“I have been fighting the urge to give my life to Christ for years, but today I knew it was time… I didn’t think I could be forgiven!”
What a wonderful time we had at this concert in Ionia at the Richard Handlon Correctional Facility. Over 37 men came forward to fill out a response card. 12 men gave their hearts to Christ, and five recommitted to following the Lord. We were re-acquainted with so many that we had met at other prisons who had been transferred to Handlon. The men were excited and ready to lift their hands and sing praises to the glory of God.
The Holy Spirit was working in the hearts of men who have lost all hope; men who are stuck in a system, who feel that no one cares. At this concert we could feel the energy in the auditorium. The men were so very grateful that we took time to give them this special time of music and message to encourage their hurting souls. We had 15 volunteers join us and the men really appreciated them coming. We were all so grateful to see so many pouring forward to give their hearts to Christ. The harvest is ripe and souls are eager to hear the good news of hope and forgiveness.
We were able to project photos of God’s handiwork on the wall behind Wayburn as he sang for the glory of our Lord—who created the beautiful world we live in. We heard from many men who said they appreciated the pictures so much. One prisoner told us, “So many of us haven’t seen any mountains, or sunsets or beautiful flowers like those in the photos in many years and it really was a special treat, thank you! ”
One young man told us how he had given his life to the Lord at another prison at one of our concerts. He said he was growing in the Lord but was really struggling with “extreme cursing.” He confessed: “almost every word that comes out of my mouth is profanity—I start and I can’t stop, so I use the lyrics of your songs to help me.” He said that after the last concert he wrote down on a piece of paper as many of the words as I could remember, when he would feel tempted to curse he would say the words out loud. We encouraged him to begin to memorize Scripture. He said, “I will begin to do that right away!”
Another man told one of our volunteers: “I have been fighting the urge to give my life to Christ for years, but today I knew it was time. I had committed some violent crimes and I didn’t think I could be forgiven.” Praise God he has been redeemed and he will spend eternity with his loving Lord and Savior.
So many men reached out to tell us thank you and to say how blessed and encouraged they were to see that so many would come to spend time with them. Please remember to pray for the men at Handlon Correctional that God would give them the strength to continue to seek the Lord with their whole hearts.