We seldom see how God uses our actions or words to influence others. It is like throwing a small stone in a still lake and seeing how many rings of water the stone will make. Who could have guessed the stone’s impact?
God gave me an opportunity to see some unexpected results of our prison ministry. Daniel, a deaf inmate I work with and to whom I referred to in previous Newsletters, asked me to find an article that evaluated the Da Vinci Code so that he could share it with another deaf inmate. This inmate has rejected Jesus because he is convinced The Da Vinci Code presents the real historical Jesus and not the Jesus of the gospels. I hunted for an article that evaluated the book and pointed out its mistakes. It also had to be both scholarly and readable. I found just such an article by N.T. Wright entitled, “Decoding The Da Vinci Code: The Challenge of Historic Christianity to Post-Modern Fantasy.” If you are interested in this article you can find it at http://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/summer2k5/features/davincicode.asp.
Daniel’s friend read the article but continues to believe in The Da Vinci Code. But I can see that God is at work. This inmate he has begun attending our worship service. Who knows what God will do next?
Thank you for your continued support that makes this ministry possible. Who knows how God will use your support to further his kingdom in prison?
Dwight “Rip” Van Winkle