Update
from Donna Wyatt...
|
“For
the LORD shall comfort Zion (me): He will comfort all her (my) waste
places; and
he will make her (my) wilderness like Eden, and
her (my) desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall
be found therein, thanksgiving,
and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3 |
 |
I do not want this season of
Thanksgiving to go by without thanking all of you for your support. It brings
tears to my eyes when I think of you and the sacrifices you have made on my
behalf with your finances, encouragement, calls, and letters.
The work here in the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, AL, has been
interesting to say the least. There are approximately 1,000 women housed here so
the need is certainly great, but we have been hindered from offering any real
ministry.
But the Lord has recently opened a door for Chaplain Anna Miller and me to
minister in a new prison called Montgomery Women's Facility (MWF), located in
nearby Montgomery, AL, and housing approximately 300 women. Under Warden Edward Ellington,
who is reported to be a fine Christian man, we will have freedom to teach,
minister and counsel. We are very
excited and look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in the lives of the
ladies there, and we are humbled by the privilege of working with them.
We start work at the MWF Monday, November 26, on a part-time basis until
after crusade in late January 2008. We are already trying to start a
library so the ladies will have good reading material. The Lord gave us the idea
to go to thrift stores to shop for books, and we have purchased twenty in just
two visits; of course, we are excited. A
good friend in Virginia knows someone needing to give a number of Christian
books away and has asked her if she could find a home for them. Isn't God
good?
My very beautiful in-the-Lord-niece Rebecca Benson is raising funds to provide a
computer for us to use at the new prison. Otherwise all our work would have to
be hand written. Every piece of mail that comes into the chapel has to be
logged—who it is from, who receives it, and on what date. Every devotional or
Bible given out has to be logged the same way. It will be so much easier to have
the information on computer where we can put the lists in alphabetical order. That
way we can more efficiently keep up with what is coming in and going out.
Reports have to be turned in after every event an inmate attends, such
as class, choir practice, prayer clinic, or church. All these records will be
kept on computer, also.
We have started writing and calling companies and churches to see if they can
provide Bibles and devotionals for each inmate. We hope to receive some answers
soon.
Please help us pray for the needs of the ladies in the prison here. Without you
they would not hear the gospel.
Much love in His name,
Donna Wyatt
Answer
me when I call to you, (He has)
O
my righteous God. (He is)
Give
me relief from my distress; (He will)
Be merciful to me and hear my prayer. (He did)
Editor’s Note: Donna started serving a two-year term with We Care in September. She is ministering as assistant chaplain in the women’s prisons in Montgomery, Alabama.
|
Could God be calling you to
help with the 30th Annual Prison
Crusade January 26-31? |
Prison
Crusade – A Great Opportunity
By Pres Nowlin
I
told our “Menno Notes” editor that I would like to write an article
concerning the We Care Program Alabama Prison Crusade that will elicit
enthusiasm for participation. Only
you, Gentle Reader, will be able to measure my success.
My
method is simple and direct: I will make a list of the great things about being
a worker in the Alabama Prison Crusade which list will dazzle your mind and make
you crave an application like chocolate. Hold
on!
1. It gives us a chance to minister physically to Jesus. He tells us that when we visit those in prison, we are visiting Him. (Hey, we can do that right here at home, too, but the Crusade is a great way of getting your feet wet.)
2. The Crusade gives us the opportunity to meet a lot of neat people who are in prison. These folk are not snarling, nasty, horrible people. Most of them are regular people who have done something bad for which they can be put in prison. We’re “lucky” – the bad that we have done is not illegal – mostly.
3. This may be scary, but I have to say that participating in the Crusade tests your faith. Who wants that? Well, old Saints James and Peter thought right highly of testing as a way to let God work in us to make us grow in faith. Untested faith is weak faith.
4. If you work in Atmore, Alabama, you have a chance to be with Ed and Doris Ranck – always a blessing, I say.
5. If you work in the women’s prisons in Montgomery you have a chance to be with Donna Wyatt – also always a blessing, I say.
6. Wherever you work, you will meet a whole bunch of great people from everywhere. Folk from North Dakota, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Mexico. I won’t list them all, but you get the idea.
7. If you were born into a Mennonite family, the Crusade is a giant family reunion like, “You’re a Stoltzfus from Lancaster? My Aunt Esther Stoltzfus lives there. She’s your sister-in-law? How’s she doing? How about her little boy Ezra? Is he doing better? Etc.”
8. One Crusade worker I know “met himself” in prison. Got to talking with a guy whose life story was identical to his, and together they discovered how Jesus was working in their lives, and both sort of got “saved” again together.
9. The Lord really seems to work miracles around you while you are there. You see men and women find a ray of hope in a dark place. You hear people confess their sin to Jesus, and then you see them receive His forgiveness. That’s exciting business!!
10. You get to sit in a day-long meeting (Stick with me here) and hear inspirational testimonies and talks. Hey, Donna Wyatt actually heard the Lord speak to her in a big meeting on the first Sunday of last year’s Crusade, and now she works down there. Oops, don’t want to scare anyone. I’m sure the Lord won’t mess with you that way when you go down in January of ’08.
11. Don’t forget the fun of traveling with fine people like Pat Hertzler, Frank Vaughn and me (well some are finer than others) and eating at Cracker Barrels in four states. No stops at Wal-Marts this year because Donna won’t be along. Well, if you really want to . . . . Not to mention supper at Up the Creek, a great catfish house in Montgomery.
12. Blue Grass Gospel music is everywhere. Wait a minute, don’t change your mind – learn to love it.
13. You
get to be a part of a bunch of Jesus-serving Christians who have joined you, and
the combination is like that first Pentecost – the power of God is poured out
– and the light of heaven shines on and through us on death row, at the Work
Center, in the cell, on the yard, in the dining hall, in the Workers’ Meetings
and in our hearts to His Glory forever, AMEN.
You
get to spend a fairly healthy sum of money for the privilege of going, but we
are hoping the church will help with expenses.
Anybody out there?
SEE PAT HERTZLER, FRANK
VAUGHN, OR PRES NOWLIN FOR MORE INFORMATION
OR AN APPLICATION FOR
THE
WE CARE ALABAMA PRISON CRUSADE
JANUARY 26-31, 2008