Prison Fellowship - prayer line...

Earlier in the summer the Prison Fellowship launched an exciting new project called Prayer Line.

Prayer Line allows anyone in prison to call a free number and leave a confidential message with their personal prayer request. Prison Fellowship’s team of volunteers are committed to pray for each person that calls on that day and across the following month.  It is as simple as that, and there are no catches!

“Some of the most fervent prayers are said from prison cells,” says Ven. James Ridge, Chaplain General at HMPPS. “For over 40 years Prison Fellowship has enabled countless prisoners to know that someone is sharing in those prayers. This new initiative enables a more active and immediate participation – prisoners can know that their concerns are being shared safely and confidentially by faithful, prayerful Christians.

This is a wonderful facility which will help to remind prisoners that they are loved by God and that His Church is praying with them and for them.”

Prayer for today from the Prayer Line - pray with us, the Prison Fellowship and partners …

Prayer Line request: E is feeling down and would value prayer. She has an appeal in place and a court date soon. She just wants to get back to her three children and her partner.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Amen

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Will you join us to pray alongside Prison Fellowship today and in the days to come?

Download this month’s prayer diary…

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“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Isaiah 30:18

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Prison Fellowship’s mission is to “show Christ’s love to prisoners by coming alongside them and supporting them”… for the last 40 years they have been working with, supporting and praying with and for prisoners across England and Wales.

The Free Churches Group and our work in prison chaplaincy have worked with The Prison Fellowship (PF) for many years.

(image courtesy of Miryam León at Unsplash)

Three weeks to go! Have you booked your place on the racial justice webinar yet?

A free webinar is coming up on 22nd September from 6.30-8pm - book up HERE.

It will be on the theme of racial justice / criminal justice and exploring what your church can do in light of these matters.

Prisons Week is coming up - 11-17 October

Save the date!

Make plans in your churches and community groups…

Join with us as we pray with Prisons Week this year - the theme for the week of 11th to 17th October is UNITED IN LOCKDOWN

Resources and materials to help you pray and support Prisons Week will be available soon!

Watch this space for further details…

For forty years now, Prisons Week has prepared prayer literature to enable the Christian community, through individuals and churches, to pray for the needs of all those affected by prisons: prisoners and their families, victims of crime and their communities, those working in the criminal justice system and the many people who are involved in caring for those affected by crime on the inside and outside of our prisons. Prisons Week raises awareness and generates prayer. It motivates volunteers to step forward and give their time and gifts, in prisons and in their own communities. It provides an annual focus and reason for Christians to work together, building capacity and motivation to make a difference for people who are out of sight and often out of mind.

On the radio! All across prisons in the UK... pray with us and the Prison Fellowship

This Sunday we are encouraged to pray with Prison Fellowship for the work and ministry of the National Prison Radio…

I recall giving a live radio interview from a poky little BBC studio in Oxfordshire some years ago! A nerve wracking, but rewarding experience.

The Interview was to share news about the youth mentoring programme I was a tutor and mentor for. The mentoring scheme was part of the work that the Youth Offending Team were doing in partnership with local Christian charities. As a result of the radio programme, many more mentors came forward to volunteer on the project. Hallelujah! All my radio broadcast nerves were worth it!

Radio can be a powerful medium to reach people. The Sunday morning service which the Prison Fellowship is hosting later this month has the potential to reach thousands of prisoners and to touch their hearts. May it be a blessing to all who tune in! (Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer)

So let us pray for the PF and their service and for all those who tune in…

Prayer for Sunday 23rd August -

Prison Fellowship is hosting the Sunday morning service that is broadcast on National Prison Radio today. Pray that those who tune in will be encouraged and challenged by what they hear. Amen

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers…

You can find out more about the work of the National Prison Radio HERE.

You can download the prayer diary for August and pray alongside the PF and partners HERE.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

The Free Churches Group and our work in prison chaplaincy have worked with The Prison Fellowship (PF) for many years.

(image below from NPR and cover photo courtesy of Naadir Shahul at Unsplash)

"Committed to equipping prisoners to unlock and live in their God given potential..."

“Committed to equipping prisoners to unlock and live in their God given potential…”! That is the mission of the Christian charity, Imago Dei Prison Ministry (ID Prison Ministry for short!)

They go on to say that they are also committed to set men and women free from their past and to help them to know their true value and identity in their life.

At the heart of Imago Dei Prison Ministry is the desire to see prisoners live out their true identity and purpose. They believe that no one should be defined by their past or even their current circumstances. 

We are invited to pray for and support the vital and life changing work of ID HERE….

Imago Dei are an associated ministry of CiC, one of the Free Churches Group’s member denominations.

(image courtesy of http://www.idprisonministry.org.uk/)

““The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind., to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
— Luke 4:18-19”