WHY ANOTHER PRISON MINISTRY?

WHO WE ARE

MISSIONARY PARTNERSHIP

COMMISSIONING AND SUPPORTING THE BIP AS A MISSIONARY
 

The MISSIONARY PARTNERSHIP is separate and distinct from the other two ministry tracks. Participation is not determined by advancing through the other two ministry tracks. The call to a missionary partnership must come from a burden placed by God on the heart of both the outside and incarcerated believer (Isa. 6; Acts 26:16-18). Candidates must then begin an application process.
 

To the best of our knowledge, never before has there been a mission organization that commissions and supports incarcerated Christian men and women as missionaries. So why now?

Over 200 years ago a British cobbler named William Carey responded to a spiritual need and began pioneering the modern missionary movement which radically changed the course of history. At the time most Protestants ridiculed Carey as a dreamer and fool, reminding him of God's sovereignty in salvation. But Carey would not be dissuaded, reminding them also of man's responsibility to the Great Commission:  "Make disciples of all nations . . . " (Matt. 28:19). On June 13, 1793, William Carey, his wife and four children sailed for India.

 

Instead of merely "sending" missionaries to foreign lands to "convert the heathen," Carey believed the missionary's primary job was to train nationals to evangelize and disciple their own people. This concept underlies GAP's approach to prison missions.
 

Prison populations largely remain unreached and untouched by outside believers on a daily basis. But imprisoned Christian men and women can and do minister daily to those around them--though without any specific training, support, encouragement, or accountability from the church outside. GAP believes that effective evangelization and discipleship of prisoners must be done from the inside with support from the outside.

MISSIONARY PARTNERSHIPS provide the needed support and accountability by matching a believer from the local church (BIC) with a
believer in prison (BIP), thus forming a missionary partnership to reach
the lost and disciple new believers. GAP will provide resource material
and training, assist local churches and help oversee the ministry.

Although GAP serves as the commissioning agency which oversees and
supports the partnership, we recommend that the participating church
oversee the partnership as well. Support from the church is essential to
an effective ministry.


THE GAP PRISON MISSIONARY

 

A GAP missionary is an incarcerated believer who has grown to spiritual maturity and continues to be active in the body of Christ through evangelism, discipleship and service. He or she should exhibit a servant's attitude and heart. Not a calling one should take lightly, a missionary candidate must give careful, prayerful consideration before making a commitment to prison missions.

Prior to submitting an application to GAP for missionary service, the inmate must exhibit certain spiritual and psychological qualities. We have adopted most of the following criteria for missionary service from Edwin Y. Bernard, Doctor of Missiology, Moody Bible Institute.

SPIRITUAL QUALITIES

In addition to being genuinely born-again, yielded to God completely in every area of life, yielded to the Holy Spirit, and victoriously walking in the Spirit daily, the missionary also needs to exhibit five other qualities before commissioning.

• Clear calling. A call is an inner conviction placed in the heart of a committed Christian by divine pressure, indicating that God has selected the individual for missionary service.
     

• Strong convictions. Those who would embark on the mission field need to have a very strong belief system and possess strong convictions based upon biblical doctrine.
    

• Integrity. This means that the individual must be honest and upright in questionable situations, especially when no one is watching. Joseph in Potiphar's house and Daniel in Babylon both exhibited integrity.
    

• Moral courage. The person who has moral courage is willing to verbally express his or her convictions to people who might not agree. Standing up in this way may mean swimming upstream against the popular trend, but it will also mean reward from God in the end.
     

• Subject to authority. An incarcerated person serving as a missionary must subject him or herself to prison authority (see Romans 13:1-7). His or her testimony with prison staff is just as important as with inmates.

PSYCHOLOGICAL QUALITIES

The missionary must possess certain psychological traits to endure on the field.

• Emotional stability. This means not getting overly upset about things that are out of his or her control. It means the ability to stay steady, upbeat, and stable.
    

• Optimistic attitude. A person with this quality looks by faith to good possibilities rather than seeing circumstances through the eyes of fear and despondency.
   

• Humility of heart. This is absolutely necessary. The missionary must be continually humble before God and refuse to allow pride to take control.
    

• Cross-cultural tolerance. In order to reach people with the Gospel, the missionary must be willing to put up with unfavorable circumstances caused by differences in culture.
   

• Seriousness of purpose. Although being able to have fun and laugh and joke is important, it is also necessary to exhibit a serious side to life, a side that is not joked about or poked at in fun.
    

• Socially oriented. He or she should be a "people person" who is able to interact with anyone. The timid believer should work on people skills in order to feel comfortable when the time comes for him or her to share the Gospel.
    

• Routinely persistent. A missionary must take responsibility to do a task and work at it persistently until it is finished. Those involved in missions cannot be quitters; instead, they must stick with the job until it is done.

MISSIONARY OBJECTIVES

 

The apostle Paul exhorted Timothy (2 Timothy 2:2) to commit God's truths to others, so that they would in turn also teach others. This principle of how God multiplies His work is found in the missionary partnership of the apostle Paul and Barnabas recorded in Acts 14:21-23.  This reproduction principle listed in the specific steps below must guide the ministry objectives of a GAP missionary.
 

• Proclaim. Call men and women to a personal commitment by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 14:21).
    

• Teach. Make disciples by teaching men and women the truth of God's Word (Acts 14:21).
   

• Encourage. Assist believers in the development and strengthening of their faith by encouraging them to persevere despite trials, tribulations, and persecutions (Acts 14:22).
    

• Train. Prepare men and women for service as Christ's ambassadors by training them to do the work of the Gospel ministry themselves (Acts 14:23).

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

The missionary candidate must complete a spiritual gift inventory (provided by GAP) as well as the following biblical studies prior to submitting his or her missionary application.

• GAP'S Daily Quiet Time series
   

• Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God workbook study
   

• Correspondence courses from an approved Bible college to include the following topics:
   

  • O.T. Survey * N.T. Survey * Principles of Discipleship

  • Evangelism * Life of Christ * Basic Bible Doctrine

At its discretion, GAP may waive any of the biblical study requirements.

We realize the qualifications and application process for missionary service are rigorous. As with any Christian missions organization, we believe the process must adhere to strict biblical standards. The standards are not intended to discourage prospective missionaries, but rather to insure excellence in both their message and mission.  

65 Kuhns Road, MONTOURSVILLE, PA  17754  |  (570) 435-0385

  
info@gapprisonministries.org

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