Branching out

  Hidden bars will be branching out to include juvenile detention facilities in this ministry. This is God's desire for this ministry. I have had this on my heart for a while and after looking at statistics that broke me open for this cause, I know the direction the Lord is taking me.

 More than 2.5 million juveniles are arrested every year in America and 70% of juveniles convicted of crimes have gone on to commit crimes again. Think that is shocking? Statistics tell us that over 75% of the people who ever come to Christ do so by the age of 18. Add these two facts together and what do you get? I know what I get. I get the feeling that it is a miracle of God alone that can change the course of delinquency in this nation and, in turn, begin to empty out our prison system.

  But that was never this ministry's goal, to empty the prison. That is a healthy byproduct of our purpose; freedom and healing in people's lives. I cant look at myself in the mirror and know that I have done all for this cause until I step into these facilities and begin to minister to youth that are caught in the destructive cycles of fatherlessness, crime, peer pressure, sin, bondage and darkness.

  I was once a youth pastor, and still carry some of that with me, but that doesn't mean you need to be to assist this ministry. Our goals are simple and straightforward and resemble our plan for evangelizing older offenders:

1. Take the love of Jesus into the facility by offering services that consist of worship, prayer, and teaching.

2. Lead these youth into revelation about who God is and who they are, their inheritance or "promises for life" in the Kingdom of God, and their life purpose.

3. And finally to get them grounded in a local church. This is hugely important for these youth as 95 percent of youth in these facilities say that they have had no positive adult presence in their lives. The local youth pastor's patience and anointing are instrumental in the ongoing freedom that these youth need.

  If you can help in anyway, from leading a service in a facility, to ambassadoring these youth into local churches partnered with us, or in prayer please let me know via email at hiddenbars@excite.com.