FROM CRIME TO CHRIST PRISON MINISTRIES

4/2/12                                                                                                                                                  Chaplain21850@aol.com


Dear Prayer Warriors:

                  I am late as usual getting out the newest ministry update but here it is. In January I had the privilege of preaching at two of Maryland's largest prisons, both in Hagerstown. On January 7th I preached twice at Roxbury Correctional Institution and in the second service two men came forward for salvation and we signed them and a couple of others up for our Bible studies. On January 29th I went back to Maryland Correctional Training Center where there had been some recent problems but everything went well except we did not have our usual full house and no one responded to the alter call. The feeling of honest worship was prevalent however and it was a good service. To backtrack a little to January 13th we made a quick trip up to Pennsauken, NJ to celebrate the home going of a special man named Bill Neiswender who died in an unusual accident which I won't explain here but those involved already know and Bill was a solid Christian man in every way. I look forward to seeing him again when I also get home with the Lord. We had the BJU Drama team come to our home church on January 25th for a Wednesday evening service and enjoyed it much. On February 5th I was blessed to be able to preach the two services at Faith Independent Bible Church for pastor Russ Young in Pennsauken, NJ which is our (Carol and my) second home church and it was good to preach in other than a prison surrounding for a change. On February 11th I was back at RCI again as I have the two morning services there on every second Sunday each month and there were results but since I did not write them down all I can say is we followed them up as we always do, however as I recall there were five men in the two services that responded for salvation and several others who rededicated themselves to living the Christian life before their fellow inmates no matter what the cost. On February 19th I went down to Eastern Correctional Institution for the early morning service on the West complex. No one responded to the alter call but several other decisions were made for the Lord. From Sunday February 26 for three straight Sundays (includes March 4th and 11th) I covered the services at Pennsauken again for pastor Russ Young as he made his every other year trip to India where he preaches and does a multitude of good tasks including preaching at small churches planted by the seminary students at which he also preached (Seminary) and held seminars etc. I asked for and received permission to skip my two RCI services on March 11th but will be going back again on Easter Sunday for two early services and I am truly looking forward to those services and asking the Lord for souls for Jesus. I will also be heading back to MCTC for one combined service at mid day on April 29th. Hopefully things have been squared away again so that we get a full chapel again and Lord willing many good responses.

                   By the way, I have both my pastor, Robert Reinert from Faith Baptist Church, and pastor George Herrmann from Bible Baptist Church who cover the Detention center needs when I am out of town. this is where I spend most of my week days as the full time chaplain. Pastor Herrmann has been called on a lot during the past few weeks of my absences, a couple of times real early in the morning (I am on call twenty four seven) and he has done a terrific job in my place.
Both Carol and I needed a break and so we were blessed to be able to go down to Greenville, SC for the second half of the Bible Conference. It was my 30 year reunion. We stayed with our special friends Jim and Linda Golla and had a great time of both fellowship and relaxation. I was able to catch up with several old friends both on faculty and staff including my old campus daddy, from my student days, Dr. Ward Anderson. The humorous thing about that is that I am at least ten years older than he is. We saw our long time personal friends Bob and Connie Bridner for lunch together at the snack shop and talked over old times and what was happening now. Bob has had many significant physical problems lately and has been recuperating from another operation so pray for him please. I was able to sit down for a few minutes with pastor Dan Brooks from Heritage Bible church on Thursday afternoon as well as speak at the in church cottage prayer meeting on Wednesday evening. By the way there is a store down there called Hamericks (probably spelled wrong) what ever you do don't stop there if you can help it. You just cannot easily get away again:-) All in all it was a good trip and well enjoyed by both Carol and me.

                  The detention center ministry has been going well and I have been doing a good amount of in office counseling which has led to several salvations and I think of one young lady and two men particularly as they were completely genuine in my humble opinion. Pray for a man named James Darby who has one goal in mind and that is to commit suicide. He asked to speak with me in my office and we spent a good amount of time together but even after prayer and reading the gospel verses from Romans to him the last thing he said when he left my office was that he still wanted to commit suicide. Now that is a prayer request and one the Lord certainly can answer if James will open up his heart to Christ.

               Carol's dad is about two thirds done with his radiation treatment for esophageal cancer. He has not suffered any side effects and they should be checking to see whether the cancer is still there. It was small to begin with and they believe this radiation should knock it out completely. My father in-law is 88 years old and so now you know how to pray for him. Pray for Carol as she stays busy looking after her mom and dad in an assisted living site as well as her brother who is an invalid (wheel chair bound) but lives some forty miles away in another community in assisted living. I still do not sleep very well at all and I probably should lose about fifty pounds which might help some. Lord willing I intend to continue to keep up my schedule and travels until He shows me that I can no longer do it properly. I cannot say I am looking forward to that day but I absolutely am looking forward to the Lord coming again for us or else just taking me home. Never the less not my will but thine be done Lord.

             I must close but again please continue to hold us up in prayer as we will you and keep walking close to the Lord as there is no better place to be. Remember that no matter how bad things appear to be in our country and in our lives the Lord our God is still in charge and will give us what we deserve. That is the part I worry about because we do not deserve much from God. The Bible says. " as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the day of the coming of the Lord". Need I say more.
 
Because Of Calvary,
Carol & Gene Brown
(1 Corinthians 15:58)

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