Foment Prison Revivals

Thousands of God-called volunteers already teach, preach and witness in America’s prisons and jails.   Now, each volunteer has an opportunity to expand the outreach of his or her ministry tenfold or more by simply encouraging their prisoners to make disciples of their fellow prisoner through the Philippi Prison Ministry prisoner-led effort.   Just think:  outside volunteers typically have 90 minutes of teaching time a week with the prisoners who come to their classes.   Christian prisoners, by contrast, can and do have flourishing ministries 24/7 among all those who live in their dorms.   In the First Century, two prisoners came into the jail in Philippi and witnessed to all the prisoners and won and baptized the jailer and his entire family.   The evangelists were not outside visitors but inside prisoners!   That is now happening in Texas in this Baptist-led effort.

This movement has now spread to more than 50 Texas prisons and 20 federal prisons.  In it, prisoners take simple, interactive story-based Bible studies back into their dorms and share them with fellow prisoners.  In the process prisoners are saved, including many prisoners who found Christ while teaching others!   Free materials and Bibles are provided to prisoner-led Bible study groups, that range from two prisoners to more than 20.   Outside volunteers continue their current ministries, whatever they may be, but introduce the Philippi strategy to their students and sign up students to receive the free materials.   As the prisoners teach and win fellow prisoners in the dorms, the weekly classes of the outside volunteers grow in attendance and spiritual power.

The Philippi Prison Ministry is led, in Texas, by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.   Churches with members ministering in jails or prisons are urged to contact the BGCT’s Department of Organic Churches, Rev. Mario Alberto Gonzalez, through this web page.   This ministry, in just one prison, can mean dozens of prisoner baptisms each year by the church.