GOD SQUAD ON THE RUN

Once more we are going to be on the radio around the world for 5 days in a row. God will bless this program as He has done to all the others. We have had invitations to France, Australia, and the Philippines and would love to go, but we cannot. Our dedication is now to Corcoran, to finally establish an all-round program that can be copied every where. Blessings can come to all involved. Catch the dream and join with us.

FROM GANGS TO CHRIST

Those of you in prison who want to live this so called "Gangster Life," keep this in mind - there are those among you who use a gang to cover your own lust for destruction and cruelty. The killing of a strong man is an exercise in futility because it leaves room for another strong man. Yet such men do not care. They wish to kill and destroy because it enhances their own image in their twisted minds. They believe they are men of respect and honor because the code they live under says so. Their concept of being a real man is distorted by the fantasy of being a gangster whose destination is death, self destruction and eternal anguish. Join the God Squad and you will be protected for Eternity!

Pray to Jesus, read God's word. Let His words become your thinking. He then will open your mind and heart. Jesus said to you "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:3. Think your life of sin was fun? When you start a new life with Christ you will have real excitement and adventure. Jesus said to you "All power is given unto me in Heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18
WHY?

My name is Jerry and I am a child molester. I have been caught and served two sentences and soon I will be released. I have had no rehabilitation and probably will re-offend. No, I do not want to and will do anything I can to change, but where do I go? Last time out I did well and joined a church and got a good job. After a year a sign was put in front of my house and it started all over. This time I ran. Stupid!

Back in Satan's hands I was caught again. I met Yvonne by chance and she led me to her husband. These two listened and helped me think things through. They made me part of a 12-step recovery program and constant counseling. I now have a relationship and a friendship that is compact and complete. I will stay in my group until I die. Please pray for me.

PEN FRIENDS: PLEASE DO NOT USE OUR HOME ADDRESS FOR INMATES
MY PRICELESS WIFE

I remember her first trip to Prison. God called me to Prison Ministry and she reminded me often of that. I was teaching a weekly Bible Study and kept asking Yvonne to go. Finally she said O.K., but just this once. The night we picked ended up being a very rainy one the minute we arrived at the Prison. Getting wet going through the check points did not make her happier. Very matter-of-factly, she went into the Chapel, checked the piano and chatted with the inmate song leader. Her part over, she sat and listened to me, which she has spent many an hour doing. We said good night and went to the car. It was pouring. Yvonne was telling me how she was never going to do that again, when I turned on my headlights shining on ALL the inmates who were in the Chapel, standing in the rain, waving good-bye.

Yvonne asked 'WHY?"

"That is the only way they can say thanks," I replied.

Yvonne cried and said, "You will never go to prison again without me." She has gone without me, but never I without her. God really found me a helpmate.

WELL, THERE IS WAL MART

Yvonne has done a lot to keep this ministry interesting. She held a daily Bible study and devotional at Soledad. One day one of the men, Rick, asked about being baptized with his friend Steve, two cornerstones of the Chapel. Yvonne said "We dont have a baptismal, but I'II ask Chaplain Reed and Don."

Little help there. After a week they came to Yvonne and said " We need this done quick as we are both getting early release. Boy, did we pray! Driving to prison the next morning Yvonne passed Wal Mart, did a U-tum, went to the door, saw the store not open. Undaunted, she banged on the door until the manager came. Through the door, which he was not going to open, she bargained for a wading pool.

She said, "I need the largest one you have."

He said, "We're not open."

She said, "GOD needs this."

He said, "The largest I have sells for $49.95."

She said, "I only have $25.00."

And guess what? She broke him down. Rick was so big I had to stand on his chest to get him under, but both men got what they asked for. Then a miracle. Some of the inmates got permission to build a baptismal. Four pieces of Plywood, some strapping tape, and sealer. No way it should have held water, no way a man could get in it but it held together for almost six years.

God is so good.

CAN YOU HELP MY SON?

The voice on the phone said.

'Where is he?" I asked.

"in prison in New York! Can you help?"

We sent the young man a Pen Friend Application with a letter about our Ministry. Several weeks later we got the application back with a neat letter.

Now, our Pen Friend Program is High Tech. The inmates applications go in one pile and the free people go into another. When I do the matching, whoever is on top when your name comes up is your Pen Friend. By this very modem program we matched Richard with Tony and Barbara who were from New Jersey. Tony called me and said they were going to write direct if that was O.K. with us. Well, he sounded like he knew what he was doing so we said O.K. We dont get the personal application this way. We also enrolled both the inmate and the couple in a Bible study.

"I can't believe what you have done to my son!" the voice on the phone said.

"I beg your pardon?"

She told me of her earlier call and the match we had made. She and her husband had just visited her son and they were shocked. She told me they lived in fear of this boy for years. But Tony and Barbara had written, visited, and allowed Richard to call once a month. Their taking the time to care made a young man care. God has blessed us with so many friends and strangers. We get credit for the effort THEY do. God Bless You All.

UPDATE ON JACKIE

For those who don't know, Jackie was in an accident and God did HIS wonderful best through many of you. We had many of you, plus f riends on the Internet, send cards and letter's to Jackie for her parents to read to her. She was in a coma not expected to live. She can't walk yet but she is out of the coma with a "Hi, Mom," and soon after her parents are trained to care for her special -needs, she will go home. The beauty of this story it took a tragedy to lead her parents to Christ, and it took Jesus's healing power to bring this girl part-way back. Pray she walks.

I'M HAPPY TODAY

There are so many blessing in what we do that sometimes we burst a bubble of joy. One of the officers, a Christian, was really perplexed that he could not share God's Love with the inmates. I told him of a neat way to do it by giving out tracts when the inmates were asleep or gone from their cells. He has been doing it for several weeks and all are blessed. Several staff members have asked for private chats to share problems and God has Blessed.

JESUS TOOK MY BURDENS AWAY

Prison sends more than the inmate to prison. I chatted with a man from a high tech position who was losing his wife because of the torment she was going through. I had Yvonne call the woman and she just needed someone to talk to. We wish we had the time to share with the victims and families, and the families of the inmates.

SATAN HAS CRACK HOUSES

Like the rest of the world, we did not like hearing about a young girl killed by a very young boy. His Dad is in prison, his mother is on drugs and living in a crack house. Over 50% of the men we work with come from dysfunctional homes. I talked to a young man today who graduated from High School and can't get a job because they passed him from year to year. His dad dealt drugs and his sister and mother were hookers. He got into gangs, and because it was the thing to do, killed a rival gang member.

But there are doctors, teachers and business men who have gotten mixed up in the same mess --drugs.

LOTTERY WINNING GETS LIFE IN PRISON

A man won $100,000 in a lottery. This led him into a lite of gambling to get more easy money. His addiction lost him a good job, a great wife and everything he owned.

One more bug hit. He turned to robbery for his money to gamble. His desperation to teed his habit led him to killing a store owner in a robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison but did not make it to prison. He hung himself in his jail cell. When I was a kid I was arrested for selling numbers, a form of gambling then illegal. Now the states do it and call it a game-a game that causes addiction to win. I asked a young man were I get gas how much he spends on Lottery tickets, $200 a week. He makes little more than that.

GO, DO!

This morning in church our Pastor told us we were all called by God to do something. Whatever we were called to do, we should do it better. Well the only thing I have ever done is be a Pen Friend. So send me 20 more names and we will support your Ministry. Margaret

YVONNE'S CORNER - March:

I sincerely believe that for the majority of us, we all would like to be good disciples for God, witnessing at all times no matter where we are. That requires a lot of discipline. I cannot speak for anyone but myself, but over all of these holidays candy is a big temptation for me. Without having to say much, we all know it is not the best food for ourselves. I truly believe that we need discipline in our spiritual lives as well.

Below you will find a Spiritual diet. If nothing else, it is something for us all to think about. It is necessary that you follow this diet each day of the year: Follow it for:

52 weeks,
12 months,
365 days,
8,760 hours,
525,600 minutes, and 31,536,000 seconds.

When this year is up, you can start into the next year eating the same menus day by day for as long as you live, and your weight will be stabilized. 1. When you wake up in the morning, just before you eat breakfast: Take a bath. Cleanse yourself thoroughly from all old memories of bitterness, hate and jealousy, envy and strife, hypocrisy, lying and backbiting. Cleanse yourself completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; Then sit down at the breakfast table! 2. Breakfast: sip one cup of LOVE. Eat one slice of thankfulness. Drink an eight-ounce glass of courage. Have 1/2 hour of meditation and prayer. Take one pill of forgiveness. YOU CAN MAKE IT NOW UNTIL LUNCH TIME....

Lunch: Sip one more cup of LOVE, Saute it with pleasantness. Take 1 slice of Godliness. Eat 1 bowl of God's Word. Drink one ounce of consecration.. YOU CAN MAKE IT TO DINNER TIME....

Dinner: Dinner time is a most special time. More preparation goes into preparing dinner than any other meal. There is just one main dish to be served at Dinner: Time. There are many ingredients that go to make up this dish. INGREDIENTS FOR THE DINNER DISH

Get your bowl out (The Soul, Mind and Body of man) Put in one cup of LOVE, Add one ounce of FAITH, Mix in one pound of REPENTANCE, Blend in one quart of REGENERATION, Add one tablespoon of SANCTIFICATION, put in 1/2 cup of PURIFICATION, add 2 cups of GLORIFICATION, Sprinkle with

GODLINESS ( 3 parts: one for the Father one for the Son one for the Holy Spirit) Stir well with UNDERSTANDING, Put 12 parts of FAITH, 11 parts of PATIENCE, 10 parts of

COURAGE, 9 parts of WORK, 8 parts of HOPE, 7 parts of FRIENDLINESS, 6 parts of LIBERALITY, 5 of KINDNESS, 4 of REST, 3 of PRAYER, 2 parts of MEDITATION, 1 old fashioned MELODY. Dash in a teaspoonful of Good Spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of care, a sprinkle of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

A LITTLE BITTY TEAR LET ME DOWN!

God is so good to us, at times we do cry. Satan works so hard to defeat us and we claim God's promises and receive the victory. I was walking across the yard and a Sergeant stopped me.

"Do you have time to visit an inmate in the hospital? He was cut up pretty badly in a fight."

If ever asked to do anything in the name of the Lord, say "I'll be happy to."

This man's face, neck and upper body were covered with stitches. I introduced myself and asked if I could help, noticing all the gang tatoos among the wounds. I cannot repeat what he said, but no was its meaning.

I left, but was drawn back by the Holy Spirit. "Jesus wants me to tell you HE loves you and so do I."

A bitter "WHY?" "Because God is love and Satan is hate and it sure is better to be loved."

He said, "Please sit down." I spent three hours and this hard core convict accepted Christ. When he got out of the hospital he attended all the studies and services we held. Before his release we baptized him and prayed him out of prison. He was released with no money, went to a mission, and at 46 started his life over again. We kept in touch for awhile, then lost track of him. When we came back to California I ran into the officer who brought us together and he told me Joco was having a street ministry in San Francisco, and I called him. Some day soon we are going with him to the inner city where he tells all about Jesus and shares his love for HIM.

JEAN'S JOTTINGS

Don and Yvonne had a wonderful week at Voice of Prophecy, taping broadcasts that should air April 24-28. Check your local listings or www.vop.com.

There is a need for a used computer with a CD drive, and also a used Beta cam (like the news people use). If anyone has any information on these items, please let them know.

We were all finished with Y2K. Now stay tuned for 250K next month. It could be a dream come true for our God Squad. More on this mystery in the May issue.

Only six more days of school, a week's break to finish any projects and GRADUATION!! G-Day! That's right ... God's Day! He gets all the credit for pulling me through the last eight months. PRAISE HIS NAME!