Restored Leaders

A few weeks ago I attended a local church that works closely with our ministry. We shared a meal together and listened to a great message. Afterwards I met with the leadership team of the church and their pastors. We had an amazing time sharing our stories and listening to how God was working in their church. God had been growing their numbers and they were discipling and training new leaders. This church was an amazing example of what a healthy church looks like—they were evangelizing, equipping, and empowering those in the church. They are multi-ethnic and have a diversity of people from different denominational backgrounds coming together as the body of Christ.

We pray that we can find and help other churches like Christ the Victor in Hutchinson Correctional Facility! We are so encouraged when we meet with these brothers in Christ who are so faithfully serving despite their circumstances. Many of these men have committed crimes from murder to drug dealing, yet they have found a purpose and a place within the family of God. God has given them unique spiritual gifts for the equipping and building of the local church that He has called them to serve in. These men are not projects or lost causes. They are our brothers in Christ and are equal in every way in God’s eyes, even though society may say differently.

One man who is serving as one of the lead pastors is named Emmett*. He has been serving in his role for over a year and the church has blossomed under his care. He is a gifted shepherd who God has used to grow and mature those under his care. He couldn’t keep from smiling as he talked about how God has been at work in the church. He is hungry and eager to grow in his calling and to receive more training so that he can shepherd his flock. We are working to get seminary-level training into his prison unit so that he can be equipped with more tools to do the work of ministry. He is getting out in 22 months and is eager to connect to one of our church plants in the Wichita area. He and some of the leaders around him are the future of the local urban church. Some of these leaders will go back into the neighborhoods they come from and will continue to do exactly what they have been doing in prison.

Will these men struggle to reintegrate into society and pick up the pieces of their lives and heal their families, which have been terribly damaged? Absolutely, and we know that some may fail and go back to old patterns and habits, just like each one of us struggles with every day! We know that God is faithful and He can accomplish the impossible and use the utterly broken and rejected for His glory. Not only do we believe that, but we see it happening in front of our eyes. God is a God who redeems greatly, and brings restoration to the things that have been torn apart.

*Name changed for privacy.

Read more from Jordan King.