08/24/2026
Over the past 40+ years, D4D collectively has had the opportunity to walk into institutions housing prisoners of all levels - men’s, women’s, juvenile, work release, minimum, medium, maximum, and death row.
We’ve shared programs inside beautiful chapels, on rickety boards of tractor trailers, softball fields, prison rodeo arenas, hot gymnasiums, and classrooms. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Mexico, South Africa, and France.
Most of these places are dark. Not necessarily in a physical sense (although prisons in foreign countries are many times lacking electricity), but spiritually.
Oppression can sometimes be felt the minute you pull into the parking lot. It follows you through the hallways, magnifies itself every time you hear one gate clang behind you while waiting for the one in front of you to open.
And then there are those places where it is immediately evident that the administration understands the message we are bringing helps not only those in white, orange, and stripes, but the staff as well.
We are bringing Light and Hope. Not a watered-down, emotional “make me feel good” story, but a genuine, life-changing message. Not temporary. Eternal. The gospel.
Most of the time we meet inmates, travel to another prison, and never again see the ones we just left. But there are times when men or women are serving long sentences, and we see them repeatedly - not necessarily in the same prison, but in another one along the way.
Such was the storyline this past weekend.
Entering Atlanta Metro was a joy. We were seeing family - platform guests and volunteers who have become close throughout the years. Security checks were complete. We were wanded and ready to go.
We entered the gymnasium, got our equipment set up, and began visiting with friends who were serving as volunteers and mentors for the weekend.
Standing with one of my sweet sisters in Christ, we began catching up on prayer requests and family news. Then she called over one of our brothers in white.
He is getting paroled next month and will be heading to the City of Refuge in Atlanta, where he will serve as a life coach and mentor.
He shared that he had previously been denied parole. However, with the help of a warden who loves his tribe, who had seen him come to know Christ and witnessed a life of faith and repentance, his parole was reviewed again.
And this time, it was granted.
As we visited, he told us that he had heard and seen D4D before. Our message and testimonies had played a pivotal part in his redemption story.
Tears?
At this point, streaming.
I asked him, “How long have you been in?”
His answer?
“Fifty years.”
“Five-o?”
“Five-o.”
FIFTY YEARS!
At the end of September, this man will walk out of that Atlanta prison and into physical freedom.
But what he experienced behind those walls was something even greater: SPIRITUAL FREEDOM.
He found a possession - a gift like no other - a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
He is changed forever.
Please pray for this man. Ask the Lord to protect his heart, his mind, and his life. Other lives are getting ready to be changed by his testimony of what a mighty God can do with a life surrendered to Him.
There is such gratitude for those of you who pray for us as we embark on these visits. Please continue to pray for the seeds that are sown - that they would fall on good soil, take root, and produce a harvest for the Kingdom. We may never know the impact this side of Heaven. But for those of us in Christ, one day we will rejoice together in the presence of our Savior! What a day that will be!
