Don Holt - News Feb 1997

The Grapevine - February 1997

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit continues to move mightily here in Central Oklahoma.

My good friend Allen Arms has joined up with me and we are designing a bible study booklet with my Wanted Dead now Alive pictures on the cover. We are using some of Campus Crusade’s material and putting it in a format that a prisoner can relate to. I think it will be very effective as a tool to encourage those who think their situation is hopeless. The front cover which is continued on the back of this newsletter is our idea of a format. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Pray for: The Bill Glass Weekend Of Champions.
March 21-23 in Central Oklahoma
call Don Holt for sign-up 405 787 8428

I showed the Jesus film to over 200 men at the James Crabtree Correctional Center in Helena, OK on the 11th of January. After the movie 21 men came forward to trust Jesus. I learned later that the following morning the Chapel had a lot of new people in attendance. I took 11 men with me with 8 of them being ex-offenders themselves. we got there at 3:30 P.M. and was met by a group of Christian prisoners who prayed with us. We were then paired up with inmate escorts lead by my friend James "Skip" Lewis. We went in twos and threes to all the housing units inviting men to come out to the Chapel and view the movie. At 6:30 P.M. the Chapel was filled to capacity.

Home Life TV Series
I went to Ft. Worth, Texas and taped a program for the Home Life television series. The program will be aired throughout the world three times this year.

See the insert for details.
Home Life The Television Series
www.homelife.org

Don Holt’s Program will air: February 21, May 14, and October 7, 1997 at 1:30 P.M. EST On the Odyssey Network. It also airs on the Family Network. Check local listings. for Family Network times.

Evangelistic Crusades
I am now in the process of scheduling evangelistic crusades into various prisons around the state. Some that are already confirmed are as follows. The federal prisoner holdover jail which is located at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, OK. I have 3 different groups to speak to on Sunday, February the 2nd. On the 12th of April I will travel to Stringtown, OK to speak at the Mack Allford Correctional Center. That is where Buddy Fesmire is serving time. We are in the process of taking Buddy on as full time Campus Crusade Affliate Staff. Please remember to pray for Buddy as he attempts to disciple men behind the fences. On may 31st I will be taking another large group of men with me for an all day session on the yard and in the housing units at Stringtown. We will use that time to invite all the prisoners to watch the movie "Jesus" just as we did at James Crabtree Correctional Center. The April 12th meeting will be setting the stage for the May 31st trip. I have also scheduled a similar day on the yard at Joseph Harp Correctional Center for May the 7th. At this instittution we will once again go through the units inviting men to come to see the film in the evening. I appreciate the wardens and chaplains giving us the liberty to spend this kind of quality time with the men. It is very important to do this to refresh their memories about the time and place of the movie.

Frank Minister
One of the men that went to James Crabtree Correctional Center with us on the 11th of January died two days ago. Frank Minister was orphaned when he was a very young boy. He was moved around from home to home until he got big enough to run away. This eventually led to a prison sentence in Connecticut. He escaped from there and went on a crime spree which landed him a 25 year sentence in the Oklahoma State Prison at McAlester, OK.

In there he killed a man and received a life sentence. His release came after he made a commitment to give his life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This happened about 2 years ago. He had served 38 years in prison. He spent the last two years of his life battling medical problems while going back into prison telling others of the peace he had found in Christ. He was a regular attender of our core group meetings that we have here at my home. He went to area juvenile homes and tryed to help in any way that he could. His funeral will be tomorrow, Satutday, February the 1st. From all of us, Frank, goodbye and God bless you, we will miss you.

Skip Lewis
Hello! I’m Skip Lewis a born again Christian. I am still incarcerated. My address is James "Skip" Lewis # 94909 James Crabtree Correctional Center, Rte. 1 Box 8, Helena, OK 73741. I hope you like my testimony in the next section.

Companions In Christ

My name is Skip Lewis, and I am writing this open letter to you so you will be able to rejoice with me, that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the new creation behind prison fences across the world.

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 28, 1948 to loving and honest parents who tried to raise me right. During the first ten years of my life, we moved around a lot. By the time I was 11, we had settled in east Tulsa. My dad was a first class upholsterer. He made upper middle class wages and we had a well provisioned home. Having everything I would need provided, I began to take life for granted

Suddenly my dad’s personality changed and he began to yell at me and punish me a lot for minor infractions. I didn’t know then, that he had cancer of the spine and was in a lot of pain. I guess he didn’t want to worry mom and I. As a fourth grader, I thought it was my fault, so I began to crawl out of the bedroom window and run the streets at night. I didn’t think I was really wanted at home anyway.

This went on for a while, until I was failing at my school work, not eating right or getting enough sleep. My dad tried to remain calm and discuss it with me rationally. But I thought it wasn’t really a concern to him, so I didn’t listen. He would go as far as his pain allowed, then would beat me and scream, that there was not anything good about me. With this attitude I embarked on a life of crime.

In 1977 I murdered two people who were trying to help me with car trouble. One was a policeman and the other a business man who were just aiding two stranded motorists. When they stopped, they didn’t know the stranded motorists were two escaped hard-core felons, driving a stolen truck. We had been in a gun fight across the state line in Colorado, and were half drunk. We were men who thought life had cheated them and the world owed them everything they needed. When we drove away into the night, I remembered how easy it had been to gun them down and rob their lifeless bodies. For that crime we were given two life sentences and fifty years in prison.

In 1984, a revival broke out behind the walls of "BIG Mac" as the power of Jesus led committed volunteers from ministries around the state to form a program called "prison invasion." They came down into the hell house of the devil to plunder his domain, and take back what he had stolen, the lives of men, living behind those walls at the McAlester State Prison, bound by crime, drugs, and homosexuality.

One day I saw some men on C-block talking to some prisoners I didn’t know. They seemed to be having a good time. They were standing near the door through which we entered the cell block. When I passed near them I tried to see who they were and why they were laughing. Laughter is not a part of the devils routine, so the scene was unusual . Suddenly one of them called me by my name and asked me how I was doing. I looked for fear in his eyes, I knew how to control fear in people. But when I looked into his eyes there was no fear, only friendship. As he put his hand out, I took it and said that I couldn’t place him and asked where he knew me from. He said that we had never met, but his name was Ron and someone had sent him down there to tell me some good news. I asked him what this good news was. Suddenly other prisoners began to surround us looking very happy. I figured it must be a new court ruling to let us have less time or something. Then he said, "Jesus sent me to tell you that he loves you and wants you to be a part of his family." I stepped back like I had been shot. Jerking my hand loose, I said, " you’re mistaken, Jesus doesn’t want me. I’ve done terrible things and it’s too late!" I quickly turned and moved away from them, but Ron moved with me as the Holy Spirit ministered to me. His words were fast and he knew that they were affecting me. He could see sin and bondage waging a war with my mind for control. And Ron knew God had a plan for my life. I returned to the cell and covered the window, but the words were loud in my mind. "Jesus sent me to tell you that he loves you and he want’s you to be a part of His family".

After that believers inside began to pray to God asking him to work in my life. Some would talk with me and tell me all the great things Jesus was doing in their lives. As I watched them in their own group, eating together, I decided God wanted them but I still believed my only hope was to escape from prison. So I went back to planning how to leave again. In March 1985, Jimmy Smith started talking with me about quitting smoking. He’d quit and had a book on how to quit. I read it and that opened a door for him to witness to me. He took his time and kept it very simple. I began to understand I was a sinner and when I died I was going to hell, but I didn’t have to! Jimmy said "Jesus sent me here to tell you that He loves you and He wants you to be a part of His family". These words passed through the walls of my life. He asked me if I would like to be filled with peace and be a part of that family? At the same time another voice entered my mind saying, "It’s too late. Jesus doesn’t want you, a killer, a stealer and a destroyer like your master the devil." I didn’t answer him. I just got up and went back to my cell and sat on the bed. I sat there all day and most of the night until I fell asleep sitting up. I thought Christians all seemed so happy, such straight-forward attitudes , such friendliness with each other. I never saw them unhappy. It seemed too good to be true.

On April Fools day 1985, after waking up and eating breakfast, I returned to my cell and asked Jesus to forgive me for my sins, to come into my life, and make me a blessing to all those around me. At that moment, Jesus spoke twice, "Read My Word!" I told Jimmy Smith what I had done. I found a Bible and began to read the New Testament. As the story of Jesus began to unfold, the Holy Spirit opened the message to me. By the end of the week everyone knew Jesus was with me. I told them I had good news and shared my witness with them. By June of 1987, the staff had decided the changes were real and transferred me to this place. I have been a witness for Jesus ever since.

It’s been over eleven years since Jesus came into my life and His blood washed me clean of all my sins.

I am writing this to anyone who is hurting. There is someone who cares for you and loves you and wants you to be a part of our family. His name is Jesus and He is calling you and drawing you, even as you read these words. Life is being sown in you and the word will not return unprospered in Jesus name. I may still be in prison, but prison isn’t in me. Jesus is living in me! And he wants to live in you!

Site Design by
Terry Fritts and Jason Fritts of

E-Mail: jfritts@smartbusiness.com

Visit Testimonies.com
Hosted By Integrity Network Services