"But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him?  And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him?  And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?"

Romans 10:14

"This is Real!"...was yelled out during on of our worship services at Perryville in the Spring of 2009 in reference to Jesus.  It literally brought tears to my eyes when one inmate shouted this during chapel.  There is such a desperation and need for God's love inside these walls.  I have grown up in the church and yet this going out to share and serve was not part of my regular experience.

It is by taking care of the downcast that we truly live life obedient to Christ.  This Jesus is Real and to love Him is to share Him with others. 

2009 Calendar of Events

January 10, 11, 25, 31 -- Perryville Prison
                                                      6:30- 8:00pm

We are well into our first rotation through all 6 yards at the women's prison and are having a great time meeting these ladies and ministering to them!  We are talking about how to live in peace by not worrying.  It is a great lesson that we all have enjoyed.  We used Matthew Chapter 6 as our text.  Our key points were...

1.  Worry is a sin and Jesus asks us not to do it.
2.  We need to focus on eternal things instead of ourselves.
3.  We need to trust God that he will provide for our needs.
4.  We need to make sure we truly are putting God first in our lives.
5.  We need to wake up every day and try to be joyful in it!

February 8, 15, 21, 22 -- Perryville Prison              
                                                     6:30-8:00pm 

We are now into our second rotation at Perryville and are so excited about this ministry.  The girls are asking for us and miss us when we have not been around for a while, which is a great sign that our program is being well received!  We are taking about happiness and how to get it!  We are talking about the happiness you get when you read God's Word!  We are learning that you can actually find happiness in doing things God's way!  And lastly you can find happiness by sharing your testimony about Christ in your life with others!  You can find great joy in leading someone to Jesus!  The text we refer to are Ps 1:2, Ps 119:70, Is 11:3 and Luke 15:1-7.  We also talk about what makes God happy... 2 Sam 22:20 and Jer 9:24.  God delights in us and he delights in people who truly seek to know and understand Him.        


March 8, 14, 22 -- Perryville Prison  6:30-8:00pm

April 5, 19      Perryville Prison 6:30-8:00pm

This month we are starting a two part series on Forgiveness.  By taking a look at the forgiveness we receive from Jesus (Luke 23:32-49), we learn that being like Jesus in our own lives means to be forgivers also!  So many of the girls we minister to have such horrible life stories and have been involved in some very serious mistreatments, so to ask them to forgive the people who have hurt them is asking a lot of them.  The truth hits home when we realize we are the most forgiven people we know so that should help us be the most forgiving to others.  We also learned that we cannot truly say we love Jesus and are following His ways if we harbor unforgivness because forgiveness is one of the indicators of whether or not we get what has been done for us on the cross.  It is by doing the same that we show God and others we get it!  We also learned that sin doen against us isn't worse than the sin that we commit against Almighty God.  We finished up part 1 with these points... 1) Forgiving is a choice not a feeling.  We should be willing to grant forgiveness before we feel like it or it will never happen.  2)  Forgiveness doesn't mean you are excusing someone's actions.  Sin is a big deal to us and God! And 3) By forgiving, it doesn't mean that the relationship has to be restored.  The key is being obedient and doing our very best to be like Jesus in every way- especially in the area of forgiveness!

April 25 -- Fund Raiser Dinner/Concert 5-8pm

Praise God for wind!  Ok maybe He could have toned it down just a bit that night, but we had a great time anyway singing and enjoying our friends and family!  Thank you for those of you who came out and supported us financially!!  Thank you Keith for the amazing chicken!  WOW- it was incredible.  We were able to raise just under $1000.00 to go towards supporting our prison ministry and summer events.  Thank you also for the donated Bibles!  Several girls at the prison still don't have one so these will help so much in that effort!  Thank you to my friend Jackie who let us borrow her generator and thank you to Stevie for running the sound for us.  Most importantly thank you to our wonderful board of directors who planned this event for us!  They are so dedicated to the vision and mission of QE and we are blessed to have them on our team! 

2009 Calendar of Events continued...

 

 
May 3, 17, 30, 31  Perryville Prison 6:30-8:00pm

I just wanted to share a quick note about the church service I did last night at Perryville Prison (May 30th).  I was scheduled for Lumley which is the high security yard.  It is the yard where there is very little time out of their rooms so being able to go to church is very important!  I have some regulars that I am being pretty good friends with in there, but last night was interesting and special.  We had about 40-45 inmates come for the service which was great.  It has gone from 17 average to this in just four visits which is great!  My lesson was the second part of my lesson on Forgiveness.  At the end of the lesson, I simply asked for anyone who would is dealing with the need to forgive someone and would like special prayer to please come forward and come stand in a circle off to the side of where I was standing.

 

Over 30 girls came forward!  

 

I was overwhelmed and touched by such a response,  It was unbelievable and wonderful!  So we had the rest of the girls just lay hands on someone in the circle and then I prayed a prayer asking God to help us be forgivers like Jesus.  We ended the service by singing Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone and it was so powerful and touching.  After the service I still had about 10 more come up for specific prayer requests which was awesome and such a humbling experience that they would rely so heavily on the people who come in to pray with them about their personal needs.

 

I am just thanking and praising God for this ministry.

 

Thanks for letting me share!

-Kelly

The exact same thing happened the next night at the Pedro yard.  We had 82 in attendance and over 55 came forward at the end for prayer to be better forgivers!  WOW!  I am overwhelmed and blessed to just be doing something meaningful and real with those girls!

Lesson on Forgiveness: 

• How this was demonstrated to us through the death of Jesus on the cross Luke 23:32-49
• This was the ultimate sign of love and devotion to mankind through dying for our sins.
• Why did He have to die?  Romans 6:23
• In order to have true freedom, you must fully embrace this idea of forgiveness adn to do so sets us on a completely new spiritual journey- one that is acting and being like Jesus.
• You can not say that you love Jesus and want to follow His ways if you harbor unforgiveness because forgiveness is one of the indicators of whether we get what has been done fo rus.  It is by doing the same that we show God and others that we get it.
• If we are the most forgiven people we know then we should be the most forgiving to others.
• How are we to live our lives if we want to be like Jesus in the area of forgiveness?
  • Walk in the truth that we are a new creation in Christ 2 Cor 5:17
  • Repent of our own sins and ask for forgiveness  Mark 1:15
  • Strive to live life the way GOd would want us to.
• Sin done against us isn't worse than the sin that we commit against Almighty God.
• Forgiving is  a choice not a feeling.  We have to grant it before we feel like it or it will never happen.
• Forgiving someone doesn't mean you are excusing someone's actions.  Sin is a big deal and it is bad in God's eyes too.
• We should ask God's help and pray "Help me to choose not to remember."
• By forgiving, it doesn't mean that the relationship has to be restored.
• Forgiving comes from God out of an overflow from His forgiving us.  mark 11:25
• Forgiveness should have no limits.  Matt 18:21-35
• Forgiveness is not selective.  You can't choose to forgive some and not others.  Matt 5:43-48
• An unforgiving heart leads to prison inside the heart.
• The state of our heart is truly revealed by how we treat other people.
• You know you have forgiven when you stop talking about it, you stop wishing ill will on those who hurt you, you become humble in their presence, and you no longer carry the title of "Victim" on your chest.
• When you choose to forgive you experience true freedom.  Col 3:12-15
• Other verses on this study... Eph 5:1-2, Col 3:13, Eph 4:32

July 11, 12, 18, 19         Perryville Prison 6:30-8:00pm