He Has made Everything Beautiful In It’s Time.

Care for the family on the outside

The other week I was able to help a prisoner in one of our Manchester prisons who was deeply concerned about his wife and children on the outside. He has been in prison for a year but now only has a few months left to serve. He is an Iranian and said he is a Christian. However he was distressed about his prison sentence. Without going into too much detail, he claimed that he did not know he had broken the law and wondered how he had ended up in prison. I prayed for him and encouraged him, but he was heartbroken about this and about his wife and children being equally troubled on the outside.

He said his wife has lost a lot of weight through the worry and stress of it all. He asked me to contact her to encourage her. I asked if she attended a local church and he said she didn't but would benefit from doing so. I said I would enquire about churches in their local area that would be appropriate for his family.

The Lord directed me to a church very close to where his family live and I rang a member of their leadership. I explained the situation to him and he said they would be very happy to receive them. I then rang the prisoner's wife and spent some time encouraging her and praying for her. She was expecting my call having had a previous conversation with her husband during a prison visit and was very grateful for my support. She was invited to a barbecue at the church and found it very helpful. She said she will now go to that church regularly.

Unfortunately, her husband has now been shipped out to a prison in Liverpool to see out the rest of his sentence there. She can still visit him but it is more difficult and the visits may not be as frequent. I didn't realise this move was coming up (such is the nature of prison ministry) but I am amazed at God's timing, how He gave me this very short window of opportunity and how He was able to use it in this way.

Please pray for prisoner E and his wife S and their two children, that God will continue to bless them and bring them through rejoicing.

Nick Stirling