Donations

Why Donate to ECS Set Free

Reality

• Over 7,300,000 people are on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole — that’s 1 in every 31 adults.
• Nearly 2,300,000 prisoners are held in state and federal prisons and local jails.
• Over 3,200 prisoners are on death row.
• Men are over 8 times more likely than women to be incarcerated.
• 687,700 state prisoners are serving time for a violent offenses.
• The average prison sentence for a violent offender is 90 months.
• 67% of released prisoners are rearrested within 3 years. This recidivism rate is highest among drug and property offenders

The ECS Prison Ministry Works!

“I was totally corrupt, and that lifestyle nearly cost me my life on the operating table because of numerous stab wounds. I lost everything in prison, but through the process I came to really know Christ. Your Bible courses like Guide to Christian Growth have helped me alot, revealing things I never knew about the Lord Jesus. Pray that during my 20 year sentence I will walk in righteousness.” (Tony, inmate in California)

“For over 25 years, I’ve been incarcerated behind these iron bars and walls of stone and concrete. I never thought that I’d ever have anything to do with religion. But then one day in the mail came my first Bible correspondence course. I’ve been studying the lessons and have received Jesus Christ as Savior . . . and now I truly cannot believe what has been happening to me! I feel like I’ve been transformed, molded, and set free, even while incarcerated. I may have lost everything that I have or own, but here in prison I’ve found Jesus and He’s found me, and I’m so thankful for His mercy and forgiveness for my sins. It’s great to belong to him.” (Joe, inmate in Colorado)

The Only Answer Is Jesus Christ

Lennie Spitale, an ECS volunteer, wrote the book “Prison Ministry”. In it he says:

“I do not know of any more fertile ground for the gospel in all of the United States than our jails and prisons. Where else can you find so many broken, hurting, lonely people all collected together in one small space? Where else can you enter a community where so many of its members have been humbled? Where else can you enter an arena where every unbeliever understands that your function is to talk about God? And further, that they expect you to bring Him up?

Where else can you strike up a conversation with strangers and have over 90 percent of the people you encounter willing to talk with you? Think about this! What I have described is a razor-wire beehive filled with humbled souls who know they have done wrong, who are often broken and repentant over their condition, and who are now giving you their full attention. I often ask them, ‘How many of you would have given me two minutes of your time when you were out on the streets?’ The answer, almost always, is none of them. Then I announce that God, in His great mercy and compassion, has slowed them down long enough to consider the claims of the gospel and has put them in a gracious state to receive it!”