God Uses Volunteer Ministries to Change Lives.

Three years ago Gary met Jim, a man who was new to our church and was looking for a ministry where he could serve the Lord. Gary suggested Along-Side Ministry which matches volunteers with prison inmates. The men meet one-on-one each week for Bible study and prayer.

Jim’s immediate reaction was, “No, definitely not!” Gary discovered that Jim was a retired police officer from southern California. Jim said he had spent his adult life putting people in prison and he didn’t think he could deal with a ministry to inmates, but he agreed to pray about it. A few weeks later, Jim told Gary he was willing to give it a try.

That was three years ago. It didn’t take long before Jim completed his volunteer training through Along-Side and was assigned to an inmate. The inmate was a young man who was incarcerated for attempted murder of a police officer. Jim wondered before that first meeting how he would react emotionally but God worked in Jim’s heart and soon Jim felt a real compassion for this young man. Many times Jim would see Gary after church and mention that he couldn’t believe how important the prison ministry was in his life. He was amazed at how God was working in his heart. Jim recognizes that it was only God who could change how he felt about working in prison ministry.

The other day the monthly newsletter arrived from Along-Side Ministry and there was a picture of Jim with his arm around the inmate he’s been discipling for nearly 2 years. Both men have big smiles on their faces, a testament to God’s goodness in changing hearts and lives.