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It never ceases to amaze me the way God works in our
lives. We make it so complicated, but it is so very simple. So much of my
life I spent deciding what I
was going to do, how I
was going to do it and where I was going to go to do it. I
thought I had yielded all to Christ, and agreed to do whatever he wanted meto do, except, there was always a but in the
equation. I’ll do this Lord, but…,
I’ll go there Lord, but….When
I finally got the buts
out, God began to use me.
It was back in 2005 after listening to our
minister preach a sermon on missions, and the need to get involved in
missions that I decided I wanted to do something, but I wasn’t sure where to
start or what I wanted to do. I approached him and told him that I wanted to
get involved in missions, but all I could think of was prison ministry, and I
really didn’t want to do that. (I hadn’t got rid of the “buts” yet.) He said
that he thought it was a great idea, but I wasn’t so sure. He gave me Wayne
Benjamin’s number and told me to call him. I thought about it and finally I
called, but I got the answering machine, so I left a message. I didn’t know
Wayne but I was sure he wouldn’t call back and that would be the end of it.
Well, I was wrong. He called me and invited me to the Timothy Program, which
meets on Tuesday nights, so I went. I wasn’t particularly impressed, mainly
because I was looking for a way out of this. I was waiting for the Lord to
say that I could leave, but He didn’t, and so I stayed. Eventually I was
approved to go into the prison, and I was as excited about going there as
Jonah was of going to Nineveh, but I went. Then the strangest thing happened
while I was there, and I can’t really explain it. All I know is that when I
left there, I felt totally drained of all energy, and when I got home and
flopped down in my chair, all I could say was, “I’m hooked.” That was the
beginning.
At that time, I was working as a business
representative for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain
Millers International Union, Local 6 in Philadelphia. With driving to
Philadelphia every day and doing all the travel required by the job, I was
content to go into the prison once a week, on a Friday night, 6:30 pm to 8:30
pm, and nothing else. I avoided getting into the Directed Life program
because I didn’t think I had the time, and I didn’t want to commit to
something I couldn’t do. Then at a Yokefellow meeting, Wayne was talking
about the need of someone to go into Directed Life, on a Friday night 8:30 pm
to 10:00 pm. Since I was already there, I couldn’t for the life of me think
of a good excuse not to take it, so I did. During this time, I had become
Vice President of Local 6, and eventually, I came up for re-election.
By now, having been there for 15 years I was confident of re-election, and I
had said that the only way I could lose the election would be an “act of
God”, and if I did lose, it was because God had something else He wanted me
to do. Well, with 700 votes cast, I lost by 7 votes. Amazing how the number 7
keeps popping up, so I retired. Soon after, an inmate at the Directed Life
meeting asked me to be his spiritual advisor, which Wayne approved through
the Treatment Supervisor at the prison, and before I knew it, I had added
several more inmates that I was mentoring. I also had been given the job of
leading the Timothy Program on Tuesdays, serving as the Vice Chairman of the
Board, going into the prison Wednesdays and Thursdays mentoring the inmates
and then Friday night with the Bible study at the prison and Directed Life Classes.
Now I knew why I lost the election. When the Chairman of the Board resigned,
Wayne was in the process of moving me to that position, but before it
happened, Wayne had announced that he was resigning, due to family
commitments, and asked me if I was interested in being the Director. My
reply was that I would only take the position, if I were sure that it was
what God wanted me to do. I believe if I am doing God’s will, I can’t
lose, and if I am not, I can’t win. So after much prayer, I decided that, if
at the Board meeting, I were nominated, and no one else, then it was God’s
will for me to take the position. I was not going to “run” for the position.
I wanted to know it was what God wanted of me, and so when no one else was
mentioned, I felt secure in the belief that this is what I am to do.
Amazingly, 5 years ago another volunteer had said to me that when Wayne
resigned, I should take over as Director and I looked at her as if she had
lost her mind. Maybe she knew something that I didn’t. In all of this, one
thing I have come to know: God does not call the enabled, He enables the
called, and as long as I keep my focus on Him, we will succeed. Praise His
Holy Name.
Founder & Former
Council Director
Serving the Lord in Prison Ministry -
How It Began
You will never get me to believe there is no
God - the Great "I AM", or that Jesus, His Son, wasn’t the
"Word that became flesh." Jesus -- The One who died on the cross
for your sins and mine. Jesus --The One who is "The Way, The Truth, and
The Life." In fact, there aren’t enough adjectives to express my love
for Him.
I thank God for being born into a Christian
family with a mother and father who had Jesus as Savior. I also thank Him for
Christian grandparents. Church and Sunday School were always a part of my
life. I even met my wife, Fleda, in a church in Altoona, PA, that I attended
after returning to the city from art school in Chicago. However, it was not
until 1971, at age forty-one, that I made a serious commitment to have Jesus
as not just my Savior, but Lord of my life. I had been employed since 1956 earning a
living as a salesman. In February 1992 I retired from R.L. Polk & Co.,
publishers of the city directory where I began my career in 1979. Throughout my life I was able to see God had
a plan for me. It wasn’t just a coincidence I went to art school in Chicago,
met my wife in church, and worked for R.L. Polk with the city directory
assignments in various cities. God was working a plan and placing me in
different areas to learn, grow, and do His will, but the big surprise was yet
to come! It was in the summer of 1983 that the Lord
called me to prison ministry. I was working the city directory assignment in
Sunbury, PA. I had to call on Yokefellow Prison Ministry located on Old Trail
Road in Shamokin Dam, across the Susquehanna River, parallel with routes
11&15. I never heard about Yokefellow and I was just doing a routine
business call to make another sale. I parked my car in front of an old stone
historic building. I entered and approached the secretary, asking to see Neuman Gaugler, President of Yokefellow.
She said he was in his office and would see if he could see me. When she came
out of his office, she gestured for me to go inside. As I entered I saw this
man, in his eighties, seated behind a majestic oak desk. I introduced myself
and told him I needed a few minutes for him to proofread his listing for the
Sunbury directory. If there were any changes, I would be only too glad to
take care of them. He took the card, quickly read it, then said,
"Everything is correct and I need your directory for our prison
ministry." In less than a minute I had made a sale. I
thanked God silently, and then quickly wrote the order, as I praised the Lord
for an easy sale that was much appreciated by a commission salesman. After he
signed the order, I packed everything back in my case and was ready to leave
but I reached out my hand to thank him and added, "God bless you with
your ministry." He looked at me and said, "Are you a
Christian?" "Yes," I said, "Why?" "Where are you from?" He asked me
next. "Allentown," I said. "Allentown? Sit down; I want to talk to
you. Why, you are like an answer to prayer," were the next words he
said. "We’ve been praying for years to have someone go into the Lehigh
County prison in Allentown for Yokefellow. How would you like to do
that?" With my mouth hanging open, hardly able to
answer I said, "Me? I don’t know anything about prison ministry. I never
even heard of Yokefellow until today. Tell me about it!" He began to tell me about Yokefellow being
founded by D. Elton Trueblood, a Quaker minister
and author, in 1950. The part that spoke to my heart was that Yokefellow does
not just have meetings in county jails and state and federal institutions,
but is interested in after care, reentry, and what happens when prisoners
come out of prison. I refer to Yokefellow as a
"complete" prison ministry. There are churches and prison
ministries that go to prisons, but what happens to keep them out of prison
and not return again. This is known as recidivism, which is 64%. I was
pleased to see Yokefellow addressed this issue of reentry. I was so overwhelmed what I had just heard
and been asked. I told Mr. Gaugler I would pray
about it and get back to him. It was amazing to me the way God got my
attention and placed a ministry opportunity before me while doing my job for
R.L. Polk. As I prayed the Lord seemed to say to go
forth in faith, just as I do when selling on commission. He added He would
open a door for the ministry to begin in Lehigh County prison-and when the
Lord opens a door, no man can close it! When I told Mr. Gaugler
I would take the opportunity of developing a Yokefellow Council I could
hardly hold my breath as the Lord showed me how wide He would open the door. Since I didn’t know what to do next, Mr. Gaugler told me to arrange an appointment with the
chaplain of Lehigh County prison when I got back to Allentown. To my surprise, the chaplain told me he knew
all about Yokefellow and would welcome me anytime to see him. Surprised at this and how easy it was to get
to see the chaplain, I was astonished when I met with him and looked at the
schedule to decide what times were open to have meetings. There was only one!
Wednesday night 7:30 to 9:30. So the first meeting took place, Wednesday,
September 21, 1983. I praise the Lord for all that has taken place in this
ministry and in all the areas of my life. When God has a plan, and He does
for every one of us, mountains can be moved and much can be done as we rest
in Him, allowing His will to be done in our life. We have weekly meetings with the men, women, and juveniles. A
Directed Life Reentry program, out-prison meetings, counseling, mentoring, and
letter writing. For more details please check the website at
www.yokefellowpa.org.
The Lord has a plan for you so be
encouraged. The Apostle Paul said it well in Philippians 4:13-"I can do
everything through Him who gives me strength." |
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