Prison Ministry

Nakita Kolov, the Russian nightmare.

No, the devil's nightmare here. From it's time to man up. Challenging men to step into their true manhood. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. And delivered him back to God. This is Jesus Breaks the Chains. Prison Ministry. Hello and thank you for tuning in to this podcast which is part of the Jesus Breaks the Chains series.

I'm evangelist Michael Bowen and I pray that the Lord blesses you greatly and you receive this word in love and in truth. God uses broken people to heal broken people. I was a broken man when I found myself in prison for a second time because I could not stop using drugs and stealing from people to get money so I could continue getting high.

In my addiction, I was a thief, a liar and a cheat and I would do anything for that next hit. In prison, I began to go to the chapel and when I would go, there was always a man or a woman or a group of individuals there and they would share the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ with me. They told me about Jesus and how he had changed their lives when they gave it to him. These people told me how they too were broken down and lost just like I was and many of them had also been on drugs and in prison themselves. When I saw them, I could not believe that they had ever been like me.

How could this be? They all looked so put together and they had so much hope and I could see the love in their eyes. I could see a light in them and I wanted that light so badly. They began to tell me about Jesus and if I gave my life to him, that I would never ever have to come back to prison again and that I would never smoke another drug for the rest of the days of my life.

Who could believe such a thing? I thought I'd be a drug addict for the rest of my life. I thought the only way I would ever stop using drugs would be if I died.

So that is what I wanted to do. I figured I would do as many drugs as fast as I could until my certain end. For 25 years, I tried to stop using drugs and for 25 years, it was the same old story. I would stop using drugs for a couple of months but sooner or later, I would fall back into it and start using again and start stealing again and in right back in jail and prison. In the 25 years I was addicted to crack cocaine, I probably went to jail over 50 times and to prison twice.

Not to mention all the drug rehabilitation programs and even a couple of mental hospitals along the way. I spent close to 8 years in jail or prison if you add up all the time. Every time I would go to jail or prison, I would always find the chapel and would always meet the wonderful men and women that came to the prison to share Jesus Christ with me. Finally, after 25 years of drug addiction and my second time in prison, I followed their advice and I surrendered my life to Jesus. I'm indebted to all those men and women who poured into me while I was incarcerated all those years and I love them for how they helped me and believed in me even when I couldn't believe in myself. When I got out of prison for my last time, I made a promise to myself and to Jesus that I would go back into the prisons and help people just as I was helped. A scripture that speaks so loudly to my spirit and my soul. Matthew 25, 36-46 When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with them, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and he will set the sheep on his right hand with the goats on the left.

Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come you, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Then they also will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger and naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

They will answer them, saying, assuredly, I say to you, understanding this scripture, I now know why these people were coming to the prison and ministering to me. I, Michael Bowen, was a least of these. I was a broken man with a destroyed life and I was all alone.

I'd lost all hope and I felt so unloved. They weren't just coming to minister to me and love on me. They were coming to the prison to minister to Jesus and love on him. Jesus says that when you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me. What a wonderful truth that is. We can love Jesus by loving others, especially the most vulnerable, hurt and broken ones.

The least of these. Praise the Lord. I was released from prison on May 27th, 2014, and as I walked out of the iron gates, I told myself I would be back again one day. I knew that in my future I would go back to prison, except this time not as a drug addict, criminal and convict. This time I would go back into the prison as a disciple of Jesus Christ, a witness to the end of the earth, a new creation, a man on fire for God, a son of thunder, a prison minister with the love and light of Jesus Christ in his eyes and the power to help God change people's lives.

Acts 1-8 says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And the end of the earth for me is a prison chapel. Hallelujah.

The same place where I laid on my face and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. That is the end of the earth in this man's life. 2 Corinthians 5-17 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. Oh, what a beautiful scripture that was when I was in prison and I heard that scripture. I said, you mean I can be new creation?

You mean all these old things and all these crimes and all this destruction in my life can be passed away and everything can become new? Oh, I love this scripture so much. Hebrews 1-7 says of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. I am a minister. I am a flame and a fire and I carry the love of Jesus Christ in my heart.

Hallelujah. Mark 3-16-18, he appointed the 12th Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James to whom he gave the name Boaneris. That is, sons of thunder.

Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot. I love that. Sons of thunder. And that is what I've named my ministry. When I was in prison, the Lord told me this ministry that I would have and it would be called sons and daughters of thunder. And it's from this scripture in Mark 3-17.

I identify with that. I love being a son of thunder, carrying God's lightning to the world. Hallelujah. Matthew 5-14-16, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is having you see those prison ministers when they came into me. They were a light to me.

They were that city set on a hill. They could not be hidden. I could see the light in their eyes and I desired that for myself. And they let their light shine before me and I saw their good works that they were coming to pour their love into me and they always gave glory to the Father who is in heaven. They were living out that scripture right there and it's the same scripture I live out this day. Three years later, I was living out these scriptures and that promise to myself and God was realized and I stepped right back into the very same prison that I once was a prisoner in. And I preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the men who were there and told them my story of how God rescued me and delivered me from addiction in Jesus mighty name. I shared with them my story of redemption and how Jesus set me free.

John 8 36 says, Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. It was incredible and the men in that room responded to my testimony and they started weeping and crying and began to believe that Jesus could do the same thing for them that he had done for this man standing in front of them with the fire of God. In his eyes, I preached them hard and I told them the truth that they must surrender to Jesus and let that old man die once and for all. They must trade their old selfish life serving their own fleshly desires in for a new life of serving Jesus as his disciple and witness.

I now evangelize, preach, and minister all over the state of Texas in the Texas prison system and also have plans to visit prisons in Liberia, West Africa where I am a missionary working with that country's population of drug addicted people. Revelation 12 10-11 it says, Then I heard of a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Another translation that says by the power of their testimony and they did not love their lives to death. I love the testimony that the Lord has given to me and I love prison ministry and the men that I have had the honor of ministering to in the many prisons I have evangelized in. I've seen so many miracles happen behind the razor wire fences and concrete block walls. Men's lives changed forever because they trusted Jesus like I had done.

I would like to introduce to you two of these men. They both were in the Travis unit prison in Austin, Texas, where I serve as a chaplain volunteer. It's the same prison that I was in when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I actually preach in the very same room where I laid on my face and gave my life to Jesus. Sometimes I'll go over to that spot on the floor where I gave my life to Jesus where I laid and cried and wept and asked him to save me. And I'll jump up and down in front of those men on that spot and say this is where my dead man, where the old man is buried, he's dead. He's got a life sentence.

He's never coming out. And I show them the man jumping up and down, evangelist Michael Bowen, free, preaching to them. And I tell them this is the new creation.

Hallelujah. This first man that I'd like to introduce is my friend and brother in Christ. His name is Chris Pisinski.

He's from Abilene, Texas. And he has made me so proud seeing him become a disciple of Jesus Christ. After he surrendered his life to Jesus in that same chapel that I did. I'm going to let him tell you how Jesus has changed his life and blessed him so he could be a blessing to others. Hello, Chris. Hey, Michael, how are you? I'm doing good. How you doing, brother? Good, brother. Good to hear from you. And thank you for having me on this program, brother.

Yeah. Well, I love you. And I've been just bragging about the men that I've had the honor to minister to in prison. And you're one of those guys that just listen and you began to weep and cry and you gave your life to Jesus. And I just told you what had happened to me. And you started to believe and you said, you know what, I'm going to do it.

If he can do it for Michael, this guy, Michael Bowen, he can do it for me. And then I've watched the Lord just change your life and bless you in so many ways. And so first, I just want to ask you right now, and I'm just going to let you just explain to the people about what happened. Tell the people that are listening to this podcast a little about your past and what led you to prison. And then what you did in prison that changed your life. Well, Michael, you know, my story is pretty much like yours, man, in a drug addiction and criminal activity.

You know, I was addicted to methamphetamines and other drugs for 25 years of my life as well. And, you know, of course, it landed me in prison six times. And, you know, every time the first five times I would get out of prison and be a matter of time before I would be falling back off into the old ways, you know, the old lifestyle and trying to try to get off of drugs by myself.

But I couldn't do it, you know. And finally, the sixth time, the last time I went to prison, man, I didn't know what to do. I didn't I didn't want I know I knew that I didn't want to be in prison the rest of my life, you know, and keep doing the same thing over and over. And I was just beginning to wonder if that was really where I was destined to be, was just in and out of prison all the time. And I didn't know what to do. And just like I heard about the chapel services in the jail and I thought, man, I'm going to go get some of that, try something. And the Lord just started speaking to me right there, you know, and about some things. And he said that I could hear him just telling me.

And I really didn't recognize it then. But he was like, I hear God telling me in my spirit, just give it to me, just release it to me. So that evening, when I got back from the chapel service, I went to my bunk and I knelt down and I mean, I cried and I poured it out and I gave it to God. And I asked him, please take this addiction from me. I hate it.

I don't want any part of it anymore. And right then, Michael, I just felt the weight off my shoulders and the change. I could almost hear him breaking literally, you know, and it just felt like this weight was just fell off of me. And I knew I was a changed man. I knew. And of course, then when I went into the prison, I went to the Bartlett State Jail at first, and then they transferred me from there to Travis. And I had been participating in all the ministry programs and anything that had to do with any kind of biblical scriptures or church services, I was signing up for it.

I had to have it all, you know, I wanted to get it. And then, of course, I met you at Travis and listened to your testimony. And, you know, just to see, just like you said, to see somebody who was in the same position, who's been through the same things that I was going through, to see what God has done in your life, man, that was such an encouragement to me to want to be different, to want to let God change me and just turn my life around. You know, and I'm telling you, man, it was such an encouragement for you and your brothers and your ministry to come minister to us and pour your love into us. And to me, it was just such an amazing experience, man. And I tell you what, brother, I've been out for three and a half years now, March 22nd, 2018.

It was my release date. Yeah. And I still walk with the Lord and he is doing some things in my life. Everything you told me he would do in my life, he is doing it, brother. Amen. He is doing it. Yeah, man.

Yeah. And I love you guys, man. And it's just like I said, it's just such an encouragement to see the people who the guys who were in prison too and going through the same thing.

It's just like, wow, man, if he can do it, if God can do it for you, he can do it for me. And he has, brother. He has. That's great. I want to ask you this.

What? Because I know you still, you and I have a relationship. We talk all the time in text. And we just, we went and met and had dinner. I met your beautiful wife in San Antonio. You met my wife.

And it was just such a nice trip that we went down there to meet you guys. And I know that you also have relationships with other prison ministers that poured into you as well. What impact did the men and women prison ministers have in your life? Well, you know, when I started, when I gave my life to the Lord and really surrendered to him there in that jailhouse, of course, I didn't know what to do next. I had a Bible. I would just open it up and just begin to read, you know. And of course, I didn't know where to read, didn't know what to read.

I just started reading. And then through the ministers, the ministries that would come and minister to us, they taught me how to understand the scripture, to how to apply it to my life. Yeah. You know, and then so it prepared me that time in prison, you know, gave me the time to really study the Word of God and to understand how it applies to everything in my life. Of course, when you're sitting behind the bars in a controlled environment, you don't even know how much movement.

You know that. So it's hard to really just get a good picture of how it really applies to you until you're released and then set out in the free world. And now then, as the days go on, you really run into some circumstances, you know, in my life. And then a scripture will just pop into my mind. I'm like, oh, that's what that means, you know. But it's the teaching and the preaching of the ministers that would come into the prison to give me that understanding, you know, of how to apply that to my life and how to just use that to walk with the Lord.

Yeah. Any of the prison ministers out there that are listening to this podcast, do you understand how important you are to these prisoners, to people like me, to people like Chris that you pour into? Everything you say, we're hanging on every single word. You may think you didn't say anything profound or that it wasn't that important or you might be second guessing yourself saying, oh, I didn't do a very good job.

But let me just tell you, you're wrong. You did a great job because we're hanging on every word that you say. We're believing everything that you're telling us. And we're like sponges and we're bringing it in. And you don't realize that we use it when we get out and we come into some difficulties in our life. The very thing that you said will pop into our mind. Jesus will bring it back into our remembrance and will use it to help us overcome so we don't fall back into our ways, so we don't go back on drugs.

We don't commit another crime and we don't go back to prison. So you prison ministers, men and women of God, we love you so much. Continue doing what you do. We're here to encourage you that these two men on this phone line right now, you changed our lives and we are forever indebted to you and we love you. And go and keep doing what you're doing and be used by God and allow him to touch other people's lives. Do not stop what you're doing. And I just want to finish this with just asking about, tell me about how God is using you in ministry today.

I'm going to say one thing I know. He's blessed you with an incredible job. You lead a work crew of young men and I know that he's using you in ministry. There's a lot of young men that come through your work crew and you're driving around, you work in the oil fields and you drive around with these men all day long to the different sites and you minister to them. Maybe talk about that and then just other ways how the Lord is using you now to touch other people's lives.

Yes, Michael, absolutely. You know, 18 months after I got out of prison, I signed up and took the class at the seminar for prison ministry to be a volunteer. And just recently I renewed that certificate. So I have been going into the prisons. Lately we haven't because of the COVID shutdown and stuff has got it pretty much slowed down, but I have been to the prisons inside and had a chance to minister to some men in there.

And God is using me even just outside of that prison ministry too. Like you said, I have a crew that we change guys. Some guys don't last very long on our crew. So we sometimes have a turnover, but these men that come and work with us, I've led some of these men to Christ. It's just being around these guys and seeing what they're going through.

Some of them have been addicted to drugs and were headed to prison. And I had the chance to minister to them and give them my testimony and tell them, Look, man, that's not the road you want to take. And just God has used me. And like I say, several men have given their life to Jesus right out here in the field, in a motel room where we stay or wherever. And it's just a blessing that the Lord can use me to minister to these guys.

So it's just awesome. It's amazing to me, Chris, and you can say this too. It's like a template almost that we receive the gospel and the testimony of these prison minister men and women, and they tell us about how Jesus can change their lives. And then we respond, and Jesus changes our lives. And then we go out and do the same thing that they're doing, and the Lord just multiplies it.

It's like that kernel of corn that drops into the ground and comes up and bears forth fruit, some tenfold, hundredfold, a thousandfold. And it's like one prison minister, men or women, that serves the Lord and impacts one person's life. They don't realize how that one person's life that they impacted will be a multiplying effect and impact so many other men and women out there. It's just so important that prison ministers understand this, help change one person's life.

It changes thousands over time. Hallelujah. And just think about what it's doing to our family members that get to see the change in us.

And it can change them too, and our children in generations, based upon one person serving the Lord in a prison, speaking God's truth to a prisoner. Yes. Hallelujah. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Michael, you're right about affecting and spreading to family, because when I was released from prison, that's who I ministered to first. Of course, my mother, my sisters, my children, my grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.

I mean, it's just continued to spread to them. And there are some of them who are changing their lives as well because of what they see in me. And all I have to do is just lead by example. Well, that's wonderful. I just want to wrap this up. I'm about to call your friend Richard Crawford and talk to him too. I know you two spent some time in prison together, and he's doing great things just like you.

The Lord has changed his life. I want to thank you so much for just telling the people about your story. I love you, brother. Brother.

We'll be in touch. All right, Michael, thank you for having me, brother. I love you. Love you too.

Bye. Now I'd like to introduce my friend and brother Richard Crawford from Albany, Georgia. Hearing his story about how God restored his life is so amazing to me. He is truly a man on fire for God and a fearless disciple of Jesus Christ.

He is a pillar in his church and serves in children's ministry. Hello, Richard. Hey, buddy. How are you doing today? I am blessed. I know you are just so happy to be speaking to you today.

I want to start off and just ask you. Tell the people that are listening to this podcast a little bit about your past and what led you to prison and then what you did in prison that changed your life. Well, I went through a bad marriage, and I let drugs and alcohol come into my life to change the way I felt about life. It led me down a very dark road. I ended up living in a Goodwill box, eating out of dumpsters, just begging for food and letting drugs run my life and kill me, because the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. It caused some havoc all through my life, and when I got sent to prison, I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know who to turn to. I started going to the chapel services, and I started really to get out of the dorm and to get away from the politics of prison. I let God come into my heart. I started listening to these guys and these stories and how much I had in common with them. Like your story, Michael, it just touched me in such a way that it started a fire, and that fire began to burn and to get hotter. I started getting into the Word. I started praying.

Miracles started happening. The way I felt just started to change. I didn't hate who I was.

I just hated the things that I had let my life become. If it wasn't for you guys coming into the prisons, I don't know where I'd be today. I know it's all God.

I know it's His plan. I know it's my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that has control of everything. But if it weren't for you guys coming in, I don't know what my life would be today, and I'm so grateful to you, because my life is amazing today.

It's just awesome. I have an awesome church family. I have a church family that stands behind you.

Whenever we have people that pass away in the church, our church is always the first on the front lines. I had a guy that was teaching the young kids the Wednesday night Bible study, and I had him ask me one night if I'd fill in for him. And I did, and I did off and on four or five times, and then finally he came. He was moving, or he was leaving the church, and he asked me. He said, Would you mind taking over the class? And I didn't know how I would do in the beginning.

I really did. But I wasn't going to miss an opportunity that God was presenting to me, and today I wouldn't trade that class for the world. It helps me grow watching them, teaching them to pray, teaching them about Jesus, reading the books to them, and just, I don't know, I wouldn't trade it for the world today. What age group do you teach in children's ministry? Four to nine. Wow, what a blessing.

Four to nine. So they're just getting into even learning how to pray or anything, and that's what we start the class off with, is everybody talks about what Jesus has done for them. And then after we all talk about what Jesus has done for us that week, then we all pray. Each one of us fits in praise. It's just, it's amazing how God is changing them through me.

And I want to tell people listening about you. So when I first saw you in the prison chapel, I looked at you and I was like, Man, this guy, you have to understand, Richard is strong, big and strong. And burly, he had a shaved head and he had tattoos on his face and head, and you're like, woohoo, you know, so to see him.

But what you really don't realize is he's a teddy bear. He's the sweetest guy that you will ever meet. And so I know why Jesus chose him to minister to these children.

I know they love him. And just a gentle spirit, a gentle soul. And I'm just so proud of you, Richard, of what you've done and how the Lord is using you and how you responded to the message that I gave to you. And I saw you weep and I saw you cry and I saw you lay on your face in that prison and really surrender your life to Jesus. And you were you were so encouraging to me that when I could see you, because I knew what happened to me when I was in that same prison chapel when I was there. And I could identify and I could see it happening to you. And I knew it was authentic. I knew it was real and I knew it was happening because I know what that is, because it's exactly what happened to me. And so I knew what the Lord was doing in your life and I knew you'd be a success. And to hear about this and we text each other and we stay in contact. And I just really appreciate your friendship and that you're a brother to me.

I want to ask you a question and you've kind of already said a little bit about it. What impact did the men and women prison ministers have in your life? It gave me encouragement, first and foremost.

No, I keep going back to your story. Your story just touched me in such a way because we had so much in common. We were following your footsteps and to speak about what God has done for me in my life.

And don't be ashamed of the past. Richard, I know that you've already touched on this a little bit, but I want to ask you, what impact did the men and women prison ministers have in your life? I moved back to Georgia and it was a Sunday morning and I was out walking. My dad lives out in the country, really, but there's a church right over from where my dad lives. And I was pondering in my mind what to do. And one of the thoughts was go back and hook up with some of my old buddies. And then God came to me and said, go over across the street and go to that church. And I made the decision to walk into that church.

And that fire that y'all had lit in me, it sparked back up bigger than I'd ever imagined. I met my wife in that church. I have an awesome church family. I work with my preacher.

We cut grass on the side, but I do the deposits. I do all of the little things to try to take off my preacher as I can because he's such a busy, busy man. If there's anything I can suggest to anybody, whether they're getting out of prison or they're on the fence or they're looking for a new way of life, is plug into a Bible-based, Bible-preaching church. And dedicate your life to Jesus Christ and it will change.

It will change in ways that you can never imagine. The life that you think you could have is better than you ever thought if you put Jesus first. And the people in my life today, I know God has put them in there.

But he also puts people in my life on a daily basis that I can uplift, that I can encourage, that I can talk to them and give them my story of living in a Goodwill box eating out of dumpsters to own in my own home. Because I'm sitting in my dining room with my wife. She works from home.

She works for the government. And I'm sitting in a house that I own. Yes, I'm paying on it, but it's still, you know what I mean? And I'm not out there in the streets trying, you know, God is so good. He is so good.

And it's just wonderful. And I love, Richard will, I'm just speaking to the audience right now, everybody listening, Richard will text me or call me and tell me about, sometimes he'll have been in a line at a grocery store, and he'll just start witnessing somebody and telling them his story and stuff, and how the Lord uses him in his everyday life all the time, and he's so willing and open to share Jesus with everybody he meets. We have to do that, because that's what we were created to do. That's right. And if we keep our mouths shut about our Jesus and we're not giving him to the world, what are we really doing? That's right. You know, we have to bring this lost world to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And the only way you're going to do that is to open your mouth and tell someone next to you what Jesus has done for you. And it's as simple as that. Yeah.

Plant that seed and move on. God will water it. Whoo! That's awesome. You're preaching now. Yes sir. Hey, that word right there will preach, evangelist.

Yes sir. Evangelist Richard, that's what you are. You've got an evangelist spirit. You've got an evangelist calling on your life.

I just, I love life today. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Do I still have problems? Yes sir. You know, the Bible never says we won't have problems, but he will give us the strength to get past those problems. Yeah.

You know, I've made a few mistakes, you know, but I may not be where I need to be is what some people say, but I'm not where I used to be. That's right. You know, and all of that is due to our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's right. We just, we're working it out, and we're doing it, and we're just staying on that path that the Lord has laid out for us. If we ever veer off to the right or to the left, the Lord is so wonderful to correct us and move us back. Because we've spent the time with him, and we trust him, and we have a relationship with Jesus so he can do that. And we listen to him.

And if he didn't love us, he wouldn't do it. That's right. And we love the correction. Hallelujah.

It's better to be corrected by God than corrected by the state of Texas or the state of Georgia prison system. Is that right? Amen. You know what? You know what? I never have to go back to prison again. That's right. You know what the Word says? When the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. That's right.

Me either. Now, if I go back into prison, it's going to go into to do what y'all did and to speak to prisoners. And with my church, we have such a diverse church, that we have people that come in that have relatives that are in prison or just got out of prison or whatever, and they get in contact with me. And I tell them that I've been there, which you can look at me and tell that I've been somewhere.

Yep, that's right. I don't know. I spend a lot of time working with the rescue mission here in Albany. My church has really gotten involved with the rescue mission. And I'm not going to say it's all because of me, but because I came through the rescue mission in Albany, Georgia. And if anybody's out there listening and you have a rescue mission in your town, which you probably do, support them.

Support them because they are doing work that you would not believe can be changing lives. Get into an awesome church. My wife, she has faith like nobody else. She has the biggest heart. And as soon as I met her, it just attracted me to her.

And we started seeing each other, and we've been married over three years now. God, what a blessing. Yes, sir. Hey, in December 27th, I'll be out four years.

Yep, that's right. Come on. I'm out eight years.

In May 2022, I'll have been out nine years. Isn't Jesus awesome? I'm so proud of you. I love you, Michael. You are such an inspiration to us. And you're an inspiration to me.

We feed off each other from glory to glory. Hallelujah. All right, brother, I just thank you so much for joining me today with this podcast, and I'll talk to you soon. Yes, sir. I love you, Michael. Love you, too. Bye.

All right, bye. I would like to end this podcast by encouraging everyone to be bold and courageous, and share your testimony any chance you get to bring glory to God and help others be filled with the hope of their own salvation in Jesus Christ. You've heard these two men and how God changed their life in prison, and you heard a little bit about my story, how he changed my life. The interesting thing is that God will send us right back into where we came out of, where he pulls us out of, and he cleanses us, cleans us up, fills us with his word, and we learn some things, and now we go back into the same places where we came out of so we can share the message and hope of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with those people that are just like we used to be. I also want to encourage you to allow yourself to be used by God and go into the least of these in your community.

The homeless, the drug addicted, those in jails and prisons, and those in poverty. The least of these can be anyone that is struggling to make it in this world, and when you do for them, you're doing it for Jesus. Oh, what a blessing that is. Just the thought that I could do something tangible to Jesus is amazing, and that Scripture tells me if I do it to the least of these, I'm doing it to Jesus. So if you feel indebted to Jesus and you love Jesus so much, and you want to love Jesus and show Jesus your love, then go love on a least of these.

Go love on somebody and share Jesus with them. Hallelujah. I pray now, in Jesus' name, that you all be filled with the power and love and the knowledge and understanding of God's will and purpose for your lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening. For more information on Michael Bowen's ministry, Sons and Daughters of Thunder, visit sonsanddaughtersofthunder.org. And remember, there is no addiction in Jesus Christ. Jesus breaks the chains.