Mitchell told men God can use them
More than half the men in the Fannin County Adult Detention Center had been baptized last Tuesday night, September 16, when Breaking Chains ministry finished its second service.
The night in the jail began the same as a service the week before when women inmates were scheduled to be baptized.
Rev. Dr. Chan Mitchell of The Ridge Community Church brought a message of hope.
He relived the story of Joseph of the Old Testament, how he was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and would eventually spend 13 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Then, God moved him from the “prison to the palace,” and Joseph became second in command in all of Egypt.
Mitchell emphasized to the inmates that “even though your circumstances change, God’s call on your life does not change.”
He pointed to Joseph’s own experience, who he quoted as saying, “What was meant for evil against me, God meant for good.” Joseph was referring to how God’s plan worked out.
“Whatever you feel like is against you, God can use for you,” Mitchell said.
He also reminded inmates, “Our circumstances don’t control our character.” That is up to ourselves and Christ who lives within us, he said.
Mitchell encouraged the men to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He quoted from 1 Peter 1:3 and 4, telling the men of God’s abundant mercy through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that gives everyone living hope of an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away.
By the end of two services that night, 31 men had professed Jesus and been baptized. The total population of the jail, men and women, that day was 71.