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Calhoun County Jail |
How easy it is to get comfortable with all the blessings of God. We often forget where we’ve come from and the trials God has delivered us from. However, we are never blessed to be selfish and ignore the suffering of others. We are blessed to be a blessing to others. It is often the people who need God the most who fight the hardest against religion. And like Jesus, we must go where the hurting people of the world are and reveal to them the Light of God.
For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. – Matthew 26: 34 – 36
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Dorman and Betty Wheatcraft |
This passage is one that Dorman and Betty Wheatcraft practice regularly. They have been conducting the Harvest Jail ministry since 1997. The jail ministry was originally started in 1987 by Elsie Russell. The Wheatcrafts’ took over running the ministry after Ms. Russell’s retirement. Every Thursday night they meet at Calhoun county jail and conduct worship services. They conduct both group worship and meet individually with the inmates in their cells. Typically there are approximately 40 inmates in attendance. The service includes hymns, prayer and scripture reading from bibles donated by the church. After group meetings the inmates can have individual prayer time with the Wheatcrafts in their cells. “The devil doesn’t like for us to be there because we can get inside and talk to the inmates face to face. We have more access to the inmates than their own families.” states Betty Wheatcraft. She reports many conversions and baptisms occurring at the jail regularly. “We have seen God working in their lives.”
When asked why she’s involved in jail ministry Betty confides, “Behind the razor sharp wire and bars, there are souls to be saved. They have talents that are lying dormant waiting to be refreshed by God’s touch in their lives. I believe God has called me for this work.” She admits she doesn’t ask what the prisoners are in jail for, but most tell her anyway. Betty states she’s never afraid to go in to the jail cells. She says that she feels like a mom towards the inmates and they view her in the same way.
Many may wonder why be concerned with inmates. Won’t they just get out and do the same thing? But those with a burden for jail ministry believe that God is still in the saving business. No one is so lost that God can’t reach them, even those behind bars. Dorman and Betty Wheatcraft take this message in to those in need of hearing the truth of God’s word. |
