.
00:16:19.41\00:16:22.14
Authentic manhood, okay,
well, tell me about it son."
00:16:22.18\00:16:26.15
Uh-huh.
00:16:26.18\00:16:27.52
So he began to tell
me about the program
00:16:27.55\00:16:28.88
and he made this
statement when he did,
00:16:28.92\00:16:30.49
it's like my antenna went up.
00:16:30.52\00:16:32.55
He says, "Dad, I wished
00:16:32.59\00:16:36.02
that I'd had this
in my teenage years.
00:16:36.06\00:16:39.46
I wish I had this in
academy or someplace."
00:16:39.49\00:16:42.43
He says, "I think
it might have made
00:16:42.46\00:16:44.80
a really difference in my life.
00:16:44.83\00:16:46.60
The things I'm learning
right now through this program,
00:16:46.63\00:16:50.04
it could have
really made a difference."
00:16:50.07\00:16:51.61
Wow.
00:16:51.64\00:16:52.97
Well, I said,
"Wow, if that's my son
00:16:53.01\00:16:55.94
who is
incarcerated saying that to me,
00:16:55.98\00:16:59.91
Yes.
00:16:59.95\00:17:01.28
then I need to
take note of that."
00:17:01.32\00:17:02.65
And I brought
with me the program.
00:17:02.68\00:17:04.92
It's called 33 The
Series, you could Google it on,
00:17:04.95\00:17:09.82
you know, on the
internet, 33 The Series,
00:17:09.86\00:17:12.56
a journey to authentic manhood,
00:17:12.59\00:17:14.73
as modeled by Jesus
Christ in His 33 years on earth.
00:17:14.76\00:17:20.20
Wow.
00:17:20.24\00:17:21.57
And so that's
what the 33 is for.
00:17:21.60\00:17:22.94
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:22.97\00:17:24.31
And so it's a
six-part series. Okay.
00:17:24.34\00:17:27.44
And each part has successions.
00:17:27.48\00:17:31.01
So it's 36 sessions altogether.
00:17:31.05\00:17:34.22
And it starts out
with talking about men,
00:17:34.25\00:17:38.32
males and God's design for them,
00:17:38.35\00:17:42.06
His purpose and mission for men.
00:17:42.09\00:17:45.09
I'm not saying that
women don't have issues
00:17:45.13\00:17:47.06
and don't need to
be ministered too,
00:17:47.10\00:17:49.63
but when you look
at the problem, it's...
00:17:49.66\00:17:52.73
We've got a huge male problem.
00:17:52.77\00:17:55.67
Absolutely, the statistics,
the numbers don't lie.
00:17:55.70\00:17:58.77
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:58.81\00:18:00.14
And so man in his design,
00:18:00.18\00:18:03.04
a man in his
story, this session,
00:18:03.08\00:18:05.51
the second part or
the sessions two...
00:18:05.55\00:18:11.49
Stop us men and make us
look back over our life,
00:18:11.52\00:18:15.62
how did we relate to our dad
00:18:15.66\00:18:17.53
or did we even
have a dad to relate to
00:18:17.56\00:18:20.13
and how did that affect us.
00:18:20.16\00:18:21.70
Our mom, how did
we relate to our mom.
00:18:21.73\00:18:24.90
I have a man in
prison who shares,
00:18:24.93\00:18:28.97
every once in a while,
00:18:29.00\00:18:30.34
things about his
past and it was so tragic.
00:18:30.37\00:18:34.58
He talked about his mom
00:18:34.61\00:18:37.25
that hated him for all his life,
00:18:37.28\00:18:40.78
he could think of no time
00:18:40.82\00:18:43.12
where his mom
ever was affectionate,
00:18:43.15\00:18:45.15
or showed love, or any kind of,
00:18:45.19\00:18:48.26
you know,
mothered him in any way.
00:18:48.29\00:18:51.03
Yeah.
00:18:51.06\00:18:52.39
So it's no
wonder he is in prison
00:18:52.43\00:18:54.36
for aggressive
behavior against women.
00:18:54.40\00:18:58.87
You know, it's just...
00:18:58.90\00:19:00.24
that is Sad.
00:19:00.27\00:19:01.60
And that where
you're supposed to get
00:19:01.64\00:19:02.97
that nurturing
kind of stuff from.
00:19:03.00\00:19:04.34
Yeah, right. It's from your mom.
00:19:04.37\00:19:05.71
Right, so in second section
00:19:05.74\00:19:07.74
has this look back over our life
00:19:07.78\00:19:10.58
and look at the things
that might have affected us
00:19:10.61\00:19:14.85
to cause us to be in
the situation we are today.
00:19:14.88\00:19:17.55
Okay.
00:19:17.59\00:19:18.92
And then move forward from that,
00:19:18.95\00:19:20.29
you don't want to
live in that past.
00:19:20.32\00:19:21.66
Yes.
00:19:21.69\00:19:23.02
But you want to learn
from it and then move forward.
00:19:23.06\00:19:24.99
And session three
is a man in his traps.
00:19:25.03\00:19:28.36
Satan is a roaring lion
seeking who he can devour.
00:19:28.40\00:19:32.40
And so he has traps
00:19:32.43\00:19:33.77
that are
particularly designed for men.
00:19:33.80\00:19:36.34
He has them for women too
00:19:36.37\00:19:38.21
but this session three
deals with a man in his traps.
00:19:38.24\00:19:42.51
Session four, a man in his work,
00:19:42.54\00:19:46.01
and then in his marriage,
00:19:46.05\00:19:47.82
and then in his fatherhood,
00:19:47.85\00:19:49.42
so those make up the
six different parts of this.
00:19:49.45\00:19:53.05
And you think a man's
world is involved with work,
00:19:53.09\00:19:56.39
his marriage, and family,
being a father in a home.
00:19:56.42\00:20:00.63
A lot of guys don't
know how to be a father.
00:20:00.66\00:20:03.10
They don't know how to be
a real good husband either.
00:20:03.13\00:20:05.30
Yes.
00:20:05.33\00:20:06.67
And so anyway,
we're just started this,
00:20:06.70\00:20:10.11
I told the guys that...
00:20:10.14\00:20:13.31
This is the...
00:20:13.34\00:20:14.68
You get a DVD,
you get a booklet,
00:20:14.71\00:20:17.81
and uh...
00:20:17.85\00:20:20.15
and then a leaders guide.
00:20:20.18\00:20:22.65
And it's a really nice series,
00:20:22.68\00:20:26.19
I've just started
educating myself on it,
00:20:26.22\00:20:29.06
and I told the guys
00:20:29.09\00:20:30.43
that they are going
to be my guinea pigs.
00:20:30.46\00:20:32.53
Wow.
00:20:32.56\00:20:33.90
So we're going to
go through this thing
00:20:33.93\00:20:35.90
and it's going to
take about a year.
00:20:35.93\00:20:37.70
Uh-huh.
00:20:37.73\00:20:39.07
And we're gonna
evaluate this program.
00:20:39.10\00:20:42.94
We're kind of excited
about it. That's nice.
00:20:42.97\00:20:44.31
I mean, it's...
Yeah, it sounds like
00:20:44.34\00:20:45.67
it's a great program
and very informative.
00:20:45.71\00:20:49.34
You know, what are
some preventive measures
00:20:49.38\00:20:52.01
that, you know,
we've talked about
00:20:52.05\00:20:53.52
how people try
and mask the symptoms,
00:20:53.55\00:20:57.09
what are some
preventive measures
00:20:57.12\00:20:58.92
that a man can take?
00:20:58.95\00:21:00.99
What are some examples?
00:21:01.02\00:21:02.49
What's the example
that he can look at?
00:21:02.52\00:21:05.16
Well, of
course, like this series
00:21:05.19\00:21:06.70
is based on the life of Christ,
00:21:06.73\00:21:10.67
so Christ can be an example.
00:21:10.70\00:21:12.83
You have many biblical
stories about situations,
00:21:12.87\00:21:16.20
both in homes, and
families, and marriages,
00:21:16.24\00:21:19.54
in people's lives,
case studies, okay,
00:21:19.57\00:21:22.28
that's one place you can look.
00:21:22.31\00:21:28.58
That would be, I
would say, a good beginning.
00:21:28.62\00:21:31.75
Absolutely. Yeah.
00:21:31.79\00:21:33.12
Because even if
00:21:33.15\00:21:34.49
even if you didn't
have a father in the home...
00:21:34.52\00:21:37.19
Right.
00:21:37.23\00:21:38.56
You can go to your Bible,
00:21:38.59\00:21:40.16
to the Word of God and
look at the life of Christ.
00:21:40.20\00:21:42.73
I mean, He is like
00:21:42.76\00:21:44.10
the true
definition of a man, you know.
00:21:44.13\00:21:47.97
Right.
00:21:48.00\00:21:49.34
And He was self-sacrificing,
00:21:49.37\00:21:51.57
His amount of
love that He's given
00:21:51.61\00:21:55.11
and continues
to give is amazing.
00:21:55.14\00:21:57.28
Yeah.
00:21:57.31\00:21:58.65
You know, He's
the true definition
00:21:58.68\00:22:00.72
of what a real
man should look like.
00:22:00.75\00:22:02.45
Yes.
00:22:02.48\00:22:04.79
You know, the Bible
tells us that God is love,
00:22:04.82\00:22:07.92
and when we as men
00:22:07.96\00:22:11.06
turn to our Heavenly Father
00:22:11.09\00:22:14.20
and ask Him to help us,
00:22:14.23\00:22:16.63
He's in the business of healing.
00:22:16.67\00:22:19.07
You know, we focuses a lot
on His love and forgiveness,
00:22:19.10\00:22:23.47
and to be forgiven
is a wonderful thing.
00:22:23.51\00:22:26.88
But then what happens
after you're forgiven,
00:22:26.91\00:22:30.45
well, we need
healing, we need restoration.
00:22:30.48\00:22:33.82
And if, I believe, if we as men
commit ourselves to the Lord,
00:22:33.85\00:22:38.62
He starts us on this journey,
00:22:38.65\00:22:40.86
and He brings
people into our lives
00:22:40.89\00:22:43.22
that will help us
in the healing process,
00:22:43.26\00:22:46.26
He brings resources
and different things,
00:22:46.29\00:22:51.03
and connects us with them.
00:22:51.07\00:22:53.44
It's not an accident,
00:22:53.47\00:22:54.80
we're in these prisons
doing what we're doing,
00:22:54.84\00:22:56.50
it's because God has
uniquely put us there
00:22:56.54\00:23:01.74
for the mission of
extending His healing
00:23:01.78\00:23:05.38
and restoring love to the people
00:23:05.41\00:23:08.12
that we rub shoulders
with in those settings.
00:23:08.15\00:23:12.19
Absolutely.
00:23:12.22\00:23:13.56
That's how it's
worked in our lives, anyway.
00:23:13.59\00:23:17.73
What testimonies or
stories can you share with us
00:23:17.76\00:23:22.00
where you've seen lives
touch inside those walls?
00:23:22.03\00:23:24.83
Yeah.
00:23:24.87\00:23:26.20
Oh, wow, we see it every day.
00:23:26.23\00:23:29.50
I think of one particular man,
00:23:29.54\00:23:31.01
he is in a prison
00:23:31.04\00:23:33.21
for just the
most horrific crimes
00:23:33.24\00:23:38.48
you could ever think of.
00:23:38.51\00:23:40.45
I don't want to repeat them
00:23:40.48\00:23:43.28
but they are just horrific.
00:23:43.32\00:23:47.46
And he's in a county
jail waiting for his trial.
00:23:47.49\00:23:51.46
In a situation like
that, you could spend one, two,
00:23:51.49\00:23:54.50
or three years in a county
jail just waiting for trial.
00:23:54.53\00:23:57.47
Wow.
00:23:57.50\00:23:58.83
And he picks up a
Bible and starts to read it.
00:23:58.87\00:24:04.84
And he's not understanding it.
00:24:04.87\00:24:08.91
There happened to be a Muslim...
00:24:08.94\00:24:11.11
Uh-huh.
00:24:11.15\00:24:12.48
In the prison that
knew about the Bible.
00:24:12.51\00:24:14.18
Really?
00:24:14.22\00:24:15.55
And he started working with...
00:24:15.58\00:24:17.62
This fella had
never opened a Bible,
00:24:17.65\00:24:19.79
didn't own a Bible
until he got to county jail,
00:24:19.82\00:24:23.46
and a Muslim brother
who you wouldn't think
00:24:23.49\00:24:27.30
would know
anything about Scripture
00:24:27.33\00:24:28.86
knew about the Bible
00:24:28.90\00:24:30.23
and started
helping explain it to him.
00:24:30.27\00:24:33.23
Wow.
00:24:33.27\00:24:34.60
He gave his heart to the Lord,
00:24:34.64\00:24:36.84
he moved from county to federal.
00:24:36.87\00:24:39.84
Uh-huh.
00:24:39.87\00:24:41.21
In the federal
prison, he met a fella
00:24:41.24\00:24:45.15
who had some
Adventist background,
00:24:45.18\00:24:50.12
and began to teach
him systematically,
00:24:50.15\00:24:53.76
over a period of time,
00:24:53.79\00:24:56.52
all the principles of
the plan of salvation.
00:24:56.56\00:25:00.10
Wow.
00:25:00.13\00:25:01.46
Jesus love many of the errors
he had heard on the streets,
00:25:01.50\00:25:05.63
you know, people hear all
kinds of things about God,
00:25:05.67\00:25:08.67
and about the Bible,
00:25:08.70\00:25:10.04
and about life that
is totally off-base.
00:25:10.07\00:25:14.28
But they believe it
because that's all they know.
00:25:14.31\00:25:15.88
Yes.
00:25:15.91\00:25:17.25
But anyway, and so
Mark taught Dennis,
00:25:17.28\00:25:22.62
and we baptized Dennis
just a couple years ago.
00:25:22.65\00:25:27.12
Wow. Yeah.
00:25:27.16\00:25:28.76
I wonder what
happened to the Muslim brother.
00:25:28.79\00:25:30.93
Yeah, I don't know.
00:25:30.96\00:25:32.29
And that would be
interesting to find out too,
00:25:32.33\00:25:34.13
you know, as he is
witnessing through the Bible.
00:25:34.16\00:25:36.40
Yeah, but how did he
know about the Bible,
00:25:36.43\00:25:37.77
you know, how did he
know about the Bible.
00:25:37.80\00:25:39.13
Yeah.
00:25:39.17\00:25:40.50
Who knows how he knew about it,
00:25:40.54\00:25:41.87
but God had
people planted in there.
00:25:41.90\00:25:45.01
You never would have guessed
00:25:45.04\00:25:46.37
it would have happened that way.
00:25:46.41\00:25:49.28
So we just had, a
couple months ago,
00:25:49.31\00:25:51.61
we just had a baptism, Big
Muddy with nine of our guys
00:25:51.65\00:25:56.55
that come regularly
to our service baptized.
00:25:56.58\00:25:59.22
Wow.
00:25:59.25\00:26:00.59
And Pastor Lomacang
came, and joined us,
00:26:00.62\00:26:02.46
and performed the baptism,
00:26:02.49\00:26:04.49
and it was just a
high day, just a high day.
00:26:04.53\00:26:07.30
That's amazing.
00:26:07.33\00:26:08.66
Even behind the walls,
people can get baptized.
00:26:08.70\00:26:11.33
Yeah.
00:26:11.37\00:26:12.70
And there's that
true sense of freedom
00:26:12.73\00:26:14.07
and true sense of joy
00:26:14.10\00:26:15.44
even though
they're incarcerated.
00:26:15.47\00:26:16.97
What does a class look like?
00:26:17.01\00:26:19.37
When you go in there
00:26:19.41\00:26:20.74
and you start teaching
and sharing the Word of God,
00:26:20.78\00:26:23.14
what does it look like?
00:26:23.18\00:26:24.61
How did it start?
00:26:24.65\00:26:25.98
It's just a classroom like
you would see at any school
00:26:26.01\00:26:28.08
and that's usually
their worship center.
00:26:28.12\00:26:31.02
And we come in
00:26:31.05\00:26:32.39
and we have anywhere
from 35-40 guys down to
00:26:32.42\00:26:36.19
as little as three
depending on the facility.
00:26:36.22\00:26:39.26
But we'll come
in for two or three,
00:26:39.29\00:26:41.13
it doesn't matter to us,
00:26:41.16\00:26:43.47
other ones we
have much larger group,
00:26:43.50\00:26:45.47
and we have a time for
singing, time for sharing,
00:26:45.50\00:26:49.47
prayer and praises,
time for Bible study,
00:26:49.50\00:26:53.68
and question and
answer, and closing prayer.
00:26:53.71\00:26:57.61
In some places
00:26:57.65\00:26:58.98
we get about an hour and a half,
00:26:59.01\00:27:00.35
other places we get two hours.
00:27:00.38\00:27:02.02
Nice.
00:27:02.05\00:27:03.49
It's a great time.
00:27:03.52\00:27:04.85
Nice, and people
ask a lot of questions?
00:27:04.89\00:27:06.32
Oh, yeah, oh yeah,
it's a lively experience.
00:27:06.35\00:27:10.79
Yeah.
00:27:10.83\00:27:12.16
So they bring all the...
00:27:12.19\00:27:14.20
Maybe some of the things
00:27:14.23\00:27:15.56
that they've been
taught that have been wrong
00:27:15.60\00:27:16.93
and then you
show them in the Word.
00:27:16.97\00:27:19.23
Yeah.
00:27:19.27\00:27:20.60
In other words,
00:27:20.64\00:27:21.97
does God crisp you in
the fires of hell forever,
00:27:22.00\00:27:24.94
and ever, and ever,
00:27:24.97\00:27:26.31
you know, to find out
that God doesn't do that,
00:27:26.34\00:27:29.48
you know, that
even in His judgment,
00:27:29.51\00:27:32.05
there is mercy.
00:27:32.08\00:27:33.42
In other words,
society has heard,
00:27:33.45\00:27:35.38
it just never ends
but no, it does end.
00:27:35.42\00:27:38.22
Just something simple like that,
00:27:38.25\00:27:39.59
you'd be amazed
00:27:39.62\00:27:41.46
how much the discussion
is around that whole subject.
00:27:41.49\00:27:44.96
I believe it. I
believe it. Yeah.
00:27:44.99\00:27:46.33
Well, thank you
so much for coming on
00:27:46.36\00:27:48.43
and sharing with us
about prison ministry
00:27:48.46\00:27:50.53
and real manhood.
00:27:50.57\00:27:52.30
Yeah. And thank
you for joining us.
00:27:52.33\00:27:54.47
Well, we've reached
the end of another program.
00:27:54.50\00:27:56.81
Join us next time, and remember,
00:27:56.84\00:27:58.34
it just wouldn't be
the same without you.
00:27:58.37\00:28:00.68