Stories like Joshua’s rarely end well. He was hooked on marijuana, prescription pills and alcohol by 16. His experimenting turned into a full-blown addiction after the death of his father when Joshua was 18. “I became depressed. I started abusing substances more...

Growing up in Baptist churches in the 1960s and 70s, Timmie remembers saying the “Salvation prayer” more times than he could count. But it wasn’t until his most recent trip to prison that he discovered a real life-transforming relationship with Jesus. Timmie grew up...

  Many Crossroads students have tremendous artistic gifts. We have showcased their talent in our Threads arts journal and in art shows that we hold across the country.   We now have another way to share prison art -- through coloring pages. We have taken several...

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....

You’re worthless. You’re stupid. You’ll always be a failure. These were the words Terry heard over and over as he grew up. Longing for love from his father, he instead received emotional and physical abuse. “I became angry and started hating my father, wondering why...

COVID-19 has ravaged many prisons in the United States. Most facilities are closed to visitors and many are on lockdown. Now is the time to lift up our incarcerated brothers and sisters in prayer. But don’t limit your prayers to the United States. Prisons all over the...

Crossroads Board Member Paul Cowley is sharing his incredible testimony with the world through his autobiography, "Thief Prisoner Soldier Priest," which releases April 16. Paul grew up in Manchester amid the chaotic world of his alcoholic parents. His early exposure...

One of the silver linings in the COVID-19 crisis is that it has called the Church to prayer. As people wrestle with anxiety, uncertainty and fear, followers of Jesus are crying out to God with prayers of lament, thanksgiving and petition. Crossroads students too are...

As the COVID-19 crisis rages on, everything is being disrupted. Many of us are quarantined. Some of us have lost our jobs. We are worried about friends and family who are at-risk of being infected. Churches are figuring out what it means to be the Church when you...

As the nation responds to the coronavirus pandemic through closing schools, restaurants and bars and restricting gatherings, people are becoming more aware of the need to protect those who are most vulnerable. The population that is sometimes absent from this...

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, we have decided to postpone two upcoming Crossroads Prison Ministries events. The Crossroads chapel with Joe Williams, scheduled for March 17, and the Ignite Unite Volunteer Summit, scheduled for April 25, will be moved to...

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, there are churches across the country that are wrestling with difficult questions. Do we continue to meet on Sunday mornings? How do we protect the most vulnerable in our congregations? How do we serve and bless our community...

A group of high school students have found creative inspiration in the unlikeliest of ways. An English class at Covenant Christian High School in Grand Rapids spent some time reading and discussing poetry written by men and women in prison. After engaging with the...

Richard was on the run. Determined to avoid a third trip to prison, he was dodging police who were tracking him on an attempted murder charge. Scared and not sure what to do, Richard called his mother. “The only one who can help you is God,” she told him. Richard...

The newest Crossroads Bible study course is now available in Mandarin. The translation project for Who are You? was completed last month. This will greatly benefit Crossroads extension centers in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia where there are Mandarin-speaking...

More than 100 children locked in prison in Sierra Leone were not forgotten this Christmas, thanks to Crossroads Prison Ministries. Lahai Kargbo, director of Crossroads Sierra Leone, said his team was able to celebrate Christmas with 112 youth in two prisons in which...

Crossroads mentors play an important role in encouraging new followers of Jesus in prison. People like Jesse... As an infant, Jesse was abandoned in a dumpster by his biological parents. Knowing this, Jesse grew up believing he had no value. “I grew up with the belief...

Armando wasn’t looking for God. In fact, he was running in the opposite direction. His only acknowledgement of God was throwing up an occasional prayer that he would not get caught after committing a crime. But one evening in 2011, he prayed a different type of...

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” The Apostle Paul didn’t write these words to people who had a lot of reasons to celebrate. He wrote these words to the church in Philippi that was facing persecution. How could he say such a thing to people...

Maurice may have been locked up, but the luxuries of the streets were still available to him. Even while in prison, he was still smoking the best weed, making alcohol so he could get drunk on weekends and was writing letters to various women who would send him money....