Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000265A
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00:01 Stay tuned to find out some of the major issues
00:03 that are plaguing men in today's society 00:05 and how it has a direct correlation 00:07 to mass incarceration. 00:08 My name is Jason Bradley, 00:10 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:36 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:37 My guest today is Brian Hamilton 00:39 and he is the CFO of 3ABN. 00:42 He also heads up 3ABN's Prison Ministry Department. 00:45 Welcome to Urban Report, Brother Brian. 00:47 Thank you, Jason, it's a blessing, 00:49 privileged to be here. 00:50 Yes, well, it's good to have you here. 00:52 Thank you. 00:53 You know, for as long as I've known you, 00:55 you've been very passionate about prison ministry. 00:58 Yeah. 01:00 Is there any that... What's behind that? 01:02 Where does your passion stem from? 01:04 Okay, well, our story began about nine years ago. 01:10 We received a phone call one evening about suppertime, 01:13 and that phone call was kind of a defining moment 01:17 in our family, in our lives of our family. 01:22 That phone call was to tell us 01:25 that our son was in a county jail, 01:29 facing charges that would put him behind bars 01:34 for, basically, the rest of his life. 01:36 Wow. 01:37 Yeah, it was tragedy, it was a tragic situation. 01:43 It was a shock to us. 01:45 It threw us into a whole new world 01:48 that we had had no experience with before 01:51 and that's the world of incarceration, 01:53 county jails, prisons. 01:56 They're not user-friendly places, 01:58 I'll tell you that. 02:00 Yeah, it's not the Ritz-Carlton, no. 02:01 Yeah. 02:02 And they're not particularly friendly, 02:04 there's not warm and fuzzies 02:06 related to correctional officers, 02:10 and prisons, and jails. 02:13 And so, of course, we were in shock, and grief, 02:19 and we made our trip out to California, 02:22 that's where he was at. 02:24 Our first visit was two days later 02:27 before we were able to see him. 02:31 It was, in fact, it was November 4, 02:34 that happened to be my birthday. 02:37 Wow. Yeah. 02:38 So that started us on this whole new journey. 02:41 But, you know, the Lord has a way 02:42 of taking tragic situations 02:46 and if our lives are committed to Him, 02:49 He takes those tragedies and turns them into triumphs. 02:52 Yes. 02:53 He takes our hurts and pains 02:57 and He can bring blessings out of them. 03:00 No matter how bad the situation is 03:02 that people face or could be facing today, 03:04 and I don't know, 03:06 you know, our viewers situation, 03:07 but if you put it in the hands of the Lord, 03:11 He can bring a blessing out of any situation 03:15 and our life is a living proof of that. 03:19 Amen. 03:20 So as we went in to visit our son, 03:21 we began to see young men that were behind the glass, 03:26 just like our son was behind the glass with the phone 03:29 and their wives, or their parents, 03:32 or their brothers, or sisters, or girlfriends 03:34 and couldn't help but somehow our hearts went out to them. 03:39 Yeah. 03:41 Just like our heart was going out to our own son. 03:43 And God sort of opened our eyes 03:47 to a whole new ministry area 03:50 that we'd never give consideration to before 03:55 and that's prison ministry. 03:57 Yes. 03:58 We came back to 3ABN after that first visit 04:02 and the Lord opened up an opportunity for us 04:06 to join with a team that was doing ministry 04:10 in a state prison here in Illinois called Big Muddy. 04:14 Okay. 04:15 So I joined that team that would already was working there 04:19 and, you know, 04:21 it was just such a healing experience 04:25 for us to go in. 04:26 I mean, these guys are like our sons, you know. 04:29 Yes. 04:30 And we could relate to them so much easier 04:33 because of the fact that, 04:34 you know, we have a son that's in a situation 04:37 like they're in and they could relate to us. 04:40 Yes. 04:41 So that's how the door opened for us. 04:43 Okay. 04:45 And now it's been a good eight years, 04:47 Diane and I have been going 04:50 into sometimes two or three prisons every week. 04:56 Different days of the week, 04:57 and we have the federal prison in Merion that we serve. 05:03 And then two state prisons, ones in Pinckneyville, 05:06 about 45 minutes away. 05:07 Okay. 05:09 And another one called Big Muddy, 05:10 this is about 35 minutes away. 05:12 Okay. Wow. 05:13 So that's how we got started. 05:15 And we do a service of Bible study 05:21 teaching principles of, 05:25 you know, of Scripture, God's love. 05:28 You know, I have a text here I'd like to share. 05:30 Yes, please. 05:32 And it's found in Luke chapter 4, 05:37 starting with verse 18. 05:39 And this is 05:41 when Jesus got done reading a passage in Isaiah 05:47 in the synagogue in his hometown Nazareth, 05:51 this was the passage He read. 05:54 He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me 05:57 because He has anointed Me 05:59 to preach the gospel to the poor." 06:02 And we're not just talking about poor financially, 06:06 these are people who are poor in Spirit, 06:09 who are downtrodden, okay? 06:13 Yes, they've all lost probably all their earthly possessions. 06:18 In fact, I can remember about a month after the situation 06:23 happened with our son, Diane 06:25 and I had to fly out to California. 06:29 Go in, and take all of his worldly possessions 06:33 out of his apartment, his clothes, 06:34 you know, his bedding, 06:37 everything he owned and dispose of it, 06:40 give it away, bring some home 06:43 'cause he'd never need it again. 06:45 It was almost like death. 06:46 You know, when person dies, 06:48 you have to go and take everything 06:49 out of the closet and... 06:51 So we had that grieving experience, 06:54 you know, to do that. 06:56 That would have been extremely hard for you. 06:57 Oh, it was, you know, it was our second son, 07:01 Trent came and joined us for that 07:04 and helped us through that experience. 07:07 Said, "I came to preach the gospel to the poor. 07:10 He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted." 07:14 Prisons today are full of broken people, 07:17 brokenhearted people. 07:19 And for everyone in prison, 07:20 there's a whole family of brokenness 07:24 associated with that person incarcerated, 07:27 there's parents, there's brothers and sisters, 07:31 there's husbands and wives, there's children, 07:34 all affected by this. 07:36 So he says, "To preach the gospel to the poor, 07:40 He sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, 07:43 to proclaim liberty to the captives." 07:48 We've discovered it with our son's experience, 07:51 you can be more bound, 07:54 bound in the chains of sin and Satan outside of prison 08:00 and you can be incarcerated today 08:03 and be free. 08:04 Yes, and that is very interesting. 08:06 Yeah, and then that's a whole new insight. 08:09 So "Sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, 08:12 to proclaim liberty to the captives, 08:14 and recovery of sight to the blind, 08:17 and set at liberty those who are oppressed." 08:21 So those words have taken 08:23 on a whole new meaning for us. 08:25 Yes, yes. 08:27 And so as I was saying, 08:28 we spent about the last eight years 08:30 involved in prison ministry. 08:33 Always looking for material 08:36 that would be helpful to people incarcerated. 08:39 I have a few stats, Jason, that I brought. 08:43 Before you go into those stats... 08:44 Okay. Sure. 08:45 You know, it's important 08:47 that people know that it's not just the inmates 08:49 that are doing the time, like you said, 08:51 you have families that are experiencing this hurt 08:55 and it's like you're doing the time 08:58 with your son because you're separated. 09:00 Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. 09:01 And that's... 09:03 When we go into or say do a prison ministry event... 09:07 And you've come with us on a number of those events, 09:09 so we've had a great time together. 09:11 Absolutely. 09:13 That's one of the things we do to introduce ourselves 09:16 to the inmates says, 09:17 "Hey, there's something you and I have in common 09:20 that you have no idea 09:22 and that's we're both doing time, you know." 09:24 Yes. 09:25 Our son is locked in, as long as he's locked in, 09:27 we're locked out. 09:30 And the same with their sweethearts 09:32 and their families and all, 09:34 when they're locked in, the others are locked out. 09:37 We're all doing time together, you see. 09:40 Yes. 09:41 And when you said that, 09:43 you know, there are some people that are in there, 09:44 that are more free than people out here... 09:46 Yeah. 09:47 I remember being in a prison and seeing Lemuel Vega, 09:50 he, you know, he calls for volunteers 09:52 and when they volunteer, 09:53 he'll usually give them something. 09:54 Well, he gave these two gentlemen Bibles. 09:57 Oh, yes. 09:59 And these men began to cry. 10:03 They were so hungry and excited that they got the Word of God 10:07 and they started to cry. 10:09 Yeah, and moved by the thought that someone cared enough 10:13 to give them something like that, you know. 10:15 Yes. Yes, that's true. 10:19 Since my son is in California, 10:22 I have some stats for California. 10:25 There are about 34 prisons in California. 10:28 Okay. 10:29 Three of them are women's and all of the rest are men's. 10:34 So out of 34, 10:36 you have 31 prisons that are full of men. 10:38 Wow. Three for women. 10:42 California has about 118,000 persons incarcerated, 10:48 just a little over 118,000. 10:50 Wow. 10:51 Of that, 5,200 are women and the rest are all men. 10:55 A 113,000 men incarcerated in California. 11:01 Their prisons are at a 132% of capacity. 11:06 132%? 11:08 132% of capacity, that means they are full 11:12 and then 32% on average fuller than full. 11:16 Man! 11:18 Some more than that and some a little less than that, 11:20 but on average. 11:22 It's pretty costly to house and take care of someone 11:27 who is incarcerated, 11:29 and California has one of the most expensive cost. 11:32 Yes. 11:34 On average, it's about 70,800 per year 11:36 per inmate in California. 11:39 Wait a minute, 70,000 and... 11:41 $800. 11:42 $800 and there a 132%... 11:46 Of capacity. 11:48 Of capacity. Yeah. 11:49 Illinois, we have 40 prisons, three of them are women's. 11:52 We have about 43,000 persons 11:55 incarcerated with 3,000 of them as women. 11:58 So that means 40,000 men. 12:01 So you can see, this is really a man's, 12:05 a men's, a male's problem. 12:07 Yeah, that's alarming statistics. 12:09 Yeah. 12:10 If you look at it nationally, we've got 12:11 about a 111,000 women incarcerated, 12:15 that's a terrible number. 12:16 Yes. 12:17 But men, we have 1,400,000 men incarcerated nationally 12:23 compared to a 111,000 women. 12:28 This was kind of startling to me, 12:29 90% of murders are committed by men, 12:32 88% of robberies are committed by men, 12:36 75% of everyone arrested are men. 12:40 So if you're thinking 12:42 about the greatest predictor of incarceration, 12:47 it's if you're born male. 12:49 Wow. 12:50 That's the greatest predictor of incarceration. 12:53 So you have to ask yourself, "Well, why?" 12:57 Yeah. "Why all of this? 12:59 What has caused it? 13:00 Particularly for men, 13:01 what are the problems that men face? 13:04 What has caused this to happen?" 13:08 Well, the people that have done some study into the conditions 13:12 and the state of manhood 13:14 have come up with these interesting and tragic... 13:23 Or what should I say, reasons. 13:26 First, "I guess men as a general rule 13:29 are confused about their role and function in society." 13:34 What is a man's role? 13:35 What is his function? 13:36 They've never been modeled that or taught it 13:40 and they're just guessing at what it is 13:43 or don't have a clue what it is. 13:44 Or they're finding it in all the wrong places, 13:47 the music today, television programs, 13:51 all kinds of things 13:52 where they're teaching all the wrong things 13:55 about respect and all that. 13:56 Yeah, our media 13:58 is projecting a totally inaccurate image of manhood. 14:03 Absolutely. 14:05 "Men are generally, I guess, disappointed with their life 14:07 and what life has dealt them." 14:09 And you think if a person is disappointed 14:14 and felt let down, 14:16 usually the reaction is anger. 14:20 And so you can think of all the violent crimes committed, 14:23 they're committed by men. 14:24 These are angry men. 14:25 Okay? Yes. Yes. 14:27 "Men are lonely, they lack intimacy, 14:32 they need intimacy but are afraid of intimacy, 14:37 and don't know how to solve the problem." 14:39 Yes. 14:41 "Men are in pain emotionally, and in general, 14:46 men are drifting without purpose or meaning in life." 14:49 Those are some of the factors, as they've done research, 14:52 they've discovered about men. 14:54 So when you look at the situation, 14:57 it's no doubt that men act out 15:00 and they act out with anger and aggression 15:03 because of their situation. 15:05 Men medicate their pain 15:07 and what do they use to medicate their pain with? 15:10 Alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography. 15:14 So those things don't solve their problems, 15:18 they just medicate it or put a band-aid on it. 15:23 But when the medication wears off, 15:25 problem's still there. 15:27 Yeah. 15:28 Go right back to it again and... 15:30 Yeah. 15:31 It's like traditional medicine, it doesn't solve... 15:33 it doesn't attack the root cause. 15:35 Yeah. It just masks the symptoms. 15:37 Right, that's exactly right. 15:39 "Other men become workaholics." 15:42 They're distant from their families, 15:45 homes fall apart, 15:47 or turn to excessive sports, or other things to again, 15:51 mask the pain, the hurt, the confusion, 15:55 or just drifting through life. 15:57 Yeah. 15:58 And so just recently, in fact, 16:01 it was my son who put me on to this. 16:04 Uh-huh. 16:05 He says, "Dad, I'm attending a program." 16:08 Then I says, "Oh, really? What is that?" 16:11 And he says, "It's a program on authentic manhood." 16:16 And I go, "Wow, authentic manhood, 16:19 never thought about that. 16:22 Authentic manhood, okay, well, tell me about it son." 16:26 Uh-huh. 16:27 So he began to tell me about the program 16:28 and he made this statement when he did, 16:30 it's like my antenna went up. 16:32 He says, "Dad, I wished 16:36 that I'd had this in my teenage years. 16:39 I wish I had this in academy or someplace." 16:42 He says, "I think it might have made 16:44 a really difference in my life. 16:46 The things I'm learning right now through this program, 16:50 it could have really made a difference." 16:51 Wow. 16:53 Well, I said, "Wow, if that's my son 16:55 who is incarcerated saying that to me, 16:59 Yes. 17:01 then I need to take note of that." 17:02 And I brought with me the program. 17:04 It's called 33 The Series, you could Google it on, 17:09 you know, on the internet, 33 The Series, 17:12 a journey to authentic manhood, 17:14 as modeled by Jesus Christ in His 33 years on earth. 17:20 Wow. 17:21 And so that's what the 33 is for. 17:22 Right. Yeah. Yeah. 17:24 And so it's a six-part series. Okay. 17:27 And each part has successions. 17:31 So it's 36 sessions altogether. 17:34 And it starts out with talking about men, 17:38 males and God's design for them, 17:42 His purpose and mission for men. 17:45 I'm not saying that women don't have issues 17:47 and don't need to be ministered too, 17:49 but when you look at the problem, it's... 17:52 We've got a huge male problem. 17:55 Absolutely, the statistics, the numbers don't lie. 17:58 Yeah, yeah. 18:00 And so man in his design, 18:03 a man in his story, this session, 18:05 the second part or the sessions two... 18:11 Stop us men and make us look back over our life, 18:15 how did we relate to our dad 18:17 or did we even have a dad to relate to 18:20 and how did that affect us. 18:21 Our mom, how did we relate to our mom. 18:24 I have a man in prison who shares, 18:29 every once in a while, 18:30 things about his past and it was so tragic. 18:34 He talked about his mom 18:37 that hated him for all his life, 18:40 he could think of no time 18:43 where his mom ever was affectionate, 18:45 or showed love, or any kind of, 18:48 you know, mothered him in any way. 18:51 Yeah. 18:52 So it's no wonder he is in prison 18:54 for aggressive behavior against women. 18:58 You know, it's just... 19:00 that is Sad. 19:01 And that where you're supposed to get 19:03 that nurturing kind of stuff from. 19:04 Yeah, right. It's from your mom. 19:05 Right, so in second section 19:07 has this look back over our life 19:10 and look at the things that might have affected us 19:14 to cause us to be in the situation we are today. 19:17 Okay. 19:18 And then move forward from that, 19:20 you don't want to live in that past. 19:21 Yes. 19:23 But you want to learn from it and then move forward. 19:25 And session three is a man in his traps. 19:28 Satan is a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. 19:32 And so he has traps 19:33 that are particularly designed for men. 19:36 He has them for women too 19:38 but this session three deals with a man in his traps. 19:42 Session four, a man in his work, 19:46 and then in his marriage, 19:47 and then in his fatherhood, 19:49 so those make up the six different parts of this. 19:53 And you think a man's world is involved with work, 19:56 his marriage, and family, being a father in a home. 20:00 A lot of guys don't know how to be a father. 20:03 They don't know how to be a real good husband either. 20:05 Yes. 20:06 And so anyway, we're just started this, 20:10 I told the guys that... 20:13 This is the... 20:14 You get a DVD, you get a booklet, 20:17 and uh... 20:20 and then a leaders guide. 20:22 And it's a really nice series, 20:26 I've just started educating myself on it, 20:29 and I told the guys 20:30 that they are going to be my guinea pigs. 20:32 Wow. 20:33 So we're going to go through this thing 20:35 and it's going to take about a year. 20:37 Uh-huh. 20:39 And we're gonna evaluate this program. 20:42 We're kind of excited about it. That's nice. 20:44 I mean, it's... Yeah, it sounds like 20:45 it's a great program and very informative. 20:49 You know, what are some preventive measures 20:52 that, you know, we've talked about 20:53 how people try and mask the symptoms, 20:57 what are some preventive measures 20:58 that a man can take? 21:01 What are some examples? 21:02 What's the example that he can look at? 21:05 Well, of course, like this series 21:06 is based on the life of Christ, 21:10 so Christ can be an example. 21:12 You have many biblical stories about situations, 21:16 both in homes, and families, and marriages, 21:19 in people's lives, case studies, okay, 21:22 that's one place you can look. 21:28 That would be, I would say, a good beginning. 21:31 Absolutely. Yeah. 21:33 Because even if 21:34 even if you didn't have a father in the home... 21:37 Right. 21:38 You can go to your Bible, 21:40 to the Word of God and look at the life of Christ. 21:42 I mean, He is like 21:44 the true definition of a man, you know. 21:48 Right. 21:49 And He was self-sacrificing, 21:51 His amount of love that He's given 21:55 and continues to give is amazing. 21:57 Yeah. 21:58 You know, He's the true definition 22:00 of what a real man should look like. 22:02 Yes. 22:04 You know, the Bible tells us that God is love, 22:07 and when we as men 22:11 turn to our Heavenly Father 22:14 and ask Him to help us, 22:16 He's in the business of healing. 22:19 You know, we focuses a lot on His love and forgiveness, 22:23 and to be forgiven is a wonderful thing. 22:26 But then what happens after you're forgiven, 22:30 well, we need healing, we need restoration. 22:33 And if, I believe, if we as men commit ourselves to the Lord, 22:38 He starts us on this journey, 22:40 and He brings people into our lives 22:43 that will help us in the healing process, 22:46 He brings resources and different things, 22:51 and connects us with them. 22:53 It's not an accident, 22:54 we're in these prisons doing what we're doing, 22:56 it's because God has uniquely put us there 23:01 for the mission of extending His healing 23:05 and restoring love to the people 23:08 that we rub shoulders with in those settings. 23:12 Absolutely. 23:13 That's how it's worked in our lives, anyway. 23:17 What testimonies or stories can you share with us 23:22 where you've seen lives touch inside those walls? 23:24 Yeah. 23:26 Oh, wow, we see it every day. 23:29 I think of one particular man, 23:31 he is in a prison 23:33 for just the most horrific crimes 23:38 you could ever think of. 23:40 I don't want to repeat them 23:43 but they are just horrific. 23:47 And he's in a county jail waiting for his trial. 23:51 In a situation like that, you could spend one, two, 23:54 or three years in a county jail just waiting for trial. 23:57 Wow. 23:58 And he picks up a Bible and starts to read it. 24:04 And he's not understanding it. 24:08 There happened to be a Muslim... 24:11 Uh-huh. 24:12 In the prison that knew about the Bible. 24:14 Really? 24:15 And he started working with... 24:17 This fella had never opened a Bible, 24:19 didn't own a Bible until he got to county jail, 24:23 and a Muslim brother who you wouldn't think 24:27 would know anything about Scripture 24:28 knew about the Bible 24:30 and started helping explain it to him. 24:33 Wow. 24:34 He gave his heart to the Lord, 24:36 he moved from county to federal. 24:39 Uh-huh. 24:41 In the federal prison, he met a fella 24:45 who had some Adventist background, 24:50 and began to teach him systematically, 24:53 over a period of time, 24:56 all the principles of the plan of salvation. 25:00 Wow. 25:01 Jesus love many of the errors he had heard on the streets, 25:05 you know, people hear all kinds of things about God, 25:08 and about the Bible, 25:10 and about life that is totally off-base. 25:14 But they believe it because that's all they know. 25:15 Yes. 25:17 But anyway, and so Mark taught Dennis, 25:22 and we baptized Dennis just a couple years ago. 25:27 Wow. Yeah. 25:28 I wonder what happened to the Muslim brother. 25:30 Yeah, I don't know. 25:32 And that would be interesting to find out too, 25:34 you know, as he is witnessing through the Bible. 25:36 Yeah, but how did he know about the Bible, 25:37 you know, how did he know about the Bible. 25:39 Yeah. 25:40 Who knows how he knew about it, 25:41 but God had people planted in there. 25:45 You never would have guessed 25:46 it would have happened that way. 25:49 So we just had, a couple months ago, 25:51 we just had a baptism, Big Muddy with nine of our guys 25:56 that come regularly to our service baptized. 25:59 Wow. 26:00 And Pastor Lomacang came, and joined us, 26:02 and performed the baptism, 26:04 and it was just a high day, just a high day. 26:07 That's amazing. 26:08 Even behind the walls, people can get baptized. 26:11 Yeah. 26:12 And there's that true sense of freedom 26:14 and true sense of joy 26:15 even though they're incarcerated. 26:17 What does a class look like? 26:19 When you go in there 26:20 and you start teaching and sharing the Word of God, 26:23 what does it look like? 26:24 How did it start? 26:26 It's just a classroom like you would see at any school 26:28 and that's usually their worship center. 26:31 And we come in 26:32 and we have anywhere from 35-40 guys down to 26:36 as little as three depending on the facility. 26:39 But we'll come in for two or three, 26:41 it doesn't matter to us, 26:43 other ones we have much larger group, 26:45 and we have a time for singing, time for sharing, 26:49 prayer and praises, time for Bible study, 26:53 and question and answer, and closing prayer. 26:57 In some places 26:59 we get about an hour and a half, 27:00 other places we get two hours. 27:02 Nice. 27:03 It's a great time. 27:04 Nice, and people ask a lot of questions? 27:06 Oh, yeah, oh yeah, it's a lively experience. 27:10 Yeah. 27:12 So they bring all the... 27:14 Maybe some of the things 27:15 that they've been taught that have been wrong 27:16 and then you show them in the Word. 27:19 Yeah. 27:20 In other words, 27:22 does God crisp you in the fires of hell forever, 27:24 and ever, and ever, 27:26 you know, to find out that God doesn't do that, 27:29 you know, that even in His judgment, 27:32 there is mercy. 27:33 In other words, society has heard, 27:35 it just never ends but no, it does end. 27:38 Just something simple like that, 27:39 you'd be amazed 27:41 how much the discussion is around that whole subject. 27:44 I believe it. I believe it. Yeah. 27:46 Well, thank you so much for coming on 27:48 and sharing with us about prison ministry 27:50 and real manhood. 27:52 Yeah. And thank you for joining us. 27:54 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 27:56 Join us next time, and remember, 27:58 it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2018-09-17