{"id":262793,"date":"2024-05-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=262793"},"modified":"2024-10-08T13:30:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T19:30:18","slug":"hope-behind-bars-discipleship-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/hope-behind-bars-discipleship-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope Behind Bars: Discipleship in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cContinue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering\u201d Hebrews 13:3 (NIV)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was New Year\u2019s Eve of 2016 when Navigator Craig Parker<\/a> first stepped foot in the Suffolk County Jail in downtown Boston to help lead an inmate Bible study. The jail was about 300 yards from TD Garden, the arena where the Boston Celtics play. As he walked past the busy sports arena, he remembers hearing the distant sounds of another basketball game \u2014 the inmates playing within the caged jail next door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michael (left) and Craig (right) during a video call. “Craig has been a godsend in my life,” Michael says.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, over seven years later, leading prison ministry initiatives has become one of the core passions of Craig\u2019s life and ministry. This has included hosting an online micro church every Sunday on incarceration and injustice and launching the Boston Reentry Collaborative \u2014 a network of churches serving those affected by incarceration as they reenter society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navigator City Director for Boston and part of the Navigators I:58 (Isaiah 58) Prison Ministry Network<\/a>, Craig has seen firsthand how mentoring inmates can be transformative, having walked with men in the highs and lows of their journeys and personal walks with the Lord \u2014 both in and out of prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the men Craig meets with is Michael, a believer who spreads the gospel in prison as he serves his life sentence in MCI-Shirley, a state prison in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Passion for Discipleship in Prison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Michael was 21-years-old, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Incarcerated for the first time in his life, he felt hopeless and was planning to take his own life when another inmate invited him to attend a church service. In the service, the hymn \u201cWhat a Friend We Have in Jesus\u201d started to play, and it struck a chord in Michael\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started weeping bitterly,\u201d Michael recounts. \u201cIt was at that point that God intervened in my life, and he filled me with a peace that I can\u2019t explain. So my faith is something that literally saved my life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That church service in December of 1991 started a faith journey for Michael that has carried him throughout his 32 years in prison. Today, Michael is a core leader of MCI-Shirley\u2019s chapel community and discipleship groups. He has dedicated his life to sharing the gospel and discipling other inmates, often building relationships through the prison workout program he teaches called \u201cTransforming the Temple.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love meeting with these men one on one, where I can really spend time with them, disciple them, and build the things of God into their life,\u201d Michael says. \u201cGod has used the fitness arena for me to reach guys I normally wouldn\u2019t be able to reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael originally met Craig a year and a half ago when Craig\u2019s church was attending a chapel at MCI-Shirley. Since then, Michael and Craig interact weekly through phone calls, letters, and visits. While Michael never had someone disciple him at the beginning of his faith, Craig now diligently walks alongside him in mentorship, supplying him with spiritual encouragement and Navigator resources to help Michael disciple other inmates more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI often wonder what I have to do to improve how I disciple these men,\u201d Michael says, \u201cso having the information I\u2019m getting from The Navigators is helping me to become better in the ministry God has called me to do. I told Craig I want to be the first person in prison to be a Navigator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a man like Craig support and invest in him from the outside has had a meaningful impact on Michael\u2019s life and ministry. \u201cI\u2019m really thankful that God placed Craig in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s done tremendous work in my life, and he\u2019s helped me grow in my walk with Christ and feel value again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Outside Support Impacts Inmates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Michael is just one of over 1.8 million people who are incarcerated in the U.S. Though 90 percent of inmates will be released at some point in their lives, most are likely to return to prison if they lack a support system in the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our state alone, there are 13,000 people incarcerated, and about 2,000 of them are released into the Boston area every year,\u201d Craig explains. \u201cThe question is, what kind of citizens do we want them to be \u2014 and how can we walk alongside them? Our vision is to mobilize more volunteers to walk alongside those who are incarcerated \u2014 to awaken, educate, and engage the church on a wider scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s something as small as writing letters to inmates or as large as committing to be a consistent mentor, Craig encourages churches to meet inmates while they are incarcerated and continue to support them as they reenter into society, connecting them to service providers as well as a community of believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig has lived this example through his mentorship of a man named Daniel, whom Craig met in prison and helped get into a Christian residential program for his parole called Place of Promise. \u201cI\u2019ve seen Daniel take pride in who he is and his work for the first time,\u201d Craig explains. \u201cThis is a man who has been in prison for 31 years, and I\u2019ve seen true transformation happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Michael, who has watched numerous inmates be released and return to prison over the years, the work Craig is doing isn\u2019t just important \u2014 it\u2019s vital in order for these men and women to successfully leave the prison system once and for all. \u201cTo know that there\u2019s a community of people who love you and find value in you, who say, \u2018We\u2019re family, we\u2019re here for you, we\u2019re here with <\/em>you,\u2019 is so important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Gospel Transforms Lives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For many, prison is a place that is entirely devoid of hope. \u201cI\u2019ve seen men who are absolutely broken at their worst,\u201d Craig explains. \u201cTheir hope is completely stripped away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, through men like Michael, prison can be a place where the light of the gospel can shine with brilliant clarity. \u201cYou\u2019ve never heard the gospel proclaimed until you\u2019ve heard it from someone like Michael,\u201d Craig reflects, \u201cwho can say, \u2018I was convicted of murder a long time ago. But that\u2019s not who I am. And I want to tell you about God\u2019s love and forgiveness and care.\u2019 It puts the gospel in a whole different light for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)<\/a> says, \u201cTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through supportive believers like Craig and dedicated disciplemakers like Michael, the hope of the gospel is alive and making new hearts in the darkest of prison systems. Join us in praying for the prison ministry in Boston, that the Lord will continue to transform the lives of inmates and inspire believers to come alongside those who are incarcerated to fight with them for a better life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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