Dear Friend of GraceInside,

YOU are a WINNER!  GraceInside is a WINNER!
Our 32 Virginia State Prison CHAPLAINS (serving in all 40 Virginia State Prisons) are WINNERS!
The 24,000 incarcerated men & women that they serve are WINNERS!
Most importantly, FAITH, HOPE & LOVE are WINNERS!

Friend, just take a look at the “back of the Book” – and you’ll see plainly that
LOVE wins!!!  JESUS wins!!!

So why all of this talk about WINNING???  Perhaps it’s because many of us just recently watched endless hours of coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.  Wasn’t it exciting to watch the greatest athletes on the planet compete in so many sports and to cheer on our “Team USA” members?  Don’t you just love the background stories of the athletes? I especially love it when they show pictures or film footage of these men and women, often starting when they were just little children?  Then you watch the YEARS of hard work and practice they put in, you see the many contests and awards they won over the years, and finally you see how they made it to the Olympics!  And if you’re like me, you can’t help but get all weepy during some of those stories, visuals and interviews.  I know we all send out a huge CONGRATS to our Olympic medal winners!!! In sports, life and our faith journey, there’s just something about WINNING.  

Maybe YOU are one of those folks who have always wondered and had to struggle with the question of what you are really good at.  Perhaps you, too, were always the last kid to be chosen for the team.  Maybe you have spent YEARS asking God questions like:  Why didn’t You make me a great athlete or sports hero?  Why didn’t You give me the ability to sing or play an instrument like others can?  Why didn’t you equip me with the skills needed to be a leader – the ability to get up and speak well, to motivate/excite people about a cause, to teach… and on and on the list goes.  Perhaps you’re STILL asking those questions.  It could be that you struggle with low self esteem, with doubts about yourself and your abilities – that you feel like you’ll NEVER be a “WINNER” in life.  And yet God tells us in the Bible that each of us are more precious than gold in His sight – and that we are “more than conquerors” in Christ Jesus!  I suppose it’s time we start believing that, doing some positive self talk, and walking with our heads held a little higher.

Now THINK for a moment: What if you were a man or woman incarcerated in a state prison for an awful mistake or choice that you made, for committing a crime and possibly deeply hurting others or even taking the life of someone’s loved one.  Perhaps it was always just your nature to cause trouble.  Perhaps you had a terrible (neglectful or even abusive) childhood.  Maybe you struggled for years with mental illness, with alcoholism or drug addiction.  Perhaps you have been in and out of juvenile detention homes, jails and prisons just about your ENTIRE LIFE???  How would you feel about yourself?  Most people in jails or prisons feel pretty worthless (“lower than dirt”), like they are HOPELESS LOSERS. You likely feel that nobody really cares about you anymore – that there’s no way you can be forgiven – that even GOD has rejected you and cast you out.

And then along comes a Prison Chaplain or a Religious Volunteer.  Maybe they meet with you during a time of profound sadness – when you have found out that a parent or other loved one has just passed away.  Maybe they invite you to a study or service, and out of sheer boredom and curiosity you decide to attend.  And then you begin to experience a kind of love, worth, mercy and acceptance that you’ve never felt before.  Before long you turn your life over to Jesus Christ, have your sins forever erased, become a born again Child of God, get baptized, and begin serving God and others WHILE you are incarcerated!  Your whole life has changed.  You are no longer a LOSER.  Now you are a WINNER!!!  And oh what a PRIZE waits for you in Glory!

Sharing this GOOD NEWS of God’s grace, mercy and LOVE – of bringing FAITH and HOPE behind prison walls and bars – is what GraceInside is all about.  And YOU are a vital part of what we do!  Simply put, we couldn’t give our Chaplains the work hours/wages to carry out their vitally important ministry without YOUR participation – without your GENEROUS and ONGOING CONTRIBUTIONS.  Just think: YOU are part of one of the most exciting MISSION FIELDS in the world!

SUMMER is often a difficult and lean time for churches and ministries.  GraceInside is no exception.  Our Chaplains need your help and support now more than ever.  They are “running the race” and striving to bring inmates to the “finish line” where they will experience the VICTORY of God’s love in Christ.  But it is YOUR support, YOUR gifts that fuel, energize and empowers them to do this amazing work of God.  Would you please pray and ask God what He would have you give during this critical time of year to help our Chaplains help these men and women become WINNERS???

Over the next 6 weeks (from the beginning of August through September 15th), we at GraceInside have set a goal to raise $25,000 to help our Chaplains do their WINNING work.  Please join us, become part of this “winner’s circle”, and help us “go for the GOLD”!!!  You can give by check or debit/credit card using the tear-off form below, or you can easily give online.  Or perhaps God is leading you to become a regular, monthly donor/sponsor of our Chaplains.  We will be periodically sending out email updates on our “medal progress/levels” over the coming weeks (with roughly each $8,333.33 bringing us to a “medal level” (bronze, silver and then GOLD).  Please share this challenge with friends, family, neighbors, church members, etc.   Thank you in advance for caring.  YOU are a WINNER!!!

Much Love in Christ Jesus,

Randy

Rev. J. Randy Myers
Executive Director