Ministries Work Together to Reach Prisoners and their Families with Discipleship Development Programs
HURST, Texas, Feb. 6, 2024 — Eastern European Mission (EEM), a ministry that has faithfully aided those in Communist bloc countries for more than 60 years by supplying free Bibles, has recently partnered with Prison Fellowship International (PFI), the world’s largest international association of national Christian ministries working within the criminal justice field, for an in-prison discipleship plan, providing more than 7,700 Bibles and Bible-based materials to prisoners in Eastern Europe in 2023.
“We were thrilled to partner with this storied ministry to reach individuals who are so in need of hearing the Good News of the Gospel,” shares EEM Vice President Dirk Smith in a recent podcast with PFI President and CEO Andy Corley. “We print, publish and distribute Bibles, and we work in the nations [PFI] work[s] in. This is exactly the come-alongside relationship that we [have been] looking for.”
A recent Missions Box article highlighted PFI’s ministry accomplishments through their global program, The Prisoner’s Journey® (TPJ), also praising EEM along with other ministry partners as “integral members of this global team, providing hundreds of thousands of Bibles to prisoners in their heart languages as part of this program.”
The Prisoner’s Journey is unique in that it offers those in prison the opportunity to experience a transformational, restorative relationship with Jesus through the Gospel of Mark. The course is facilitated through four key phases:
1. Invitation – Prisoners attend a promotional event to watch a video introducing them to the restorative power of Jesus.
2. Gathering – Participants meet weekly in small groups to learn about who Jesus is and what He wants for their lives.
3. Graduation – Course graduates attend a ceremony where they are honored for completing the course and receive a Bible.
4. Discipleship – Course graduates are invited to enroll in additional discipleship programs.
“We celebrate the graduates from our evangelism and discipleship programs,” shares Andy Corley, CEO of PFI. “...in almost all cases, when the [prisoners] graduate [from] a program, they’ll get a certificate, and a copy of the Scriptures in their heart language – which is where EEM comes in. We love that model because it’s honoring [to the graduates], and many times, it is the first time they are receiving such an acknowledgement. It’s an incredibly powerful moment in their lives.”
As part of this effort, EEM has supplied Bibles to the mission and ministry of PFI in Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Hungary. This profound partnership, already off to an impressive start, anticipates even greater things in the years to come, including more Bibles distributed, more graduates through follow-on discipleship programs, and more lives changed forever.
“Our mission is to transform the lives of prisoners, their families and victims through a global network of ministry partners,” continues Corley in the podcast. “We’re looking for outcomes in individuals' lives... [while] also looking for outcomes in transformation and growth of our national ministries. That alignment is where we will truly start to have an impact towards breaking the cycle of crime, worldwide, through Jesus’ love.”
EEM President Bob Burckle sees an alignment of purpose within the organizations. “We, too, share the vision of transforming nations through providing God’s Word to those who have never before had it in their own heart language, so that they may truly understand and see their lives totally changed,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for years through schools, churches, aid organizations and the like, and we are now honored and grateful to be able to do the same in hundreds of prisons throughout Eastern Europe.”
To learn more about EEM, visit https://www.eem.org/. For more information on The Prisoner’s Journey or to donate to this transformational mission, go to: Lamplighter - Prison Fellowship International (pfi.org).
About Eastern European Mission
Eastern European Mission (EEM) was established in 1961 to provide Bibles and Bible-based materials throughout the former communist bloc countries in Eastern Europe. Today, EEM publishes and prints Bibles and New Testaments as well as Teen Bibles, Children’s Bibles and coloring books, distributing them through a vast network of partner churches and organizations reaching more than 32 countries in 23 different languages, delivering nearly 2 million Bibles in 2023. See more at www.eem.org.
About Prison Fellowship International
Since 1979, Prison Fellowship International has helped prisoners experience transformation from the inside out through the healing power of the Gospel. Its mission is to transform the lives of prisoners, their families and victims through a global network of ministry partners.
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