JONESBOROUGH — In Biblical times, the Lord often used an unlikely setting — prison — to do powerful things.
The same is true today.
Over the past several weeks, the Holy Spirit has been at work at the Washington County Detention Center, where 19 inmates have made professions of faith while participating in a ministry hosted by Strong Tower Baptist Church, Johnson City.
Ancel G. Presnell, Jr., pastor of Strong Tower, said the ministry started roughly six months ago, and has been making an impact since the beginning.
“It’s beyond encouraging for both myself and our church to see these men and women responding to the clear cut gospel while incarcerated,” said Presnell. “We’ve heard from county staff that the services are beneficial to the (inmates) and have been productive.”
There are currently 10 members of Strong Tower who participate in the ministry, including Presnell and the church’s student and community outreach pastor, Jody Jenkins. Beth Arwood oversees the teaching and classes for the women inmates.
Several male inmates were recently baptized at the facility, and Presnell noted that there will soon be an opprotunity for the women to be baptized, too, during an upcoming service.
Presnell said he is excited, but not necessarily surprised, by the response at the Detention Center. “The gospel truly is the power of God unto Salvation!” he said.
The Strong Tower prison ministry holds chapel services at the facility twice a week, with the men meeting on Tuesdays and the women meeting on Thursdays.
“We turn every single lesson/outline into a gospel presentation each week,” said Presnell, “and we give the inmates an opportunity to respond.”
He said that, as a general rule, the inmates are interested and intrigued by what is being said during the chapel services and other witnessing opportunities that Presnell and his team have encountered.
“They are very receptive of the teaching and very respectful,” he said. “We have never had an issue with the men, and we’ve only had one issue with the women’s group — and that came on the very first night.”
Presnell and Jenkins are registered as volunteer chaplains with the detention center and Sheriff’s Department. He said the “team” ministers to the inmates in a variety of ways in addition to holding the weekly chapel sessions.
“We are called on to minister to the inmates when a death occurs (for an inmate’s family member) or when any tragic news is received inside the jail,” he said.
When witnessing and speaking to the inmates, Presnell said that he and his team do not present a watered down version of the gospel. Rather, it is a straightforward, Biblical message. The inmates don’t respond to “sugarcoating,” he said, because of the rawness of their situation.
“They’re in jailhouse clothes, incarcerated and have very little to hide,” he said. “They have no mask to put on. So, we pull no punches with them and the gospel.”
“We use the moral law of God most weeks to show the men that they are indeed lost because they are sinners and violators of God’s Law,” Presnell said. “We then make a beeline to the cross and Christ’s redemption through the cross.” B&R