Jeremy
"My name is Jeremy. I am forty years old and I grew up in a good Christian home in Moorhead, MN. My family and I attended church and Sunday school every week. I was confirmed in our church when I was eleven years old.
When I turned fourteen, I tried drugs and alcohol for the first time and became addicted. My addiction grew very fast and my life was soon completely out of control. I eventually lost all contact with my family. I lost my sense of right and wrong and had no regard for the law. I sold drugs to pay for my addiction and I went in and out of jails and prisons several times, spending about five years total behind bars. Three years ago I was back in the Cass County Jail, my life was a total mess and I had lost all hope of ever having a good life. Chaplain Mike Sonju encouraged me to attend his Bible studies and church services. He helped me to put my trust in God to save me from my destructive lifestyle. He also encouraged me to get further help by entering the ND Teen Challenge program from where I will soon graduate.
I have now been drug free for three years and am getting reacquainted with my family for the first time in many years. My life is better than it has ever been. While i have been a student at Teen Challenge, Mike Sonju and this ministry have been there to support me every step of the way for any essential needs that I have had. Whether it is prescriptions or clothing or just good Biblical encouragement when life gets frustrating, Mike has been there for me. The redemptive power of Jesus Christ and the selfless help of His servants in the Cass County jail ministry has been crucial in saving my life from the destructive path that I was on for over twenty years. I now have a great life and a hope for an even brighter future."
Angie
Angie’s mother Cheryl says, “Angie’s incarceration turned things around and has got us all back on track.” Hailey, her 13 year old daughter says, “Everyone we now hang out with seems to be happy.”
In 2008 Chaplain Mike helped Angie host a picnic at Lindenwood Park. Over 60 former inmates and work release inmates, along with their family members attended.
POJCA’s Benevolence Fund sponsored Angie with a $1000 gift to help her start school. She recently graduated, passed the State of ND Manicurist Licensing Exam and is employed full time. Today, because of the choices she has been equipped to make, she has become a positive and productive citizen in our community, providing a healthy home for her children and impacting the lives of many people. Angie says, “I know I can do anything if God is willing.”
Miguel
Karen
"It’s Tuesday and my friends and family know that for my week it is “jail day”. Every Tuesday at 12:30pm I go to jail, go directly to jail. I do not pass go, nor do I collect $200.00. However, my rewards are immediate as well as eternal. I have the privilege of being a volunteer to assist in a Moms In Touch prayer time for any interested women in the Charlie Pod of the Cass County jail.
Call us Charlie’s Angels, if you wish, even though it is we who receive the blessings as we pray with the women for their children and their children’s caregivers. Together we share, pray, and simply love on them through the power of Jesus Christ. Time is always too short!
We do see the fruit. As I listen to one inmate pray, 'I just want to be the person you created me to be,' I am rejoicing within regarding her newfound spiritual understanding. It never fails that when I leave the facility I feel better than when I came. In the natural, it may not make sense that time spent in the jail can give me a lift, a smile, and a skip in my step. However, in the spiritual realm, it does exactly that."
|
