From their home base in northeast Tennessee, Mike and Jo Brown serve in BMM’s Prison Ministries. Their ministry slogan is “Presenting the Liberator to those in spiritual bondage behind prison walls.” In 20 years of ministry, the Browns have seen numerous men and women give their lives to Jesus Christ. These are the stories of several who stepped out of the darkness of sin and the criminal culture and into the glorious freedom of Christ.
A man in solitary confinement
One afternoon Mike had been visiting cell to cell in the segregation unit at the jail. He was just about ready to walk out the door when someone called to him. Behind the cell door was a bearded man about 40 years old. With a trembling and anxious voice, he told Mike that he didn’t have any assurance that he would go to Heaven. Mike explained the gospel to him, prayed with him, and asked him to call on the Lord himself. As he prayed he began to sob and name specific sins; he prayed for about two to three minutes. His prayer began in agony of soul and ended with thankfulness and rejoicing with full assurance of salvation.
Cindy
Cindy, a lady in the jail, stopped Mike just before getting into the Bible study that day. She wanted to be saved, right there, right now. Mike wanted her to be clear about salvation, so he explained the gospel to her. Mike prayed for her, and then he asked her to call on the Lord. She took the hands of the female inmates who were sitting on each side of her, and she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior. Sometimes inmates themselves are the most effective ministers to their fellow inmates. The Holy Spirit had prepared Cindy’s heart through the prayers and witness of those two women.
Eric
Mike had been counseling a young man, a Christian, who got with the wrong crowd and made some very poor choices. He began taking the Bible correspondence course Mike offered him, and he recommended it to his cellmate, who was on the verge of becoming a Buddhist. This budding Buddhist began taking the course; he found it interesting and enjoyed it. On the second lesson, students can check if they have become believers. On that exam Eric’s cellmate indicated that he wasn’t interested. But on lesson four he checked that he had become a believer. Several days later Mike met with him in person, and he was excited about his new faith in the Lord, brought about in part by the testimony of his cellmate and by reading the book of James and taking the Bible correspondence course.
Susan
Susan was a new convert who was transferred to and from two different jails to two different prisons. Because she wanted to conform, her devotional life and walk with the Lord suffered. As she tried to read her Bible, it fell open on the floor to Romans 10 two separate times. Her daughter and son sent her cards, praising God for their mom’s salvation. One of the cards had a Bible verse on it: Romans 10:11. Susan remembered that her Bible had opened to that exact spot. She was convicted: “I wanted God to do so many things for me, but I didn’t want to do anything for Him. I was ashamed of the Lord.” She repented, but her cellmate laughed at her. But some days later, her cellmate wept with her, wanting to know of her God. The Lord had used Susan, who had been afraid, to be a bold witness inside walls of concrete and steel.
Dennis
Mike met Dennis at a correction institution. Dennis had graduated from college and seemed talented, bright, and articulate. For several years he had worked with his father building houses in South Carolina. His dad was an alcoholic, but Dennis was a drug addict. Neither one ever confronted the other about his lifestyle. Two years ago his father was saved; he stopped drinking, started reading the Bible and began attending church. Dennis continued his habit and got arrested. In a prison in central Tennessee, Dennis walked into a chapel service and received Christ. Since that time he has increasingly grown in the Lord, taking many Bible courses. In a recent letter to the Browns he commented, “I am really interested in working my way into a ministry. I feel God has seen me through a lot of bad times to be able to use me in His name.”
(Inmates' real names are not used in these stories.)