‘700,000 Prisoners To Be Reached With Gospel in 70 Nations’ (Worthy News Mission Watch)

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Two major Christian organizations working in jails have agreed to “share the Gospel” of Christ with hundreds of thousands of prisoners and their families.

U.S.-based Prison Fellowship International (PFI) and Faith Comes By Hearing said they hope to reach at least 700,000 inmates and tens of thousands of families in 70 countries over the next five years.

The inmates and their loved ones will be invited to participate in PFI’s programs, The Listener’s Way (TLW) and PromisePath, which includes the distribution of 90,000 audio and video Bibles by 2029.

“Designed to combat frequent barriers of illiteracy and no access to electricity, the [TLW] program leads prisoners through the Gospel of [Bible book] Luke via audio and video Bibles… through high-quality productions of the Gospel in each prisoner’s heart language,” PFI added.

“The devices that are used can be charged through solar power, making the Good News accessible in particularly hard-to-reach, poor prisons and countries,” the group said.

According to PFI statistics, nearly 34,000 prisoners have “graduated” from TLW since 2021. The group said the inmates “greatly expanded their partnership to share God’s Word with families of prisoners after observing their hunger for, and desire to, engage with Scripture.”

PFI said that the “700,000 prisoners in 70 countries” they hope to reach “will have the opportunity to graduate from TLW.”

90,000 CHILDREN

“God’s Word will also be seen and heard by an estimated 90,000 children of prisoners and nearly 40,000 caregivers in 30 countries” through PromisePath,” a separate community- and volunteer-based care program, PFI explained. The PromisePath program supports children of prisoners, organizers said.

“The program focuses on interventions like education assistance, mentoring, and spiritual resource provision to help these children, who are at high risk for exploitation, abuse, neglect, child labor, and criminal behavior, to break the cycle of crime and have a brighter future.”

Andy Corley, president and chief executive officer of PFI, said the “expansion” of TLW courses and increasing the reach to children and their caregivers through PromisePath “underscores our joint commitment to ensuring all those impacted by crime have access to the Gospel message.”

Corley said PFI and Faith Comes By Hearing have been “Observing the profound eagerness of these individuals to engage with Scripture reinforces the transformative potential it holds in each life.”

Jonathan Huguenin, chief ministry officer of Faith Comes By Hearing, said their “strategic partnership to reach the world’s least and the lost with the Word of God has already been profoundly impactful, touching the lives of thousands of individuals and families impacted by incarceration.”

He stressed, “As we strive to broaden our reach, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing hope and spiritual nourishment through the Word of God to all who seek it, fostering growth and renewal in communities worldwide.”

PFI has been supporting prisoners and their families since 1979, while Faith Comes By Hearing, founded in 1972, provides Audio Bibles and Gospel Films in the world’s languages. The group also runs Faith Comes By Hearing’s Vision 2033, an initiative to record and freely provide “God’s Word in every language that needs it by 2033.”

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