One Prisoner's Story: How UMC Prison Ministries Changed Her Life

A recently paroled inmate was kind enough to share her story of how United Methodist prison resources and ministries helped her through an arduous time in her life. She currently attends Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, where she says people have helped her with clothes, money and urgent needs following her release from prison. She is willing to share her story about the positive influence of UMC prison ministries, if transportation can be provided. If interested please contact editor RJ Walters at editor@miareaumc.org for more information.

My name is Marie.

I am 44 years old and I would like to share my story with you.

I recently paroled from prison — Jan. 26, 2010 to be exact. It has been a very interesting eight- and-a-half months.

At the time of my parole Kent County did not have a place for women without drug problems to parole to. So they paroled me to the Guiding Light Mission, but being from Grand Rapids, I knew they only took men.

So, I lived at the Mel Trotter Ministries Facility for seven months. Through this process God has been carrying me.

Men have several places to parole to and go through to obtain work. The major one is the Exodus program run through Hope Network. They actually help place the men in jobs and pay the employer half of the felon’s pay for 60-90 days.

The women are sent to the Women’s Resource Center, which is a very nice place, but does not have the same ability to help us as the men are afforded through Hope Network.

One of my biggest obstacles at first was obtaining my birth certificate. I was adopted at six years old.

Due to this my birth certificate had to be obtained from Lansing.

This process took eight weeks.

Without this you cannot get your driver’s license or social security card, which makes getting anything else impossible. There are organizations that help you with the costs and paperwork associated with getting your birth certificate. Inmates really need to be hooked up with these organizations while still in, so the waiting period is over upon their release.

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For those about to rock: Largest Christian tour coming to Michigan at end of March

By RJ Walters, Editor / March 2010 Issue

From humble begins has come an abundance of hope, and some of the premier Christian bands in America are in the process of pleasing ears and changing hearts during the 2010 Winter Jam Tour.

The largest Christian music tour in the country showcases a handful of talented artists from a variety of genres and several insightful speakers, hoping to transform youth and young adults across the country.

As of Feb. 9 Winter Jam had already put on 16 shows in front of 112,336 people, and Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids and the EMU Convocation Center in Ypsilanti are tour stops for Newsong, Fireflight, Third Day and more on March 25 and 26 respectively. What makes Winter Jam more than “just another rock tour” is that 15,230 people have made the decision to follow Christ in their lives along the way.

Billy Goodwin, the lead singer of Newsong, who has been nominated for eight Dove Awards the past three decades (the Christian music industry equivalent of a Grammy), said 15 years ago his band saw the need for camaraderie and love during the winter months and the rest has been the hand of God at work.

They set up a free concert in Greensville, S.C. to entertain what they thought would be a few thousand people at a one-band gig and their lives have never been the same.

”That night when we went to open the doors the hall filled up completely and we turned about 2,000 people away and we were totally taken aback by it. It was like ‘Woah, what is going on here,’” he said. “It became a thing of prayer after that. ‘God what are you doing, what do you want from us here?’”
What that night provoked has been nothing short of magical.

On the tour’s Michigan stops Newsong will be joined by Fireflight, Third Day, the Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, MIKESCHAIR, Robert Pierre, Revive and guest speaker Tony Nolan — all for $10.

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