{"id":267667,"date":"2025-09-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=267667"},"modified":"2025-10-28T08:38:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:38:58","slug":"diamonds-in-rough-places-from-detention-to-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/diamonds-in-rough-places-from-detention-to-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamonds in Rough Places: From Detention to Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cI was in prison, and you came to visit me. . . . whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Matthew 25:36,40 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In a juvenile detention center in Virginia, two teens were having a meaningful conversation centered around an unlikely topic: faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, 17-year-old Chris* was feeling directionless, and was considering following another world religion to give him purpose. His friend, Ron*, cared enough about him to speak truth in love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to go down that road, it\u2019ll ruin your life,\u201d Ron said. \u201cThe Bible will straighten you out!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Calling for the Incarcerated<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

About a year ago, Navigators Disciplemakers for Life (D4L)<\/a> staff Brent Anderson<\/a> met Ron, just 19 years old, in his weekly visits with juveniles (generally ages 15\u201317) at a juvenile center in Augusta County, Virginia. Brent has been ministering among incarcerated men and women since 1981, when an elder at his church asked him if he would consider visiting a prison with him. Since then, he\u2019s also worked with international students at the University of Virginia, but he\u2019s continued to serve in prisons to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brent started specifically getting involved with juveniles around 19 years ago, when he formed a connection with some young gang members who had been put into a juvenile facility. Over time, Brent became friends with the teens, as well as their families, watching as the Lord brought a couple of them to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over this past year, Brent has formed a friendship with Ron. When Brent first walked into Ron\u2019s center, Ron told him that he had been waiting for someone to come and give him spiritual guidance. Since then, Brent has watched as Ron has grown from an immature believer to one who eagerly shares the gospel with other juveniles in his pod, like Chris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has made the difference in Ron\u2019s life? The Lord has used Brent to offer weekly encouragement to Ron to center his mind, heart, and life on the Word of God \u2014 and it’s transformed Ron’s life dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRon comes from a home with an alcoholic mother,\u201d Brent says. \u201cNo one ever told him that sleeping around with girls is wrong, so he gave himself to that empty pursuit. I shared with him that God calls that \u2018sin,\u2019 and how instead we are to seek to live holy lives that honor Him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron eagerly received Brent\u2019s instruction and began reading some books on purity and memorizing key Bible verses to help him in his battle with lust. One key verse has been Proverbs 4:23<\/a>: \u201cAbove all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it\u201d (NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNext time something on TV pops up that\u2019s impure,\u201d Brent advised, \u201cturn your head away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Little Evangelist\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As Ron began to fill his heart and mind with God\u2019s Word, his zeal for the Lord blossomed so much that he became known as \u201cthe little evangelist\u201d in his pod. His influence upon Chris has been powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day Brent walked into the pod, and Chris came up to him. \u201cBrent, I\u2019ve decided to believe in and follow Jesus,\u201d Chris said. Now Chris and several other young men meet with Brent weekly in the pod, Bibles in hand, eager to discuss God\u2019s truths for their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have these Bible studies with the kids, and some of them are extremely eager to delve into the Word,\u201d Brent says. \u201cI was talking with one young guy, and he\u2019s reading 10 chapters a day! He\u2019s really excited about what God\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, Ron has been transferred to a short-term placement facility with several other young men to prepare for life out in society, and he\u2019s been living out the gospel where he\u2019s at. Please pray that Ron will continue to shine as a diamond for Christ and that Brent will be able to help him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDisciples aren\u2019t born; they\u2019re made,\u201d Brent says. \u201cThese kids can be very eager to come to Christ, but they need to be grounded in the Word. So they need to connect, and when they get out, connect to a church, family, or group home. Discipleship is important because they need to stay plugged in, surrounded by people who are willing to embrace them, accept them, and walk with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names changed for privacy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Discipleship Tip:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Are there juveniles in rough places in your community like Ron and Chris who need someone to lovingly share the truths of God\u2019s Word with them? For further information about pursuing this kind of ministry in your area, feel free to reach out to Brent Anderson at brent.anderson@navigators.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Authentic discipleship must be motivated by a deep, personal relationship with our Savior. As we begin to model our walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we will begin to see true heart-change in the people around us! Here is a short study that can help you to get a clearer picture of Christ\u2019s heart for discipleship.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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LEARN MORE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Word of God is transforming hearts behind bars \u2014 starting with one teen known as \u201cthe little evangelist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":1,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6337],"tags":[1483],"mission":[65],"topic":[44],"class_list":["post-267667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-i-58","topic-discipleship"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/091625-Article-Web.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Navigators","author_link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/staff\/thenavigators\/"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267667"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267988,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267667\/revisions\/267988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267667"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=267667"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=267667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}