Hundreds of Female Inmates Baptized as ‘God Behind Bars’ Ministry Shares the Redeeming Power of Jesus by Andrea Morris for CBN News
One prison ministry is partnering with churches around the country to introduce inmates to Jesus.
God Behind Bars is helping prisoners find freedom in Christ, leading them in praise and worship experiences while they’re incarcerated.
“By inviting God into prison and showing His love in tangible ways, God Behind Bars is restoring lives, building faith, fighting addictions, reconnecting families, and giving thousands of inmates hope for the future,” the ministry’s website states.
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Jake Bodine, found and CEO of God Behind Bars, explained that the ministry launched its first worship experience in 2009 at a correctional facility in Nevada.
He said the inmates began to “pour into the room,” then started to sing and dance with the love of God in their hearts.
“Our team began to dream, what if we were able to reproduce this in 5,000 prisons around the world,” Bodine said.
Shortly after that, God Behind Bars worshipped with another group of inmates in Oklahoma, where 90 percent of the jail shared in the experience. The ministry has continued to expand and can now be found coast to coast.
“We were able to launch in prisons in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, and Texas,” Bodine stated. “Wardens began to tell us that the culture in the prison is changing every single day, that the men and women in the prison are improving their outlook on self-worth. We’re watching inmates and families be restored for the very first time. The most common thing our team hears is that for one hour, they didn’t feel like they were in prison.”
Most recently, a group of 265 female inmates were baptized at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. Many of the women gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized at that moment.
