God showed us His mercy by saving us when we did not
deserve it.  In fact, if not for His grace we would have no hope at all.  That same Spirit of God dwells in us and compels us to have mercy and compassion for the men and women in prisons, who certainly need the same hope that is in us.  We know that Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice,” and we also know that His word says, “How shall they hear without a preacher?”  Therefore, the prison ministry of Resurrection Life Fellowship seeks to proclaim the good news about the risen Savior to His sheep in jails and penitentiaries in the Los Angeles area.

We bring the Word to the prisons through bible study, evangelism and one-on-one mentoring. Volunteers are trained and equipped to minister the full gospel, providing the essential knowledge to inmate believers for mature, balanced spiritual growth.

We equip volunteers to work outside the prisons in ministry to the families of the prisoners through Project Angel Tree.  Opportunities abound to serve the Lord in the prison ministry without going into a prison.  Many single mothers and the children of inmates from our community need a church home and the wisdom and guidance of Spirit-filled believers who will come alongside them with the love of Christ.  We also have a pen-pal program and an aftercare program. 

If you would like to become a part of our prison ministry team, see Deacon Keith Tallman for more information.

Currently, God has opened the doors for our team to go into
the Metropolitan Detention Center, a Federal prison in downtown Los Angeles.  The Chaplain is very enthusiastic about our team and quite open to our ministry goals within his prison.  We plan to establish a regular bible study as the Lord directs.

Our long-term vision is to reach out to a foreign prison.  Keith has been given this vision and we anticipate God directing our path to accomplish this goal of bringing the hope of Christ’s resurrection to the hopeless in the uttermost parts of the earth.


Matthew 25:39-40

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
 

The prison ministry focus is to bring the gospel of peace to the lost, and to give a people without hope a vison.  We are to encourage and lift up the down cast.  As it is written in: Mat 25:35-36:

35 For I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

As I have said many times to the men and women, I’d rather be in prison and be a free man in Christ than to be the rich man on the hill who has everything but eternal life.  For his only heaven will be the possessions he has on earth but to face an eternity of torment in hell were there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We have seen the Lord working on the hearts of the people. 
Raising them up to do his will, to be a light in a dark place lifting up a standard of holiness.  Many of them know that the Lord put them in prison to save them from self destruction and to get their attention.  They no that it is needful for the Lord to chastise them and bring them to the end of themselves that the Lord may began to manifest himself in their lives.  One women told me that she was getting out in a few days but did not want to leave, she felt that she needed more time with the Lord in side the prison.  She new that God was working on her and was afraid she wasn’t ready to go back in to society. Amazing.

We also have a sister church in South Africa that has a prison ministry as well.  A letter from my brother in the Lord, Deon, is as follows.  It is a update on what is happening with his ministry.  My brother, Pastor Mark, and I were able to visit the prison there in 2003 with Deon and some other brothers from the church.  A lost son returns ...... !!!!!!!!

Hi Brother Keith,

Well, today was the most encouraging day I've had at prison so far.  I went to visit the guys as usual on Wed but today was only a short visit because I needed to take Pastor Percy to the airport at midday.  So I went in as early as possible - chatted with a guy called Siyabonga (which actually means "Thank You Jesus"), and I've been seeing him change week by week. He's one of the gang guys in the cell so it's hard for him to change - bit dangerous since the gangsters are obliged to kill you if you give your life to Jesus (someone was killed recently for that reason). But he was very open and I could see real tears in his eyes as we talked, then he told me about another guy in our cell called Lee Smith (whom I've known since we began in the cell over 6 months ago) and how Lee has given his life to Jesus and is transformed. I mean Siyabonga was saying that both he and all the other guys in the cell are amazed at the change in him. WOW !!!!!! Praise the LORD !!!! I was really excited about that and a few minutes later while I was chatting to some other guys, Lee (they call him Smithy) came into the cell and came to me and shared what the Lord had done in his life this weekend. He was telling me how he can now hear the Lord's voice so clearly and all his sins are forgiven and the Lord is so good. He shared how he was moved to the single cells for a day or two and while he was there by himself, the Lord just came to him and he got down on his knees and gave his life to Him. That's how I understood it (we were a bit short of time for a full story), anyway, I could see the guy was changed and he was just bold to share his new faith with everyone in the cell and I could see they were all amazed by what the Lord has done in Smithy's life.

One of the wardens told me afterwards that something has changed in our cell. There is a different atmosphere he told me.

The other great thing was that Smithy had been offered the opportunity by the wardens to move to the "brothers" cell - a cell where all of the guys are wanting to change their lives.  And Smithy told me that he doesn't want to move - he wants to stay here in our cell and change our cell.  He also asked me for Bible verses and he still has the Bible we gave him about 5 months ago.

What a wonderful blessing.

Smithy asked me to please pray for him.

He shared that he is still smoking cigarettes and also took 1 puff of dagga - both of these since his conversion.  I prayed for him there and then and told him I would email my friends in the USA and ask them for more prayer for him and for the cell.

Praise the LORD !!!!!  I phoned his mother this evening and she was completely overjoyed - she is a true believer and has been praying a lot for Smithy.  Although we have seen some encouraging changes over the months, this was a major change.

Love to you my brother and thanks for your prayers,

Dion.

It truly is incredible what the Lord is doing with those that society has cast off.  We can’t just lock them up and forget them, no we must take them the good news of the gospel as the Lord has said.

May we persevere in Christ,
Deacon Keith Tallman