Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), and Travis Page, Dennis, Melody
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000003
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00:10 Welcome to The New Journey,
00:12 the program where we meet real-life people 00:14 with real-life testimonies with real-life work and ministries 00:17 for Jesus. Today we'll meet a family 00:19 of three that is actively engaged in prison ministries. 00:21 We'll meet the father that was lost in crime 00:23 but saved by Jesus. 00:25 We'll meet the son that was torn by his father's early lifestyle. 00:28 We'll meet the wife that loves and supports the family 00:30 in ministry. This could be your family, viewer, 00:33 so tune in to check out this story of amazing grace. 00:35 I'm your host Aaron Chancy. Come join us on The New Journey. 01:07 I'd like to welcome my guests Dennis, Travis, and Melody Page: 01:10 a family of three that we have. And we're going to talk about 01:13 the family in recovery in today's show. 01:16 And exciting, exciting program. 01:18 Dennis, I want to start with you. 01:20 You're the author of a book From the Cell to the Cross. 01:23 Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration 01:25 for writing this book? Well, you know, Aaron, 01:28 I never thought myself to ever be able to write a book. 01:31 But I wanted to do God's will, and after coming out of prison 01:34 one day I was in a homeless shelter and I just prayed 01:37 to the Lord: "If you want me to write a book, 01:39 make it so clear to me that there is no doubt in my mind 01:43 that that's Your will. " OK. 01:46 Within a couple days I heard God very clearly 01:51 say to me: "Read Jeremiah 30:2. " 01:53 Amen. And when I opened to that verse it says: 01:56 "Thus saith the Lord, write everything I have spoken 01:58 unto you in a book. " OK. OK. 02:00 Praise the Lord! Can't get any clearer than that. 02:02 So the book is actually a testimony of your life of how 02:04 God has saved you from all the things that you were involved in 02:08 in your early life, correct? Yes. 02:10 It tells about the power of God's grace, 02:13 His pursuit of a sinner. 02:14 And regardless of where you are in life 02:17 I'm sure that God is able to pick you up from that point. 02:20 OK. OK. Now you have been on 3ABN before. 02:25 You have shared your testimony with Amazing Facts. 02:28 Now for those who have not seen or heard or don't know 02:32 who Dennis Page is, can you give us a little bit of that 02:35 information of your early life? 02:36 What led you to the life of crime? 02:38 Can you talk a little bit about that? 02:40 Yes. I grew up in Buffalo, New York. 02:42 And - cold place - I tell you 02:45 you know I was greatly influenced by my fears. 02:48 Um, you know the Bible principle in II Corinthians 3:18 02:52 "By beholding you become changed. " 02:54 Truly that is very powerful because - OK - the more I beheld 02:57 the things in the media, the more I watched those around me 03:02 and you know looked upon what they were doing, 03:06 I was influenced by that - OK - 03:07 and that led me off in the wrong direction in life. 03:11 You know that's interesting that you should say that 03:13 because in my own testimony that's one of the things 03:16 that led me to that life of crime: 03:19 looking around at the media, looking around at friends. 03:21 You know, I was a big fan of the hip hop music videos 03:24 and things like that. You see all the money that's flashed 03:27 and you see all the things that are going on in this video. 03:29 And it makes it seem like "Wow, that's a good life. 03:31 I want some of that. " And it led me to that life of crime. 03:35 That was one of the things that led me to that life of crime. 03:38 So you're saying that media played a big role 03:40 in that as well, correct? Absolutely. 03:42 OK. OK. So for about 20 years 03:45 you were involved with selling drugs as well as using drugs. 03:49 Can you talk a little about your involvement with drugs? 03:52 How you got involved with selling drugs... 03:54 the purpose of selling drugs 03:56 and some of the drugs that you were on and the effects of them. 03:59 Well you know at a young age - probably about 12, 13 years 04:03 old - I started using marijuana and drinking. 04:05 And then later I went into using cocaine and - OK - 04:08 meth and that. I started selling because 04:11 I couldn't see spending my paycheck to buy it. 04:14 So it wasn't hard; I just wasn't into that. 04:17 But - OK - you know, later it became more about 04:20 respect, power, and position, 04:23 um, and about having material things. OK. 04:27 And so that really drew me into it more in a deeper way 04:31 that got me involved in a drug ring - OK - 04:35 and just escalated from there. OK. 04:39 So using drugs we often know can be an addiction 04:42 to a person's life, but will you testify to the fact that 04:46 selling drugs can be an addiction as well? 04:48 Absolutely - OK - because there's addiction to pride. 04:52 There's addiction to power and position and respect 04:56 and that's what a lot of people get caught up in today. 04:58 OK. Now when you were younger was your father in the home? 05:02 Or was he present? Was he absent? 05:05 Talk a little bit about that experience. 05:07 I never met my real father. OK. 05:09 My mother remarried when I was 8 years old, 05:11 so all I knew was my stepdad. 05:14 OK. But we weren't a real tight family. 05:17 Uh-huh. They worked a lot; they did their thing. 05:19 And we grew up and it wasn't a Christian atmosphere. 05:23 OK. It wasn't a Christian atmosphere. 05:25 OK. So it was kind of easy to get involved since your mother 05:29 and your stepfather were pretty much working all the time. 05:32 You were left alone at times. 05:34 It was kind of easy to gravitate to another kind of lifestyle. 05:37 Absolutely. Because you're looking for... love 05:40 and acceptance... love and acceptance, purpose in life. 05:43 OK. A lot of youth today are looking for where they fit in. 05:46 Why are they here? OK. And so they will gravitate 05:48 to where they are accepted. OK. 05:52 And whatever the circumstance may be they're drawn into that. 05:55 OK. And you know that's interesting because you often 05:57 hear people say: "Well I got involved with gangs 06:00 and drugs and things like that because I was looking for that 06:03 love. " Because the mother and the father were not in the home. 06:06 There was nobody that seemed to care about them. 06:09 And they tend to gravitate to the gangs, 06:13 the crime life, things like that, because you feel 06:16 a feeling of acceptance, of love, from these groups of 06:19 individuals. Right, right. OK. 06:21 So, you know, is that the best thing for a person to do? 06:25 If a person does not have a mother or a father 06:27 in the home, or a grandmother, somebody to care about, 06:30 do you suggest that they lean to that lifestyle? 06:33 Or what's the suggestion that they should do? 06:34 Well I would highly suggest that they get involved 06:38 in a church program. OK. Um, get involved in some 06:42 type of ministry where you're reaching out 06:44 and partaking in helping others. 06:47 OK. Because there you'll really find joy and peace 06:50 and you'll really find meaning to life there. 06:53 OK, OK. Now you talk a little bit about in your book 06:56 about getting involved with spiritualism a little bit. 06:58 Can you... can you talk a little bit about that? 07:00 Yeah, you know, this is crazy. 07:03 You know, with all of the other things going on in my life 07:05 a friend of mine was deeply involved in spiritualism - 07:08 OK - since she was a little girl. And one night we were 07:11 talking and she just told me that there was somebody there 07:14 that wanted to talk to me. OK. 07:16 And she explained to me how this had been going on 07:19 in her life. And so as she gave me a description 07:23 of the person it happened to be a description of my grandmother 07:26 she'd never met. My grandmother had been dead for 15 years. 07:29 So that kind of drew me in because first of all 07:32 I didn't know Bible truth. Yes, what the Bible says 07:35 about this. Without knowing Bible truth 07:37 when error is presented what do you know? Yes. 07:42 You know, you can only go on with what you're experiencing. 07:44 OK. So that's how I got drawn into that. 07:48 OK. So you were kind of captivated in a life of 07:50 spiritualism for a while actually, correct? Yeah. 07:52 OK. How did you? How were you able to break free from that? 07:56 Because Satanic pulls are strong in our lives at times, 08:00 and that... that can be very, very powerful in the life. 08:03 How were you able to break free from spiritualism? 08:06 Well you know, Aaron, it was God's blessing. 08:09 Only He could do that. OK. 08:12 And it wasn't until I had an experience with God 08:16 that made me realize that there was a God and He was real. 08:20 OK. And in that pursuit to know Him 08:24 as I continued to pursue for an understanding of God 08:28 the Lord kind of, you know, did His thing 08:33 and just they were... they were pushed at bay. 08:35 OK. Now you were involved in drugs for 20 years 08:39 selling and using drugs yourself 08:42 which eventually led to you being incarcerated 08:45 in a federal prison. Talk a little bit about how 08:48 you got to the federal prison. What happened; 08:50 the sentence you received. Shed some light on that information. 08:53 Well, I had this profound experience with God 08:56 that caused me to realize He was real, so I picked up a Bible. 08:59 As a drug dealer still selling drugs, still living crazy, 09:01 and started to read the Bible. OK. 09:03 Um, I was so convicted that what I was doing in my life 09:06 was wrong that I started, you know, asking people for 09:10 forgiveness and just reconciling where I could. 09:13 OK. And I tried to get out of that lifestyle... 09:16 and the harder I tried the worse it got. 09:19 I just couldn't do it. And then one night when I finally said 09:21 "God, please help me because I'd rather die than continue 09:24 living like that" - OK - the next day I was arrested 09:28 by the Secret Service. I was brought up on a charge 09:30 for threatening to assassinate a federal agent. Wow! 09:32 They had that on tape during a phone conversation. 09:35 And so that was God's providential care for me there. 09:40 Now I asked for help; He said: "Here it is. " 09:43 OK. You know, which was interesting because my thought 09:46 of God helping me was "Lord, I'd like to go out to the 09:49 country. Just maybe write for You. Maybe smoke a little weed. 09:54 Drink a little bit and you know get to know You better. " 09:56 But God had other plans. He's about cleaning us up 09:58 completely - yeah - not just part way. 10:00 OK. And so here I went to federal prison. 10:03 I was given a 5-year plea agreement - OK - 10:06 with an open end meaning that I would accept 10:08 five years and a judge would give me whatever he desired 10:11 on top of that. 10:13 During that time I continued studying the Bible 10:16 and got to know Jesus as my personal Savior. 10:19 Now in starting to read the Bible, was it easy 10:21 to understand? Was it hard? 10:22 'Cause I hear so many people when they start out reading 10:24 the Bible they just say: "I don't understand it. " 10:26 Especially the King James version with all those wilts 10:28 and wilt nots and do nots. You know, people don't speak 10:30 like that in today's terminology. Was it hard for you 10:33 to understand as you were reading at first? 10:35 Or how did that come along? 10:37 You know, Aaron, I tell you what: it was very difficult. OK. 10:39 But I was persistent because - Amen - actually because 10:42 the way God made Himself known to me 10:44 was kind of silly, but I thought my name was in that book. 10:46 So I read it very carefully looking for my name - 10:49 Dennis Page - OK - because I thought there was something, 10:51 you know, in there about me. OK. 10:53 And I read from cover to cover, and I just kept reading 10:56 and kept reading. And just like a little child 10:57 when their parents begin to talk to them and they're, 11:00 you know, the child doesn't really understand. 11:02 But the more you talk to them - yes - the clearer it becomes 11:06 to the child. So the more we spend time with God 11:08 the clearer it becomes. OK. So I'd encourage the reader 11:11 "Don't give up. Just keep reading and continue to pray. 11:14 Ask for God's Spirit" - OK - "to give you an understanding. " 11:18 OK. Now Travis, I want to switch to you for a few seconds 11:21 and then Melody, I'm coming to you. 11:22 Travis, I want to talk to you a little bit about the 11:26 feelings that you were going through, the emotions 11:28 that you were going through because you were a young man 11:30 when your dad was going through this type of lifestyle. 11:33 Tell me a little bit about... talk to the viewers of 11:35 how you felt as your dad was going through all these changes 11:39 in his life. Well, when he began to go through these changes 11:43 he didn't necessarily want me, you know, 11:47 involved with some of the things that were going down in his life 11:50 so he - OK - sent me away to live with my mom. 11:54 OK. But like I just, you know, because I'd then been separated 11:59 from him I felt, you know, lonely a little bit. 12:02 I missed him; I wanted to see my dad of course. OK. 12:05 OK. So as a father, Dennis, how were you able to 12:09 keep your son from knowing exactly what you were 12:13 involved in? You were away for prison for a couple of years. 12:15 You were involved in this big drug ring. 12:18 The Feds were watching you. 12:20 How were you able to keep all of this from your son? 12:22 Well you know, Aaron, I never wanted him to get caught up 12:25 in that lifestyle - OK - so I never made any drug deals 12:29 around him; I never did any dope around him. 12:31 Um, when... At the time that I told his mother 12:35 he'd have to come live with her full time was because 12:39 there was a hit put out on my life. 12:40 Things were getting real crazy and I knew that... 12:44 in the back of my mind I knew one day something drastic 12:47 may happen to me and I didn't want him there 12:50 when that happened. OK. So I thought it was best for him 12:52 to just stay with his mom. And then shortly after that 12:55 I caught my case and I went to prison. 12:58 OK. So you also communicated while you were in prison? 13:02 Yes. At that time, Travis, did you know 13:05 where your father was at or you weren't necessarily sure? 13:09 No. I mean, I was a little kid. I honestly thought he was 13:12 on vacation or something. A two-year vacation... 13:16 That'd be nice for a 2-year vacation. Yeah. OK, OK. 13:19 How old were you when all this stuff was going on? 13:22 When your dad was away in prison about how old were you 13:25 at that time? Well, when he first went to prison I was 13:28 about seven years old. OK. And when he got out of prison 13:34 I was about ten almost. OK. 13:38 About 10 years old, OK. 13:40 I want you to do something for me right now, Travis. 13:42 Something real important. I want you to look into the camera 13:44 and I want you to talk to the viewers. 13:46 I want you to talk to the many sons and the many daughters 13:50 out there that their mothers and their fathers 13:53 are incarcerated or away from them. 13:55 Talk to them. Give them some words of encouragement 13:58 that can help them over their situation. 14:00 Now you may feel like your parents may have 14:05 abandoned you with going to prison. 14:08 They may have been taken abruptly. 14:10 But the best thing you can do is pray for them. 14:13 Just know that, you know, they still care about you. 14:17 They don't want to be away from you but don't really 14:21 have much of a choice. Uh-huh. So pray for them. 14:24 Write them letters. Talk to them on the phone. 14:26 Just communicate with them and let them know how you're 14:30 feeling - OK - about the situation. 14:32 You know one of the reasons I asked because I remember when 14:35 I was... when I got incarcerated on a 5-year sentence... 14:38 I remember going to prison. My oldest son, he was just born 14:43 a month and a half prior to me getting incarcerated 14:46 on the charge. And while I was in the county jail, 14:50 when I was in prison, his mother would bring him to visit me. 14:52 And because I had never spent time with him 14:55 he didn't know who I was. 14:56 So he would come to the prison and as we were in the interview 15:00 room he would be whining and hollering and crying so loud 15:04 because who is this strange guy holding me? 15:06 Who? I don't know him. I don't see him on a daily basis 15:09 and every time I come see him he's in all white. 15:11 Who is this gentleman? So, you know, it was kind of hard 15:15 I know even for me to deal with seeing my son 15:18 not knowing how he's feeling about it because he was young. 15:22 And he's whining and crying. I can't hold him. 15:24 They'd have to take him out of the visiting room. 15:27 So, you know, I wanted to know. 15:29 And I think fathers and mothers should definitely know 15:32 how it affects the children when they're... 15:35 Because when a family - when a father or mother - 15:37 is incarcerated or whoever gets incarcerated, 15:39 the whole family does time. Everybody does time. 15:42 One may be behind bars but the others are still doing time 15:45 as well. The others are still doing... 15:48 Melody, at what point did you meet Travis and Dennis? 15:52 I met Dennis when he was already out of prison. 15:56 He was over in England for ministry - OK - and I was 15:59 living there and working as well. 16:01 And through God's providential care, He showed me 16:05 and He showed him... for me personally... that 16:08 he is the one that He wants me to... ummm... 16:13 join my life with. OK, OK. 16:16 So at that point, Dennis, when you met your wife Melody, 16:19 she wasn't your wife at that point, you were involved in 16:22 ministry. So you were out of prison at this time. 16:23 You were actively engaged in ministry. At this point, 16:27 how long had you been involved in ministry work? 16:29 Probably about 2-1/2 years or three years. 16:33 Yes. I had been speaking at churches and - OK - 16:35 doing prison ministries. OK. I got invited to speak 16:40 in Canada. While I was there one of the people there that I 16:43 had met had family in England. OK. And I told them I was 16:46 going to go over and I was going to meet this woman 16:48 that I had met and been talking to. 16:50 OK. And they said: "Well, when you're over there 16:52 go to my brother's church. " So our first meeting 16:55 together and our first experience together was 16:58 going to a church and doing a program there. 17:01 OK, OK. So as a family - Travis, Dennis, and Melody - 17:05 you're all involved in prison ministries work. 17:09 Now I want to talk to each one of you 17:11 about your experience of going into the prison. 17:14 So I'll start with you, Dennis. What's it like going back 17:16 into the prison and being able to minister to people 17:19 that you were once like. You were once in prison yourself. 17:22 What's it like going back in there and being able 17:23 to minister? It's a real blessing because 17:26 I have a way of connecting with them because I was there - 17:29 because you were there before - you know, and they can see 17:31 and relate to that. OK. I always try to encourage them 17:35 to make different choices in life. 17:37 OK. Because what happens is if we continue the same 17:41 lifestyle that brought us into that facility - 17:44 uh-huh - and that's all our children see 17:47 then what hope do they have? Yeah. 17:50 And so it's been a real blessing to go back in and just 17:52 convey my experience and just to give them some questions 17:56 that will provoke some thought. OK. Get them to think about 17:59 their lives and where they're going in their life direction. 18:01 OK. As a family, how long have all three of you been 18:04 involved actively in prison ministry work? 18:06 About three years. About three years... OK. 18:09 Now Travis, you're 18 years old. Going inside of the prison... 18:12 how is the experience for you going inside of the prison? 18:15 Well it's interesting. Most kids my age don't 18:19 see the inside of the prison and hopefully they don't 18:22 unless they're doing ministry. Yeah. 18:24 OK. But I mean it's nice to see, you know, the joy 18:28 that we can bring them just by going in and sharing - 18:32 OK - a little bit of the gospel message with them. 18:34 Giving them some treats and a package. 18:37 OK. Stuff like that. Brought a lot of joy to me 18:40 and I mean it's like, you know, helped me realize that 18:45 I mean not everybody in prison is a bad person. 18:47 A bad person... that's correct. That's correct. 18:49 You know, often times we have this idea that because they're 18:52 behind bars well they did some heinous crime. 18:55 What I find and what you'll find as you go into the prisons 18:58 is that not everybody is a bad person. 19:00 A lot of times circumstances, situations, led to something. 19:04 Or a person may have begun selling drugs... not for the 19:07 purpose of being rich and famous, not wanting thousands 19:09 of dollars every day... just simply to provide money 19:12 just for your family because you have nothing. 19:14 So that's a great point, Travis, that you know not everybody 19:16 is a bad person in prison. We often have this view... 19:20 Because what's showing on TV? The crime, things like that. 19:23 But a lot of times they don't say the reasoning why. 19:26 I needed to feed my family; I needed to do this. 19:28 So there are actually some good people that are actually 19:31 in prison. And you know the beauty of it is that Jesus 19:34 died on the cross for each and every last one of them. Amen. 19:36 Even for that murderer that's in prison or that rapist 19:40 that is in prison or that child molester that's in prison. 19:42 Right. Jesus has died for each and every last one of us 19:44 on planet earth. That's amazing! 19:46 Ms. Melody: can you speak a little bit about your experience 19:49 of going inside of a prison? For me it's a huge blessing 19:52 to be involved in this kind of ministry. 19:54 OK. To have an opportunity to share - 19:56 um - through words and song 20:00 God's love for the men and women behind bars. 20:03 But like you pointed out, God also... 20:06 or Jesus also died for them. 20:08 And yes, for each and every one of us 20:11 whether it be in the prison situation 20:14 or like us here... sitting here right now. 20:17 OK. Now would you three encourage other families 20:20 to get involved in prison ministries? 20:23 Oh, absolutely. OK. You know, it's interesting, 20:25 because Jesus pointed out in Matthew 25:36- 20:29 uh-huh - you know, "I was in prison and you came on to Me. " 20:32 Sure. He's telling us there and to the world today 20:36 that He has children that are in prison - in prison, yes - 20:40 and that we are to go and minister to them - yes - 20:43 because in doing so we have ministered unto Him. 20:46 Oh yeah, oh yeah. And the interesting thing about it is 20:48 that a lot of times people won't come to us. 20:51 People can be broken and hurting with so many different things 20:54 or they could be incarcerated and they can't come to a person. 20:57 So a lot of time we have to get up off our shoulders, 21:00 get out of the seat, and we have to go. 21:02 That's why in the Bible it says: "Go ye therefore... " 21:05 That means get up and go... 21:06 even into the prisons, even into the homeless shelters. 21:09 Things like that. Now Dennis, you speak about in your book 21:12 how when you got out of prison 21:14 you went into a homeless shelter. 21:17 What was your reasoning for going into the homeless shelter? 21:20 Well, Aaron, the biggest mistake a lot of people make 21:24 when they come out of prison is they go back to 21:25 where they were before. Yes. 21:27 Sometimes they say - and I've heard this a lot - 21:30 "I don't have no choice. " OK. 21:31 But I say... Matthew 6:33 says, 21:35 you know, "seek the Lord. " 21:38 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God 21:40 and all these things will be added unto you. " Yes. 21:42 And so I trusted in that promise. 21:44 And when my parole officer asked me: "Where do you want to go? " 21:47 OK... and I couldn't go back, you know. 21:50 I was the black sheep of the family. My family was really 21:53 concerned about - you know - is he changed or not? 21:57 What's going to happen when he comes? 21:58 They didn't want all that... 22:00 Jail house religion or what you were going through... 22:01 They didn't want all that baggage that I went to prison 22:03 with. OK. They didn't know it was gone. 22:05 OK. You know, and that's a key point because 22:07 many families so to speak divorce from the person that 22:13 has been incarcerated simply because they may have 22:16 been incarcerated several times in their life 22:18 and the person may say: "Well I'm going to do better 22:19 when I get out... I'm going to be a better person. " 22:21 And the family trusts that time and time again 22:24 and then they finally just kind of get fed up with it. 22:27 Right? And so that's why I chose to live in a homeless shelter. 22:30 OK. Because what God put in my heart is I must allow my 22:34 family to see what truth has done for me. OK. 22:38 And I have to be patient 22:39 and I have to give them the time to see that 22:41 and realize that maybe some of my family members may take 22:44 longer - OK - than others. OK. 22:47 OK. So I chose to live in a homeless shelter. 22:49 And I stayed there until God said "move. " 22:52 OK, OK. Because I also saw an opportunity minister 22:54 to broken people that were there. Uh-huh. 22:56 OK. So totally how much time did you spend in that homeless 23:00 shelter once you were released from prison? 23:02 I stayed there for a whole year, Aaron. A whole year? Um-hmm. 23:04 A whole year. Now after you got out of the homeless shelter, 23:07 after you left there, and I'm sure you were able to minister 23:10 to people even while you were in the homeless shelter... 23:12 After you left there, what was your next move? 23:14 I had been praying to the Lord for a home. 23:18 OK. And first of all, a job. 23:20 OK. Nobody wanted to give me a job. 23:21 And I was able to get a job. 23:24 I will say this for people coming out: 23:27 that we don't look at the money part of it. 23:30 God said He'll supply all of our needs according to His riches 23:33 in glory by Christ Jesus in Philippians 4:19. 23:35 OK. And He promised that those needs would be taken care of. 23:38 So I had a job. He provided a home... 23:42 an environment again where I could bring my son 23:46 into and then teach him about Jesus Christ. 23:48 OK, OK. Amen. Now I want to focus just 23:51 for a few minutes back onto prison ministry work 23:54 that the family is involved in. 23:56 When you go inside of the prisons, Dennis... 23:58 and I'm going to come to Travis and Melody, what 24:01 exactly do you do specifically in the prisons, Dennis? 24:03 I encourage them. Share testimony and encourage them 24:06 through scripture - OK - and just ask them to like I said 24:10 earlier think about their life and how they can impact 24:13 their children's lives... even while they're still 24:15 incarcerated. OK. Travis, what's your involvement 24:19 when you go into the prison? Well, because I just turned 18 24:23 not too long ago, I've only been able to go into the very 24:26 large facilities for a couple weeks, but - OK - usually 24:30 you know I'll hand out packages. 24:33 Just talk to individuals a little bit. 24:35 Dad uses me as sort of a representative to show that 24:40 you know you can get your children back into your life. 24:43 OK. Is it kind of scary for you, Travis? Going inside 24:46 of the prisons? You know, pulling up to it 24:48 and you know I've seen prisons where they're real old, 24:50 the walls real big and a whole bunch of razor wire there. 24:53 Is it a little scary? Even though you're not 24:55 going there to do time, is it a little scary just going 24:58 there to minister? Well, the first time 25:02 when I went to a county jail it was a little scary 25:05 I have to admit. OK. It wasn't the most comfortable, 25:08 you know, being around new people - OK - 25:11 in general not to mention the fact it's jail. 25:15 Oh yeah. 25:17 OK. But now that we've gone three more times now... 25:21 You kind of start getting used to it - yeah - after 25:22 a little bit. OK. Ms. Melody: what do you do 25:25 when you go inside of the prison? 25:26 What's your involvement in this family ministry? 25:29 I minister to the men and women behind bars 25:34 through songs. OK. I know they're blessed by that. 25:36 Yes, thank the Lord. Amen. And He's promised 25:40 if you use what you have, how little it is in your eyes - 25:43 OK - He will bless it 25:45 and He can use it for greater good. 25:47 OK; Amen. Dennis, I want to come back to you. 25:50 And I want you to look into the cameras and I want you to talk 25:53 to the many fathers out there. The many ones that are 25:57 going through these transitions in life, that are incarcerated, 26:02 that are struggling, that have family out there. 26:04 Talk to them a little bit. Give them some words 26:06 of encouragement of things that they can do 26:07 in leaning on Jesus and even choosing Jesus. 26:10 Talk to the viewers. 26:11 I just want to encourage you. You know, we've often tried 26:15 to do it our way so much. 26:18 And there comes a point in time that I just want to say 26:21 give Jesus a chance. Give Him a real chance 26:24 to work in your life. Amen. To reveal Himself to you. 26:27 And also think about your children, because as I was 26:30 sharing earlier if all we have to reveal to our children 26:34 is the lifestyle that brought us to the point of incarceration 26:37 then what hope do they have? 26:40 And truly, the Lord only came to save us from sin. 26:43 He loves us and just wants to deliver us from those things 26:46 that are wrong. And so I encourage you to write to 26:51 your children. Form that relationship with Christ. 26:53 Write to your children; encourage them to make 26:56 that same choice... to walk in that way. 27:00 And reveal to them... and I can't point this out enough... 27:05 but reveal to them that there is joy, there is peace, 27:09 and there is purpose in being a Christian. 27:14 Amen. Taste and see that the Lord is good. 27:16 Travis, talk to the young people that are going to watch 27:18 this show and speak to their hearts of why they should 27:22 choose Jesus. Well, He's always willing to 27:25 be there for you. I mean, hopefully your parents will 27:29 be there with you too. But even as you grow older 27:32 your parents may not always be around. 27:34 You know, Jesus is always there to take care of you, 27:38 to listen to your problems. You can always talk to God 27:41 and can always put your burdens, whether it be at school 27:46 or starting a life, you know, growing up. 27:49 You can always put your burdens on His shoulders 27:52 and trust that He'll take care of things for you. 27:56 OK. Viewers, this has been a fantastic program 28:01 of seeing a family in recovery. 28:03 A family that is actively involved in prison ministries. 28:06 We have Dennis, we have Travis, we have Melody 28:09 that are all involved. 28:10 This can be your family. Your family may be struggling. 28:13 The father or the mother may be away from the home. 28:15 We encourage you to get involved in The New Journey 28:18 with Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17