From Prisoner to Prison Ministry
When details of the Watergate Scandal were published by Washington Post journalists Woodward and Bernstein, in July of 1972, Richard Nixon’s hold on the presidency began spiraling downward; and he took a few of his men with him.
If you aren’t familiar with Watergate, Nixon employed operatives to burglarize and plant listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters during his 1972 re-election campaign. He further implicated himself in this underhanded scheme by trying to hide his own involvement, which led to his resignation in 1974.
Chuck Colson was one of the men Nixon took down with him. Colson was a willing participant in the scandal. He called himself Nixon’s “hatchet man” and once said he would “walk over his own grandmother” to get Nixon re-elected. That mentality got him into serious trouble.
By the time the trial took place, Colson was a newly born-again believer. Out of his desire to honor God, he voluntarily pled guilty to the charges against him. He spent the next seven months in prison.
Though serving time was neither easy nor pleasant, God had a plan for Mr. Colson’s incarceration. In his memoir, Born Again, he wrote, “I found myself increasingly drawn to the idea that God had put me in prison for a purpose and I should do something for those I had left behind.”
When his term ended, he took what he had learned behind bars, both spiritually and experientially, and put it to good use for God’s glory. Once a prisoner, both to sin and the system, he returned to prison with a ministry to introduce other prisoners to the Savior who had rescued him.
Chuck Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976. It has grown into the largest Christian ministry specifically devoted to reaching and serving those who are currently or were formerly incarcerated— and their families, as well. Although he passed away in 2012, his legacy lives on through Prison Fellowship and the souls it has reached.
“It is not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign God chooses to do through us.
Chuck Colson
God doesn’t want our success; He wants us.
He doesn’t demand our achievements; He demands our obedience.”
Each year this ministry brings solid biblical teaching into prisons nationwide, helps meet critical needs for the families of those in prison, sends prisoners’ kids to Bible camp and, of course, delivers donated Christmas gifts to those same children through their Angel Tree program.
The redemptive power of God’s goodness is quite amazing! He transformed the poor choices Chuck Colson made, and their rightful consequences, into a fruitful ministry that has brought hope and healing to thousands of people.
