January/February 2018 Issue

November/December
Jannette Fuller
Free
Indeed
Diana Derringer
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 3:36 NIV).
From late teens to senior adults, the group arrives and finds a chair. A few talk and laugh among
themselves. Others, with blank faces, look at no one. Some frown or appear on the brink of tears.
Although much like any small group Bible study/worship service, several noteworthy differences
stand out. The leadership team passes a sign prohibiting weapons. They enter through two locked
doors and check their car keys at a control center. Cell phones are prohibited. An escort walks the
leaders, and then the group participants, to and from the service. Control room personnel monitor
every movement.
Each ministry team knows the routine well. They spend every Thursday night at the Taylor County
Jail in Campbellsville, Kentucky.
The study leader always explains how to know Jesus as personal Savior and Lord. Many inmates
have made previous professions of faith but have strayed from God’s leadership. The studies
encourage those women to return and hold fast to their Christian commitment. Many face abusive
relationships, dysfunctional social networks, a lack of sobriety support, and other unresolved issues.
With multiple strikes against them, changing old patterns can seem insurmountable.
One woman, jailed for the second time, went to the back of the Bible study room, trying to hide. “She
cried through the entire service.” At the end, they all “hugged and loved her … accepted her,” letting
God’s unconditional love flow through them. They reassured her that God could use her brokenness,
that her life held meaning and purpose.
Every person involved in this ministry shares a common desire. By the time former inmates take their
first breath of freedom from jail, the team prays they’ve experienced the greater freedom made
possible through Jesus’ death on the cross. They want them to know, without a doubt, that Jesus
declares them “not guilty.”
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