Fatherless_to_Faithfulness.pdf

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.—Deuteronomy 6:6–7

And you shall teach them from a prison, yes even from a prison. My name is Dustin Shipley and I am the founder and director of Fathers for Christ Prison Ministry at Bethlehem. Prior to my King calling me to himself, I was inmate #166656 and my home was Lino Lakes Correctional Facility.

As I stood in front of the judge and he carried out my sentence, there was not one person in the courtroom who yelled out, “Send me, I will go for him. Put his guilt on me and I will stand in his place.” But the One who stands in my place before the Holy Judge of the universe had an amazing plan for my life.

Sixty-seven percent of men sitting in state prisons in America grew up in fatherless homes (fatherhood.org, 2009). The poor choices I had made in my life were backing those numbers up. I had grown up in a fatherless home with no positive male role models and no God-centered Christians leading me down paths of righteousness.

I was a prisoner long before the courts sent me to prison. A place I had feared for years had now become reality. When the judge sentenced me to 48 months in prison, he also sentenced my two sons to 48 months away from their father.

Oh, but what a King we serve, full of grace and mercy. John 15:16 was the single-most amazing gift in my life and all other gifts flowed from it: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

God is doing a radical work in our prison system today and I am fruit of that work. I participated in a 19-month intensive faith-based program where my King called me, the gospel came alive, the veil was lifted, and for the first time in my life I had never felt so free.

John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Prison walls will not and cannot keep the love of God out. As I was walking across the prison yard one day, it was revealed to me that all of the things I was learning I could be teaching my two sons, from prison—yes, even from prison!

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

I began by prayer and committing every phone call to build a foundation with my sons. I told them who Jesus was and how their daddy was different. I prayed with them, and through the mail I utilized every chance I had to lead them down paths of righteousness. When I felt it was time, I sent them Bibles and we began studying and reading the Word together over the phone. That is when things started to become plain to me.

It was not about where I was or what I had done, but it was about bringing much glory to the King who stands in the ultimate court and in my place as his unblemished blood paid for my sin. What a work God has done! In my human state, I should want nothing to do with prisons, but I trust he has called me to be a voice in the prison system to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Fathers for Christ operates in two correctional facilities today: Hennepin County Jail and Lino Lakes Correctional Facility. What is our mission?

• Preaching the gospel to the lost and proclaiming God’s Word to believers in jails and prisons.
• Training and equipping incarcerated men to reach the hearts of their children through the gospel.
• Surrounding the individual in transition with Christians who provide accountability in the areas of spiritual growth, church involvement, finances, and reconciliation of relationships.
• Providing a safe, positive, structured living environment.

On June 6, we have a Christian brother, Patrick, who will be released from prison. I have had the joy to walk alongside him in his new birth, and I am full of zeal to enfold him into my church family.

Bethlehem, will you come behind me and model for Patrick and his son what it looks like to be a Christian in today’s culture? “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him” (1 Corinthians 7:17). For more on how to get involved, contact me at fathersforchrist@ymail.com.

All glory and praise to the King who has set me free,

Dustin Shipley
Director, Fathers for Christ Prison Ministry