As I begin this newsletter, I think about how many have gone out before. Over the years we have continued to grow and have been very blessed by so many of you as you have joined us in this Ministry.

As Yvonne has said, �we have no intention of quitting.� Each trip to the post office brings a lot of new requests for Pen Friends; inmates asking for Paper Sunshine to light up their cells and their lives. Sure, lots of them are only hoping to use this Ministry as a means to get something, but we will not let that happen. I admit that my eyes are getting closer to the papers and the pencil, and some letters take a magnifying glass or Yvonne�s help to read. The mail keeps moving, and each one of you have the chance to share Jesus and the real world to a pen friend, bringing good news into a dark, cold or very hot cell. God has commissioned all of us to unite and share His glory.

The work here never ends, but as soon as we make sure that all the bases are covered here, we want to try and plan the belated Honeymoon vacation which we have never had.

�Let us rejoice and be glad and giveHim glory!�
Revelation 19:7a

63 YEARS AGO� �If things keep going like they are, we will not be able to buy a week�s worth of groceries for $20.00!�

Many of them are governed by courts or Judges. Inmates are being shipped to other states into rented cells. Lower custody inmates are being sent to local jails. Chapels are being used as housing units, putting a stop to church services. Youngsters are being housed with hardened criminals.

Since jurors see nothing but crime on TV, they are sending criminals away for longer and longer periods of time. Many states are being mandated to release thousands of inmates into an economy that has 9.2 % unemployment. Most of these people being released are forced to live on the streets. Kids have no room for classrooms, yet inmates are jammed into prison.

Jesus has got to be aware of what we are or are not doing to help make things better. We know that soon HE will deliver us from ourselves.

63 YEARS AGO� �Have you seen the new car prices? Soon you will not be able to buy a car for $2,000.00!�

Ever been down this road before? It�s not that new to me.
I�m losing my life behind these walls - when will I ever be free?
My feelings are so misplaced; I do not know who I am.
Life is the hardest thing I have faced. I�m part boy and part man.
I�ve lost control of my whole world, never knowing about my gift of life.
It�s hard to understand anymore, I�m so far gone.
All that seemed valuable has been taken or given away.
My days and nights are spent in this negative place.
I try hard to think of the smell of a hot cross bun.
I search over and over, hoping that someone might care.
I was told�if I prayed? How do I do that?
Aman stopped bymy cell, and toldme of a way to escape this living hell.
Jesus? How could HE forgive me?
To be free in Jesus, I�m told, does not take being bold, but being told.
I learned to pray, and to this day I�ll walk the walk and talk the talk.
His Word says I�ll walk with Him in the garden
And find peace near the sea of glass.

Amen.
Bob Smythe

I came from a small town and a Christian upbringing. The bright lights on TV showed some fun. I met a guy and he said, �Let�s go!�

In my house it really took little to be happy, we laughed a lot. Out here we got high to be happy. The guy I left with beat me often and the police did not seem to care. I ran; he found me and put me in the hospital.

He again promised to take care of me and change. We had a party and his drunken stupor brought out all his hate. His yelling scared our friends. Friends? He beat me. I ran into the kitchen and he followed carrying a gun. He fired and missed. I threw a frying pan, hitting him, and the gun went flying my way. I grabbed it and shot him, the only way to save my life. He was killed.

I was arrested and sentenced to 25 years. Even though the police had been to my house 4 times? Growing up the way I had thrown me in with gang girls and trying to beat the system. I met Yvonne and then Don. Soon after that I met Jesus, the one who was at my home often as a kid. Leaving the gangs and prison ways was not hard but dangerous. Jesus saves and He really saved me.

In the visiting room with my parents I met a couple who listened to my story. They proved being a Christian gets results. I had a public defender that had little time to really help me. A real attorney and a new trail, and to be free in Jesus is to be free in Jesus! The wasted years made me old, but with new friends and a fresh start I�ll make it. Prisons are full of people like I was, and I�m glad Someone Cares.

If anyone has a record player with speakers, we could really use one. As you can imagine, we spend a lot of time reading and writing; we have many records we could be listening to if only we had a player. Also, any Christian CDs, DVDs or videos you could pass along would be greatly appreciated. God Bless!

Are you receiving your inmate�s letters to you? Do you wonder why your inmate isn�t writing? If so, it�s very possible that letters meant for you are sitting in a huge pile here in our office.

LISTEN, Friends! If you have not been receiving letters, please send us an email or give us a call. It�s very possible that letters meant for you are here, just waiting to find their destination.

Over and over again we have tried to stress the importance of instructing your inmate friends on how to address their letters correctly. However, some simply are not getting it, and we have dozens upon dozens of letters that have been addressed only to �Someone Cares� with no pen friend name on the envelope. When we open these letters, hoping for a clue as to where they should be forwarded, we usually only find a first name.

So, we are asking that you please send these basic instructions to your inmate pen friend.

� RETURN ADDRESS:

• Should have the inmate�s FULL name, their Inmate # and their prison return address.
  � ADDRESS TO THE PEN FRIEND:
  
• 1) Should NOT have written anywhere on the envelope the ministry name of �Someone Cares�!
  
• 2) The letter should be addressed ONLY to the pen friend, using their FULL name
  (First and LAST NAME, and absolutely NO nicknames).
• 3) Under that should be written our address of P.O. Box 11245, Fort Wayne, IN 46856
  (but WITHOUT the name of Someone Cares).