Church Blog

Encouraging Report from the Prison Ministry

Dave Hartman sent in this encouraging news about the work of Covenant Life’s Prison Ministry. Dave leads the Prison Ministry each Wednesday evening at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.


I am writing a quick note to share with you some evidences of grace occurring in the Prison Ministry.


During worship, between songs, we encourage the men to read Scripture.  On a recent Wednesday, after three songs, one inmate spoke up.  He had tears running down his cheek, and he said he felt something in the room that he had never experienced before.  He said he wanted to convert from Islam to Christianity and needed help and our prayers.


David Huff suggested that we pray right away, so I told the men we were going to pray for this fellow. Without any instruction, several men, about six or so, surrounded him and laid hands on him.  I prayed and asked God to save him.  After we concluded, the men recited Scriptures centered on salvation, one after another. It was so sweet.


The Spirit of God was very noticeable, and I felt like we were in a birthing center!


After the message, instead of a small group setting, I took him aside for private counseling. It turns out his father is a minister, and his mom is a Christian as well ... I preached the gospel one more time and instructed him to read the book of John over the next week and look for Christ.


The next Wednesday I pulled this new brother aside again for another private session and found out he had read the entire book of John and was very encouraged.  Amazing what happens when you point a man to God’s word!

There’s also another brother who has been growing in his faith.  He has been leading Bible studies and prayer meetings almost every day within the pod [section of the facility].  He recently added a Spanish-speaking prayer meeting as well. He asked last week for the Covenant Life Team to fill out prayer cards so that the prayer group could pray for us.  This brother has gone from two or three in attendance at his prayer meeting to eight!  He said he has become the “go to” guy for prayer.  Even though he is getting 15 years for his crimes, he has much faith and joy in God’s plan for his life.