Two ministries are committed to reaching one million prisoners with the Gospel by 2020. And they want to equip the ex-cons to become leaders in the church.
Bible League International and Prison Fellowship International are looking for solutions to the problem of re-incarceration worldwide.
BLI is donating 225,000 Easy-to-Read-Version™ Prison Bibles to graduates of PFI’s The Prisoner’s Journey® evangelism and discipleship program, which is expected to reach more than 217,000 prisoners in 30 countries by the end of 2017.
Over the next 16 months, the two organizations will co-develop BLI’s Project Philip Bible Studies for Prisoners curriculum. Materials are based on the Gospel of John and are part of the ERV Prison Bible, which serves as a comprehensive leadership training tool in prisons. Graduates of The Prisoner’s Journey can enter this 52-lesson discipleship program in order to deepen their knowledge of the Christian faith.
Prison Fellowship CEO Frank Lofaro said, “The discipleship studies are what make the Prison Bible unique. There is no other Bible so specifically suited to the needs of prisoners. During the four years, we’ve been running our program, we’ve found when a prisoner is transformed at a heart-level, his or her chances of thriving outside of prison dramatically increase.
And there’s evidence of that transformation. Lofaro said prison officials are telling him there are fewer fights and a calmer atmosphere within their prisons after inmates go through the program.