Abundant Life is a multisite church with the mission to see lives changed by Jesus by being living proof of a loving God to a watching world. To expand this vision, the church has launched a prison ministry to reach a largely unreached group of people in Missouri.
The prison campus holds weekly Sunday morning services at the Tipton Correctional Center in Tipton, Missouri, where about 820 men are housed in a minimum-security prison. As the gospel has been preached, stories of life change among the inmates have started to emerge.
Catching the Vision for Prison Ministry
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”—Matthew 25:37-40
Jeremy, who heads up the efforts at the new campus, said the Bible is clear about the importance of prison ministry. After all, Jesus specifically discussed the value of visiting and ministering to those in prison, and Jeremy says he has felt God nudging him toward such a ministry for some time.
God has also been working in the hearts of other Abundant Life members who are now involved in the campus.
Francisco Hernandez, an Abundant Life member, grew up in Nicaragua watching his father participate in prison ministry. Serving with the Tipton campus seemed like a logical extension of the ministry lessons he was taught.
“Christ died for all of us,” Francisco says. “He didn’t just come for the ones that we think are good. Sometimes we think…we are a little better than others…but any day things can change, flip around, and you can be the one in that place. Christ came for all of us, no matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been.”
Francisco says God has called believers to reach the world with the gospel, and there is plenty of work close to home to do to fulfill that mission.
“God is calling us to put our yes on the table and go and have faith in Him,” Francisco says. “He will open doors you would never imagine.”
Prison ministry is a focus of Abundant Life’s two-year A-Life Discipleship Journey. Bringing the gospel inside a prison is an incredible opportunity to see lives transformed by Jesus and make disciples.
Establishing a Prison Campus
To begin this unique campus, Abundant Life partnered with God Behind Bars, a ministry whose vision is to bring the local church to prisons and reach the 1.9 million people who are incarcerated in the United States each year.
Jeremy says,
“When I met with God Behind Bars and saw they are a ministry that helps churches launch campuses inside prisons, I immediately got excited because I realized it was the same heart as what God has been calling us to do.”
The ministry was able to take care of many of the organizational details with the Department of Corrections to help establish the Abundant Life campus, including all the approvals and technology installation.
“We gave God Behind Bars the ability to say ‘yes’ to where the state of Missouri was asking for a campus,” Jeremy says.
The team of Abundant Life members leading the campus looked at what they enjoy about the church and how they can offer those things at the prison. The prison ministry allows the men to experience a weekly church service and be a part of Abundant Life without stepping outside the facilities.
Taking the Church Inside the Prison
“It really does feel like going to an Abundant Life campus,” Jeremy says. “We want to evangelize people who don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus. We want to disciple and develop mature believers into leaders, and we want to be that next step for them when they leave the Tipton campus and step into any of our other campuses. We want to provide them a church home both now and when they make that transition.”
Preparing for that transition is especially important because most men at the Tipton facility will be released within three to five years.
Meeting the Spiritual Needs in Prison
“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.”—Hebrews 13:3
About 75 to 80 men of every age, ethnicity, and background join the service each week, and the stories of spiritual impact are becoming evident.
One man recently approached Francisco asking for prayer, and after prayer, Francisco shared the gospel with the man. That man accepted Christ, and then another man noticed what was happening and became curious. Francisco shared the gospel with that man as well, and he also decided to receive Christ.
“These guys can be tough guys, but they have tears in their eyes,” Francisco said. “That’s just moving.”
In another instance, the leader of a Muslim group at the prison visited the service on multiple occasions. The man had been asking many questions about God and wanted to see what the church’s prison ministry was all about. The Abundant Life leaders were able to welcome him, talk with him, pray for him, and encourage him.
Salvation, Baptism, and Next Steps
There have been around 10 professions of faith and many rededications, and they are anticipating the first baptism service. Some of the prison staff have even commented, saying they have noticed a difference in the men since the campus started.
Jeremy says God has taught him much through the process of leading the ministry. He is reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:12-21, which states believers are called to a ministry of reconciliation, which he describes as bringing broken things back together. 2 Corinthians 6 goes on to say that believers are only limited in this ministry by their own affections.
“God is showing me there are still those places in my heart that are, by nature, unloving,” Jeremy says. “I think by being with these guys and hearing their stories and seeing their lives transformed, the Lord is repairing my affections.”
Abundant Life member Jon Brody has previously served time in prison and is now a leader with the Tipton prison ministry. He understands the unique challenges the men face and can relate to them. Being involved in the ministry is teaching him to lead a team and give his testimony to others. He is building relationships with the men in the prison, and one man has asked him to be his mentor upon release.
“It is fruit ready to be picked that you don’t get to see day in and day out in normal culture and normal life…outside of prison,” Brody says.
Growing the Prison Ministry
Establishing a strong relationship with the Department of Corrections and prison staff has been important in the first few months of the ministry. Going forward, the Abundant Life team would love to begin offering discipleship and Re:generation ministries at the campus. Jeremy said that eventually the goal is to offer many more ministries to allow it to operate like another Abundant Life campus. The team is also prayerfully considering expanding the ministry to other prisons in Missouri.
One of the ministry's unique challenges is that it can currently only bring eight leaders into the facility each week. More volunteers have expressed interest in serving with the ministry than there are spots available. Those who cannot serve are encouraged to pray for the volunteers going weekly and the inmates they are ministering to.
Praying for Prison Ministry
The biggest way the Abundant Life church body can get involved in prison ministry is to pray for the men at Tipton. Here are specific things you can pray for:
- Pray for God to open the men’s hearts to the gospel and for more lives to be changed.
- Pray for God to provide opportunities to grow the ministry in the future.
- Pray that Abundant Life would remain the church home for the men even after they leave Tipton.
God is clear that the gospel is for everyone, and believers are to go to all places where people need the Good News of Jesus, including prisons. This calling is the motivating factor behind the launch of the Abundant Life campus at the Tipton Correctional Center, and it will continue to drive the ministry in the future.