The non-profit ministry God Behind Bars has seen years of amazing success stories as it focuses on the physical, spiritual, and relational needs of inmates and their families.

Founded in 2009, the ministry headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, also works to help prisoners re-enter society.

On this week’s The Prayer Link, Charlene Aaron spoke with God Behind Bars CEO Jake Bodine who shared how it all begin. 

“As I was in college, I felt the calling and prompting on my life to reach those that were in prison,” Bodine said. “I had a couple of friends that had struggled along the way and were looking at prison time. And so, God just kind of used that to start a burning passion in my heart to really reach the least of these. And we tried to use the technology to help the church, specifically the local church across the U.S., to begin having effective prison ministry behind the walls.”

“So we do that by partnering with the local church, helping them start a satellite campus if you will, within a prison to where they have the opportunity to reach hundreds of inmates on a weekly basis. Get them involved in their church family with the hopes and desires of getting their family members involved in their church family before their loved one is ever released from incarceration,” he told CBN News. 

“Then kind of bridging that gap between incarceration and freedom as they step back into society with a new beginning and a church family to call home,” Bodine added.  

Every week the ministry posts remarkable testimonies of prisoners dedicating their lives to Christ. Here’s one of the latest about a woman named Juanita. 

God Behind Bars explains, “Juanita found Jesus through our amazing partners @redrockschurch, and is on fire for Jesus! This was the first opportunity for her to get baptized behind bars. She is known for saying these words, ‘I am not defined by my mistake. I am not defined by the number on my shirt. I am defined by who I am in Christ.'”

CBN News regularly covers some of the amazing moments that God Behind Bars has facilitated, like the recent outreach by Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara as they shared the gospel in a prison, ministering to 300+ inmates.

You can watch the entire interview about the God Behind Bars ministry on this week’s The Prayer Link on the CBN News app or on our CBN News YouTube page.