Field of souls in Florida’s prisons ‘ripe for harvest’

BLOUNTSTOWN (FBC) — Teary-eyed Forrest Weed was moved with compassion at the thought of men isolated and confined within penitentiary walls. Prison life is a reality that, even after 20 years of ministering to inmates, still provokes deep emotional response in the 84-year-old man.

Click Image for Related Coverage

“In my mind, these are men in cages,” said Forrest. “What kind of a life is that?”

The opportunity to offer inmates a hope of a new life in Jesus Christ has kept Forrest and his wife, Kathryn, committed to sharing the Gospel in North Florida’s correctional institutions.

The Weeds visit six different prisons, three times annually, with volunteers from their church, First Baptist Church, Blountstown.

Though the couple’s roles in the prison ministry have varied over the years from facilitators to van drivers and now mainly behind the scenes, their motivation remains the same.

“We want them to know Jesus. We want to teach them to witness to others,” said Forrest. “The main thing is to show that we care because that is the whole thing about Christ—He cared. He cares.”

Reflecting over their years of service, Kathryn said she believes their visits “are a breath of fresh air” to the men, and knows the inmates appreciate a listening ear.

“Some men have not had a visitor the whole time they have been there, so they know we care,” she said.

Roughly 77,000 men and women fill the cells of Florida’s 123 penitentiaries. The greatest number of offenders are serving sentences for substance abuse.

The root cause of their crimes is buried within each individual, making their illegal behavior a “cover-up mechanism,” said David Ring, chaplain of Gulf Correctional Institution.

Though underlying issues are not always easily recognized, many of the inmates admit they are guilty of their crimes and are open to the redemptive message of Christ.

The fields of souls in Florida’s prisons are “ripe for the harvest, just like the Bible says,” claimed Forrest.

Noting the difficulties likely to be faced by convicts who are released into society, Forrest added his feeling that faith in Christ is important to help the men keep from recommitting crimes.

Research also indicates that a prisoner’s commitment to a spiritual faith may reduce recidivism, according to a newsletter published by the Florida Department of Corrections.

The information is the basis for Florida’s “faith-based” residential prison program which allows inmates to participate in studies of Muslim, Jewish and Christian principles.

Because the prisons are government funded, the religious education programs do not receive budget money from the State but depend upon donated monies and materials.

This year, the Maguire State Mission Offering will help underwrite the cost of evangelistic tracts, Bible studies and discipleship materials for jails and prisons with these “faith-based” programs.

The need for materials in the prisons has been so overwhelming, to Kathryn it seems almost unattainable. Though she would like to see Christian discipleship workbooks in the hands of each inmate interested in learning about Christ, “with 167 men in Gulf alone, that is very expensive,” she said.

In order to conserve material at Gulf, Ring issues composition notebooks for the inmates to take notes while going through Bible studies like “MasterLife” or “Experiencing God.”

Regular visitors of Gulf, the Weeds are often left to spend their time photocopying worksheets that accompany these Bible studies because of the lack of resources.

“As chaplains, we depend on contributions,” Ring said. “Not enough materials are donated for the needs of each class.” As an example, few workbooks are available for those in Gulf’s faith-based dorms.

Currently, the men in the “faith-based” dorms share only 20 “Experiencing God” workbooks. And recycling the same paper bound books has left them very worn.

“When so many men spend one year in a curriculum, we need more faith-based materials to accomplish the goal to prepare them for life outside of prison,” Ring said.

From two decades of experience, Forrest has seen that learning from Christ-centered Bible studies changes the men as they receive hope in a life many may never have known.

“When we first started going into prisons, the officers seemed to resent us,” said Forrest. “After a while they could hardly wait for us to come into the prison because they could see a difference in the men’s attitudes.”