An “INSIDE” Job!
God never ceases to amaze me! Yesterday when I got home and was reading the mail one of the things in the pile was a note and a tithe check from an inmate in Newport. This young lady is in the PAL (Principals & Application For Life) Program in prison. Cindy & Teresa met this person while she was in Miller County and continue to see her now that she is serving time in McPherson Prison. God has done a real work in this young ladies heart. To be in the PAL Program in prison you have to sign up but to stay in the PAL Program you have to follow the rules and be cooperative with it. Here is a little info about it:
- Addresses the spiritual needs of the inmates
- Confronts the inmates’ destructive thinking patterns
- Enables the inmates to respond to their situations in a Biblical manner
Since its beginning in 1998, the PAL™ program has seen hundreds of inmates’ lives changed. The success of the PAL™ program is attributed to the training, meditation and application of the Bible in the lives of the PAL instructors and in the lives of the inmates. Free-world visitors have noted how walking into the PAL™ barracks they can sense the working of the Holy Spirit. Even in the midst of prison, God’s Word is able to break the chains of spiritual bondage and bring freedom to those who are rejected by society.
Many times those in prison are more free than us “free-world” people. They have come to a place in their lives that they finally have hit “rock bottom” and now God is using it to help them “look up” and come to Him. Most come from a life that was on the worst road and headed for destruction. God is so awesome that He can break a heart, save a soul and change a life. God can rescue the person and give them a life that’s worth living for Him! The tithe check from someone who was in prison is a real surprise but the fact that this person, (and many in the free world are the same), would never have given the idea of tithing a thought but now desires to honor God and give Him her tithe is so amazing! No, Life House won’t be able to “buy a bus” or “pay off our building” with her tithe but before we discount anyones gift to the Lord – remember the widow’s mite in the scriptures!! Think about it! Little is MUCH when God is in it! Maybe we need a few people on the “outside” to get an “inside” heart change! Just thinking…. Pastor James