Weekenders

Another from Dave:

I had no intentions to go Friday night as this is the time for intake processing of "weekenders." However, I felt the Lord prompting me to go so I did.

I first spent time talking and praying with Bill. Bill comes from a well-known and wealthy family in Rochester, but he was not open to the love and grace of the Lord Jesus. Pray for Bill that something of the Word and the Spirit will get through to this young man.

After this, I took the opportunity to check in on the first Life Transformation Group (LTG) in Mod B, made up of Mike, John and Novalus. Read about the beginning stages of this group here and here. Well, here it is: They have broken the first rule by having more than 3 guys per LTG without creating another LTG. They informed me that their LTG has over 20 men in it! And they meet for prayer every night at 9:30 p.m. in the southeast corner of the Mod. I was blown over! So they called over to the table about 6 inmates who individually testified to this. After the fourth inmate told me of his participation, I about fell on the floor.

Keep praying; the Lord is working! These guys are on fire.

Back at MCCF

From Dave:

This evening (10/5) was the first time back to MCCF in a while, and it was an interesting return. There was some sort of difficulty in MCCF this day. There was quite a state of disarray with the whole facility and there were no deputies available to let me into the chaplain's office. Because "in every difficulty is an opportunity with the Lord," I decided to go to the Mod units with no Good News bag, bibles, literature, calendars, or anything and represent the Lord Jesus the best I could.

Mike and Justin came to the table together and asked, "Who are you, and why are you here?" They, and perhaps others, had the same question because I had no Good News bag or info. displayed that I was a Good News volunteer. So after a short introduction and explanation of the situation, I got right down to presenting the gospel. They both had lots of questions. Eventually, both men made decisions to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord . We talked and prayed quite a bit afterward.

Just as I was leaving, Jim stopped me on the floor and we sat down for some talking and praying. It turns out that he is going to be released soon. His wife and family live close to the building where my church, Rochester Vineyard, meets. He is a maintenance person for an apartment complex, and specifically has training and experience with steam boiler heating systems. Jim is a Christian and is interested in hooking up with a church on release. I told him about my church, and our need for a heating person with his skill sets. Jim gave me all his info. (address, phone#, etc) and wants me to followup.

Pray that Jim and his family get connected to the church, form strong relationships with Christ and other believers, and begin to use their gifts in the body for the glory of God.

Reconnect

Got a hold of Mike. He said he had been working a lot. I invited him to a small group function. "Lord, connect him to the body of Christ. Let him not lose sight of his original commitment to You. Capture his heart once again."