Alexander Prison Ministry

Jim Faulkner’s Senior High Bible Study

During mid September, our Bible study leader and mentor, Jimmy Faulkner, informed us of a new type of ministry outside of our usual and very comfortable classroom. This ministry was not something familiar to any of our members. This ministry was a gift.

Every third Sunday of the month, our group would venture out to Alexander, Arkansas to the Juvenile Correctional Facility. There we would pray, read scripture, and spread the word of God to those who would listen. We also served cookies which I know was a big plus for the teens in the facility.

Upon our first visit, there was fear in each of the members of our group. We did not know what to expect. Before this visit, Jimmy spoke to us. I remember him telling all of us the verse from John 8:7, “But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’”

This verse stuck with me, and I am sure many of us as we entered the gym where the ministry took place. We were in no position to judge. All we needed to do was be ourselves, and by doing that, be a witness to Christ.

We prayed with the teens (some of whom were younger than many of our little siblings), read scripture to them, and Jimmy spread his good news. As we served cookies, we were able to interact with the Alexander inmates and somewhat get to know them.

Just a few months into our ministry, our monthly services were brought to a halt. Some legal problems seemed to be happening and as members of the Bible Study group, we grew antsy. Even as the weeks passed, we all had tugs on our heart strings to get back to the prison and share God’s word.

Luckily, we returned just in time for Christmas. Singing Christmas carols and telling the story of how Jesus Christ was born (the first hearing for many) was so fulfilling. Before we knew it, it was June and consistency, as Jimmy said, was what made our ministry valid. Knowing that in order to gain the trust of many who had been let down in the past, we had to be persistent in what we stood for.

I will never forget a particular time when a young man said, “no thanks” to extra cookies (a rarity in prison). I saw him the next month and offered him seconds again. Like the month before, he refused. I remembered this young man and said, “Oh yeah, you’re the guy who never gets extra cookies!” His face lit up with disbelief that I remembered him. I will never forget that look.

I know that everyone of the members of Jimmy’s group, as well as Jimmy, had a defining moment in that prison - from watching young men and women with little faith or hope on our first visit, to seeing those interact with Jimmy’s sermons, to getting their high school degrees and going on to college and being filled with a new hopeful light. God did not send us to those teenagers for their sakes. He sent them to us for our own sakes.

Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Ephesians 3:19

Meredith Lee