Yesterday was registration at the prison for the March-April term.
What a thrill; not just the numbers, but the men.
So many were looking for something better than they had been having.
I don't say that to brag on myself, but to brag on God.  His book is wonderful food,
and the inmates are all starving for it.  They get plenty of rhetoric, but little food.
 
Please continue to pray for my classes; I covet the prayers of the prayer-warriors I know.
It is so humbling to realize that people from distant lands are praying for this ministry.
Thank you Samson for you note yesterday.  
 
Again I have two Jews in my Monday evening class.  That is a bit scary for me
at this point.  They are literate, unlike so many Christians.
Joel Winter and Cecil Davis are their names.  
 
Brett Robbins didn't show up because they wouldn't let him go from his job.
Inmates make a lot of money for the industry bosses.  I was allowed to add
him to the roll anyway, and he will have Friday's free to be part of the Praise and
Worship service.  I guess that we will now see if he accepts what I did for him
vicariously by signing him up.
 
I had a couple of inmates who were desperately searching for something real in their
'religious' lives.  Pray that God will use the classes for HIS purposes in their lives.
 
Jack Layton, the LDS friend of Ernie's signed up again yesterday, so even though
he will be released in late March, he will probably be there for three more Friday
P & W services.  Pray that seeds are being planted that will be watered by someone
else after he leaves this facility.
 
Robert Zessiger (also LDS) continues to stay with me.  I keep telling him that I want
to see him get saved.  Yesterday, I was able to hand-off a writing I did years ago
on two false visions Joseph Smith recorded in the D&C that are still there.  They
demonstrate that JS didn't know that Elias was Elijah's name in the New Testament,
and that he didn't know that Isaiah shows up in the NT as Esaias.  He needs to have
his childhood testimony of JS crushed.
 
Numbers don't mean I'm anything great.  They serve as indicators.  Nobody has
to take the classes I teach, so, numbers tell me if the Spirit is using me or not.
This term will see 30 men in the P & W service.  The two weeknight classes had
fewer sign-ups than last term, but there weren't any 'free-radicals' this time.  I
call the men who sign up but never show up, free-radicals.  The prison added a
punishment for so doing this term, so those who signed up will probably show up.
 
Please pray that God will keep the rooms we have and the time slots we have
from being taken away by the Mormon cluster.  He gave us Room #2137 last term
and He held on to it this term.  It accommodates 24 people, and there aren't any
other rooms that large that are available to the department I fall into.  We also
have the multi-purpose-room (MPR) that we use for P & W on Fridays, and it holds
probably 100 or more.  God has made room for growth in this ministry.
 
Lastly, pray for me to stay focused on this ministry and still have time for the
garden which is coming on line.  We planted carrots and peas yesterday.  The
celery is coming along, and I hope to have some starts for anyone who wants
to plant a few.  The cabbages are germinated under the lights indoors.  It will
be a task to do both of these things, and do them well.  Fortunately, God will
be handling the prison ministry, and probably the garden as well.  Just pray that
I don't leave it all up to him.  I still need to be prepared to deliver the words.
 
And now; Thank you so much for being part of this ministry.  I'm learning how to
pray, but I depend on your prayers.  Your list of names for whom I have asked
prayer is probably long.
 
ybic
randy