WELCOME NEW FRIENDS

We always get excited when we get a chance to be on the radio with Voice Of Prophecy. We know that when we broadcast, the Holy Spirit will bless a lot of folks. Many men and women in prison will be matched with those of you receiving this newsletter for the first time. The dates of the broadcasts are April 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. We pray the result will be a spiritual high for all. As we send out newsletters all over the world, we wish we could meet each of you who are so much a part of our lives. Welcome and God Bless Paper Sunshine! Letter writing is a wonderful ministry. Will YOU join us?

CLOSE TO HOME

The mention of a prison in Fresno touched close to home. I grew up in Fresno. I lived in a one room place on crack row, not a good place for a young woman whose husband had left her.

Gunfire scared me to death every night. I could see the red lights from police cars at all hours. My parents gave me a cordless phone so I could call 911 if I needed to. I watched as Kimber Evans was loaded into the ambulance after being shot to death. (Her father wrote the three strikes law.) The prison was full of men who I sat up worrying about them coming to hurt me. Yet through your ministry I have come to an under-standing and knowledge of their needing Jesus. My friendship with my Pen Friend has also helped. I pray more people will become Pen Friends and support your ministry [us, too] with its financial needs. I know you two have never ever had a honeymoon [don�t know who told her, we really never did have one]; wish I could afford to provide one. If it never comes in this life, it'll be provided by God for all eternity.

Sunny Young.
WE�LL DO IT YOUR WAY

I am ready for a New Pen Friend. I wrote my last one direct but was not comfortable when parole time came. I wondered if Anthony would show up at my doorstep. Our kids were more concerned. It seemed letters took so long going through and we just became impatient with the system. Today we realize you know better than we. Please send me another Pen Friend. Thank you so much for your tireless effort to win the lost and comfort so many in need. I consider it a privilege to be part of the team again.

S Rawson.
PRAISE GOD FOR YOUR MINISTRY

I�m a retired school teacher & have been in the Pen Friend Program for four years. Teaching was never as rewarding as this ministry. This ministry has deepened my walk with the Lord. My many Pen Friends have not only learned about Bible truths, but are applying them. I have many Pen Friends, but am impressed to ask for 12 more (AMEN). Jesus is coming soon and I feel the urgency to warn as many as I can via snail mail. I thank God for connecting me with your ministry.

Pat Michael
WHO IS TO BLAME?

As Christians it is really about time we start dealing, by way of our action, with some of the problems of the world. Charlton Heston has done a mighty job, and made a lot of money on Biblical movies. Yet he fights gun control of any kind. As we write this, another shooting in a school. A 15-year-old, who talked about doing it, did it. Already talk�will he be tried as an adult? Will those who listened to him get punished, or are the dead kids just dead?!

Folks, we need to turn our kids away from TV and put family life back in order.

During the past Presidential election, many Christian groups were telling us how to vote even though the Bible talks about separation of Church and State.

Will we again do lip service to the lost War on Drugs?

Jesus died for us to establish moral principles. He said in HIS word that homosexuality is an abomination.

We let our kids watch E.R and Will and Grace, and then we wonder why the sexual revolution is a massive destruction of values.

Grandparents, have your grandkids take you on a tour of the Internet and its sex and violence.

Go to an arcade and see what are kids are playing; it will shock you.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS?

I asked several Pastor friends of ours how much training they had in the problems of the world today: child abuse, homosexuality, drugs and much more. Their answer: NONE.

Thank God these men took it on themselves to learn. Often in prison we talk to young people who almost always say "If only I had someone to talk to.�

I grew up learning about the world from the world. Child molesters in prison tell us the reason they get away with what they do is that schools and parents feel if you dont talk about it, it will go away.

We were aware of a drug problem on a school campus. We went to the head of the school and he denied any problem. We asked him if we could put on a program dealing with drugs. He said "no.�

A few years ago in Michigan we were given the chance to address a bunch of kids. We got the chaperones to leave and went head to head with the kids. The key question we asked was: "If you have a problem of any kind who do you go to?� 99% said one of their friends; the others asked their parents.

When we asked why, they said because their parents duck the answers or they just don't know.

I REALLY TRIED

My dad was the head elder in a church. He also had molested both me and my sister for a long time. I finally went to the Pastor for help. The Pastor told me I would go to hell for telling lies like that. Today I�m in prison because the abused became an abuser. I am ashamed of what I did. I guess there is a bit of justice. My dad was also caught and he, too, is serving time. If only someone had listened, my dad might have gotten help, and then me also. Wonder what mom thinks of, knowing what was going on and doing nothing? She is now so very alone� me in prison, dad in prison. My sister, she committed suicide.

George
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME

How many times do we hear that? We make sure that when we are asked to pray, we do. In prison we have a prayer list�what is prayed for, by whom, and when answered. Have you ever had someone ask you to pray for them and later called them to confirm that you did? This world around us is in Satan�s clutches and only Jesus and the Power of Prayer can separate us and assure victory.

HIS NAME IS RAY

We met Ray at Soledad Prison many years ago. He attended Yvonne�s Bible study and hooked up with God's Prison Gang. We do share the joy of seeing men like Ray find Jesus and grow while in prison. We try to stay in touch but can't always.

Last night, after 14 years of freedom, Ray called. He went to a church and saw our newsletter. Ray is facing some serious personal problems, not legal. He asked for prayer and we ask you to add Ray to your Prayer List.

ODDS AND ENDS

We have sent receipts to all for 2000, if you did not get one, let us know, please.

WE HAVE MAIL
For Richard Lee from Pete Keet
Colleen Joyce from J. Kennedy
Anita Joy from Kathy & Frank Matthews
S Hedrick from Paul Foust
Gretchen Cardosa from B. Akrens
Tammy Brooks from Juan Lopez
Marra Burr from E. Henry
Grandma from George

Often folks use Pen Names and forget to tell us. Please make sure your name (and pen name) is on the envelope to us (so we can verify our computer records) and your name or pen name goes on the envelope to your inmate friend. REMEMBER: You are the one writing to the inmate, not Someone Cares. Do not put �Someone Cares� on the inmate�s mail, only the outside envelope to us.

Please ask your Pen Friend to print your name and address on the envelope coming back to us. Some people have atrocious handwriting, and our mail volume becomes a night-mare when we have to take time to decode a name.

� � � � �
WITH ALL OUR LOVE TO JOHN AND MARY: THANK YOU!!!
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YVONNE'S CORNER

It is so frightening to me to see the violence�on the T.V., on the news, on the streets, or in the prisons. I'm so thankful that I had Godly parents who raised me in a loving home, in a church that was on fire for God; what has happened??

Some of you are grand-parents like us. I am totally shocked at what young children know today com-pared to us when we were their age. Stop and think if you (in that era) knew what your grandchildren do in today�s society, and how old you were when you actually found out about certain things Don has always said I was naive, and yes, I was. I am thankful for that. I enjoyed the activities of the church, the Pathfinders, the contest papers that we use to write on temperance, the research we would put in on different subjects that we studied and presented.

This last week I went to the church to speak to the Pathfinders on skin care. I had a lot of fun and so did they, but as I looked into the clean, innocent faces, I said a silent prayer for them. I also remember the faces I've seen in prison, with pain, hate, loneliness, hunger. Those I also pray for; those I will never be able to forget. As adults, we need to become more involved with church and families in the church that need help. We need to move out of our comfort zone and share someone else�s hurt or pain and try to help them. I watched my parents do it for a lifetime�what a precious gift they gave! Now it is up to all of us to carry on. Are you willing?

PRAISE THE LORD!!
Via the Internet

There�s a little old Christ-ian lady living next door to an atheist. Every morning the lady comes out onto her front porch and shouts �Praise the Lord!�

The atheist yells back, �There is no God.�

She does this every morning with the same result. As time goes on, the lady runs into financial difficulties and has trouble buying food. She goes out onto the porch and asks God for help with groceries, then says �Praise the Lord!�

The next morning she goes out onto the porch and there�s the groceries she�s asked for; of course she says �Praise the Lord!�

The atheist jumps out from behind a bush and says �Ha, I bought those grocer-ies�there is no God.� The lady looks at him and smiles. She shouts Praise the Lord! Not only did you provide for me, Lord, you made Satan pay for the groceries!!

JEAN�S JOTTINGS

As a grandparent, I can agree with Don and Yvonne when it comes to mainstream TV viewing, not just for the children. Much of it isn�t fit for adult viewing, either. Not too many Thanksgivings ago, I flew to Arizona to visit my son and his family, and was appalled that the boys were allowed to play the most violent video games. These were more than just games. They were designed to de-sensitize the children to the consequences of shooting fellow humans. The sound effects were extremely realistic, with the wounded and dying scream-ing or crying out as they were hit. The game would go on as long as the players wished, and the boys would sit for hours, mesmerized, as long as they could get by without being forced to stop. It is my belief that these evil games are what prompt more and more school children to kill their class-mates, plus the blatant disregard for the moral code we are to uphold as Christians. Only when it�s too late (if they care at all), they discover there are consequences for their actions that their parents may never have told them about because they�re too busy chasing money and upscale lifestyles.

I used to work with an engineer who came from the wilds of Canada. The kids in his family saw the rifle every day, standing in its place. They had been instructed in its proper use, because their lives depended on it. Wolves always prowled about, looking for unprotected livestock on the remote farms. The gun was for protecting their stock, not killing people. The kids knew better than to touch it for any other purpose. It was not a toy. There were conse-quences for handling or firing it without a life-or-death reason, or target practice when necessary.

My nearest neighbor is half a mile away. Official help is 3 to 5 miles away. There are wild animals that make homes in my dugout base-ment and sometimes intrude into living areas. Raccoons, opossums, foxes and coyotes prowl the land. I haven�t shot one yet. So far, between me and the dog, we have succes-sfully made them unwelcome.

Children, left to their own devices, desire to be like grownups who they perceive to be able to do what they want to. Didn�t we once think we�d be glad when we grew up so we could, too? It�s a huge responsibility to bring up a child in the way that he should go so when he�s old he will not depart from it. Even many Christian parents allow their children to enter Satan�s playground via TV, games, reading material, and music. We must set the course they will follow by our example.

God reaches into the dark-est prisons to bring out His lost lambs with great rejoicing when they come to him. As parents, we need to try to keep our lambs in the fold. �Praise the Lord!!�