According to the latest Department of Justice statistics, there are nearly 2.3 million men and women whom now pack our prisons and jails — a 500-percent increase since 1976. Right here in Allegheny County, our jail currently houses over 2,000 men and women. One in every 31 adult Americans is currently under correctional supervision — confined to prison or in the community on probation or parole.
But those numbers don’t tell the whole story because each number represents a human being. Most inmates come from a broken home or a home where there is no love or discipline. They are accustomed to doing whatever they want to do. They believed that what they want, they deserved to have, and the ends justified the means. But know, in jail, they have come to know the impact of loneliness for the first time. They believe the love of God is not for them. Some of these men and women are attempting to live the Christian life in the challenging environment found in prison.
This is where Pure Life Ministries comes in. Having a presence in the County Jail since 1990, we have had the opportunity to share the Good News of the Gospel hundreds of times to thousands of inmates. We have seen many come to Christ with great change in their lives. We continue these relationships after their release, or by mail if they go to another institution.
Of special interest to us here at Pure Life Ministries are the approximately 382,000 sex offenders under the care, control or custody of corrections agencies. While these men derive a certain amount of help through prison treatment programs, most of them are not receiving the spiritual answers that can truly set them free.
So if Jesus were on earth today, you can be sure we would find Him in prison—spending time with even the most loathed criminals and outcasts. Why? Because He came “to seek and to save the lost.” And now, as Jesus’ representatives on earth, we should be among the prisoners as well. Calling all to the healing touch of Jesus. Trusting that no one, no matter how far he has fallen, is beyond Christ’s love and power to transform.
