Prison Outreach

FREEDOM FOR PRISONERS OUTREACH

Vision: Luke 4:18 - 18 - The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

Hebrew 13:3 (ESV) - Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Our Purposes:

Working to spread the Lord's message to men and women in prison.

Reaching the inmates in Nigeria with the love, hope and salvation of Jesus Christ.

We are a Christian group whose mission is to encourage, support, and motivate inmates and their families by regularly showing God's love through letters and prayers.

Areas of Involvement:

To minister to the spiritual needs of inmates.

We reach out to help inmates whose health has deteriorated due to their incarceration.

Supporting inmates through promoting penpal services.

Supporting inmates through provisions of sanitary materials and food items.

Providing online access to assistance resources for inmates, ex-offenders and their families.

A place for inmate loved ones to share their joys, fears, and faith openly.

A place to share stories, poetry, news articles and other inspirations.

If you need our help or would like to help us do God’s works please join us. Please join others in being a penpal to inmate. We are looking for people to write to pen pals in prison. This is an ideal way to minister to very lonely people.

All it takes is putting a pen to paper. Give it a try.

 A Message From the Group Leader:

This mission is designed to share hope and comfort to inmates, their friends & family. It is my wish that each member of FFPA continues to help those incarcerated in prison who cannot help themselves.

And above all else, let's lift them up in our daily prayers! Come on in! Let's do something positive for our loved ones and Christ Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Please come join us at Freedom for prisoners Outreach

Jesus began His earthly ministry with a bold proclamation of “good news for the poor” and “freedom for the prisoners” (Luke 4:18).

He scandalized the religious establishment by sharing meals with notorious sinners, and as He hung on the cross, He promised eternal life to the thief dying at His side. When ministering to prisoners with the Gospel, we follow a path marked out for us by Christ, who freely offered salvation to whomever would recognize their need. And we acknowledge that throughout history, God has turned those with checkered pasts – Moses the murderer, Jacob the liar, Rahab the prostitute, and Paul the persecutor– into heroes of the faith. Even more, Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the “least of these,” including prisoners, we do for Him.

Whenever we serve the incarcerated, we meet Jesus. 

Be Part of Us Today.

PLEASE CONSIDER FILLING THE CONTACT US FORM TO REACH US.

Barbed wire.  Steel bars and heavy metal doors.  Guard towers with armed officers.  Criminals. This is prison!  

Society says, "Lock them up and throw away the key."

Politicians say, "We need to build more prisons."

Statistics say, "80% of inmates return to prison after release--we are wasting our time to try to rehabilitate them."

But Jesus says, "I was in prison, and you came to me."

The prison system is the only "business" that succeeds by its failure. Prison populations grow larger and larger. Often, people come out of prison worse than when they went in.  Many commit more crimes, return to prison, and get stuck in the cycle of recidivism, the "revolving door" of
crime, prison, and release.

The answer to this is not more prisons.  It is not locking people up and "throwing away the key."  It is not even the death penalty, as studies have shown that even this does not effectively deter crime.  The answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the demonstration of power!

Prisoners need regeneration not rehabilitation--and Jesus has commissioned His followers to reach beyond the barbed wire fences and steel bars to touch the lives of men and women bound by the shackles of sin.

THE MANDATE FOR PRISON MINISTRY

The mandate for prison ministry is clear in God's Word, both by scripture and example.

SCRIPTURE: The greatest scriptural mandate for prison ministry is given in Matthew 25:31-40.  Jesus said: 

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  `for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  `I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"   (Matthew 25:31-40)

EXAMPLE:

Jesus Christ Himself is our example for prison ministry.  One of the main targets of Christ's ministry was prisoners: To open blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.  (Isaiah 42:7)

Jesus declared: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound". . . (Isaiah 61:1)

Even while dying on Calvary's cross, Jesus took time to reach out in love and concern to a prisoner.   As a result, that convicted criminal experienced God's love, grace, and forgiveness. During the time between His death and resurrection, we are told that Jesus " . . . went and preached to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19).

Unfortunately, despite the clear Biblical injunction and Christ's example to minister to prisoners, many believers prefer to pass by on the other side of the street, as did the religious leaders in the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37).

WHY PRISON MINISTRY?

Why must believers be concerned about prison ministry?  Because. . .

1. Prison ministry has a direct Scriptural mandate (Matthew 25:31-40).  Throughout the Bible are examples, descriptions, and commandments about prisons, prisoners, bondage, captivity, and slavery.  The Bible mentions prison, prisoners, or imprisonment more than 130 times.

2. We should follow the example Christ set by ministering to prisoners.

3. Prisons meet the criteria of any mission field: Lost people and a need for laborers.

4. God is not willing that any should perish--not even serial killers, rapists, and molesters (2 Peter 3:9).  God loves even the "worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).

5. Chaplains cannot minister to more than a small percentage of inmates in their care. They cannot do all of the necessary work themselves, as there is just not enough time to do so.

6. Many jails and prisons have no professional chaplains and many have no religious services at all.

7. For every person incarcerated, there are three to five other people affected: Mates, children, parents,  etc.  Inmates and their families represent a large segment of society in any culture.

8. False religions and cults are reaching out to prisoners. We must get there first with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

GOALS  OF PRISON  MINISTRY

The spiritual goals of jail and prison ministry may include one, some, or all of the following:

·         To share the unconditional love of God.

·         To present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that inmates will embrace it and receive Christ as Savior.

·         To disciple new believers in the Word and teach them how to study the Bible.

·         To demonstrate the power of prayer and teach them to pray.

·         To lead inmates to experience the life-changing power of God that will free them from guilt, shame, negative emotions, and addictions.

·         To minister to inmates' families.

The social goals of jail and prison ministry are:

·         To help the inmate function more positively within the prison environment.

·         To provide a link between the community and persons confined in correctional institutions

·         To prepare residents for re-entry into society (physically, mentally, morally and spiritually).

·         To assist inmates families in practical ways.

·         To provide post-prison assistance in practical ways.

WHAT THE GOSPEL HAS TO OFFER

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has many things to offer inmates.  

·         Forgiveness from sin.

·         A chance to say "I'm sorry."

·         Release from guilt and shame.

·         Acceptance--when all many of them have ever known is rejection.

·         New values and perspectives.

·         Strategies for coping with difficult situations and negative emotions

·         Basics for true honest relationships.

·         Life abundant through Jesus Christ.

·         A new purpose for living.

·         Eternal life.

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE?

Of the millions of active believers world-wide, only a small number are involved in ministry to prisoners, despite the fact that jails and prisons are found in almost every community.  Yet the scriptural mandate by both teaching and example is clear. Every believer should be involved in prison ministry.   This does not necessarily mean you are called to actually go into a prison.  As in missions--not everyone is called to go to a foreign field to share the Gospel.  But--as in missions--every believer should be involved in prison ministry in some capacity.

There are many ways to be involved:

·         Provide prayer support for prison ministries.

·         Visit an inmate.

·         Write to a prisoner.

·         Assist families of inmates.

·         Help inmates transition back to society after their release.

·         Conduct worship services, Bible studies, or group meetings inside prisons.

·         Write, publish, and distribute Biblically based training material specifically designed for prison inmates.

·         Provide Bibles and Christian literature for inmates.

·         Provide financial support to a prison ministry.

·         Serve as a prison chaplain.

Begin now to pray for God to reveal the specific way that you are to be involved!

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Be Part of Us Today:

Write: Prisoners Lifeboat Outreach

P. O. Box 8712, Shomolu. Lagos. Nigeria.

e-mail: lifeboatchristiancenter@ gmail.com

Or. Call: +2348075211164, +2348028821311

WhatsApp: +2348036554420