"A God Moment”
February 28th, Anna
and I were preparing to leave the Prison for the day and needed to stop in to
see the Warden for just a moment. When we found his door closed we thought he
may be gone for the day so we asked his secretary, she informed us he was in a
meeting. We only needed to get his signature on something so we were trying to
think of an alternate plan when the Warden’s door opened and a gentleman who
was accompanied by a lady emerged. I assumed they were concerned parents of a
daughter in the prison but then the man said "Well Warden here are the two
ladies I needed to speak with right outside your door". I had no idea who
this person was and did not even realize he was talking about Anna and myself.
It turns out that the man in
front of me was none other than Ken Brothers who is the founder and president of
New Beginnings Foundation, Inc. Which is the aftercare program in Alabama. He
was there talking to the Warden about implementing the program right here at
Montgomery Women's Facility. We finished our business with the Warden and went
out into the parking lot were Mr. Brothers was waiting to speak with us. He
explained he had just gotten the ok from the Warden to go ahead with the program
and wanted to solicit our help. He called it "A God Moment" that we
were right outside the Warden's office when he came out and felt that was a
conformation that he should talk to us about his plan.. He informed us he would
be back in one week to present the plan to the inmates who would be signing up
between now and then. The scheduled time was 2:15 PM Friday afternoon which just
happens to be 15 minutes after the class we were holding on the Purpose Driven
Life in the same meeting room (you reckon God was smiling really big?).
My head was still spinning after we got in the car to leave when Anna
said "that is the man I have been telling you about and had been wanting
you to meet". She said she knew that if we met I would get excited about
aftercare since that what had been in my heart all along.
By the next Friday there were close to 100 ladies signed up to hear what
this class was going to be all about. Since the room was small they were going
to have divide up into two classes with about 50 in each.. We sat in on the
first class and drank it all in. Ken shared that the program was a two
year commitment with lots of classes and homework and warned if they were
not serious they might as well not fill out the application. He did not
sugar cote it at all, as a matter of fact he reminded them several times it
would be hard but the results were fantastic. They claim 90% who complete the
program do not return to prison. Right now 6 out of every 10 return within the
first 6 months of release. He explained how each inmate gets paired up with a
church some job opportunities a mentor and accountability partner after release.
If any of you are wondering right now if I was excited, I was about to come out
of my seat wanting to know where I could sign up to help.
After the class I went straight up to Ken to ask if there was any
possibility that Anna and I could help, he said he was counting on it!
We serve an AWESOME God! I had no idea how I was going to get involved in
an aftercare program since We Care was primarily dealing with men in their
aftercare program in Atmore. God was working on a plan of his own and even
delivered it to me all in a nice neat package with a fancy bow on top. I don't
know exactly how this will all turn out but my Spirit tells me it is going to be
good and yes, I am excited!
Just in case any of you would like to look at the web site for Ken's
ministry called New Beginnings Foundation here is the web address. www.nbfi.org
Please help us pray for all this to come together with God's timing and
the financial needs will be met.
Thank You for your support, you are doing a wonderful thing and I don't
take that lightly.
Much
Love,
Donna
Wyatt