Prisoners set free!!!

Since its inception over 9 years ago, the Wolverhampton Prison Ministry team has witnessed the power of God on many occasions.  

Through God’s awesome love, the very atmosphere of prison life itself is seeing a radical change, with hundreds of men giving their lives to Christ as the Spirit of God continues to break out in prison!

LifeSpring Church remains committed to reaching the prison community. Twice a month the LifeSpring Prison Ministry team, in partnership with the New Testament Church of God, go into prisons across the West Midlands taking the good news of Jesus Christ.

The team has now built firm foundations within Dovegate Prison, Uttoxeter, Shrewsbury Prison, Ryehill Prison and Brinsford Young Offenders Institute. With these relationships now firmly established, the team now actively lead Sunday services and hold mid-week Bible studies.

In October 2009 Dovegate Prison held its second Christian mission, corresponding with the opening of a new house block that was set to contain over 400 new inmates. At the time there was great concern over the timing of the mission and the opening of the new block as many of the new prisoners would be on remand and battling against drugs. Prison staff anticipated mayhem and resentment towards the new prisoners, but by the awesome power of God, the mission proved to be a huge success and brought about a calming effect, with prisoners showing a profound respect for both each other and staff.

The mission alone saw 45 prisoners give their lives to the Lord, of which 23 were for the first time. Furthermore, a nurture course was set up, to which 30 men signed up and experienced the gospel in varying formats, with guest speakers and ministry groups helping to facilitate the good news of Jesus Christ. LifeSpring member Gemma Evans also headed up an art workshop which proved to be a huge success with over 60 inmates taking part.

Over the course of 2009 as the team began to grow and expand, so did the ministry. The team have continued their outreach and have been able to take requests to minister in other prisons. The team were invited into Fosten Hall Women’s Prison in Derby with powerful results. Already, 50% of the women attending the meetings have responded to altar calls for prayer and ministry.

The team now looks forward to 2010 with great optimism and are excited at the prospect of what God will do in the lives of prisoners in the year ahead.

“God is breaking into lives in an amazing way and we as a team believe it to be a great privilege to play an instrumental part in this wonderful move of God and we anticipate great things for 2010”, Lasona Moore (Leader of the LifeSpring Prison Ministry team).