Devin, a Crossroads student in New Mexico, is supposed to be released from prison soon. Reentry is difficult enough. Now add a global pandemic.
“I have no place to go. So I am really bummed out and discouraged,” Devin wrote in a recent note to his Crossroads mentor. “I don’t know where I am going or what I am doing.”
Devin will likely end up in a halfway house but said he will struggle to find a job in this economic climate. He has been on lockdown 23 hours a day for 18 months so he is ready to get out of prison, but he struggles with the uncertainty about what awaits him on the outside.
“I want to do good and change my life, and it feels like I am not gonna get a chance to do that,” Devin wrote. “It feels like my road is shut down before it starts. Please pray.”
Devin is just one of many Crossroads students asking for extra prayer during the COVID-19 crisis.
Matthew wrote to us expressing his anxiety about getting infected with coronavirus. “Please pray for all the inmates crammed together like sardines. We are unable to get six feet distance during this pandemic,” he said.
Jay, a student in Maryland, is worried about his friends during lockdown. “Before we were locked down due to coronavirus, I was trying to mentor and disciple several new and rededicated believers. Please pray for them,” he said. “They’re reading their Bibles and some are doing Crossroads, but it’s gotta be hard without a cheerleader on their tier and no church or Bible study groups.”
Many students have expressed gratitude for Crossroads Bible studies during these anxious times. “I really enjoy the Bible studies,” wrote D’Ontee in Florida. “I am learning a lot about God. I never had a Bible in all 23 years of my life until I came to jail.”
Christie in Texas is thankful for the letters from her Crossroads mentors. “I really love y’all’s letters!” she wrote. “They cheer me up a lot because I don’t receive mail usually. It’s scary right now but I have faith we will make it through.”
John in Texas said he and some of the people in his unit take daily prayer “timeouts.” “We pray for the world. We will continue to ask God to hear our prayers for our family and loved ones,” he said.
Audrey is on lockdown 23 hours a day in her facility so she has committed to round the clock prayer. “I have been praying over my family and friends Psalm 91. I’m praying for our heroes in the medical field, police, firemen and volunteers,” she said.
Please join us in praying for the 10 million people incarcerated around the world who are struggling during this crisis.