Breaking Free
December 1997
The reason that America has such a high
crime rate is because the churches in America are afraid to get involved in any kind of
serious prison ministry. Most of our church leaders are content to let the government
decide what to do about the problem of sin that runs rampant through our society.
We are now willing as taxpayers to allow the
government to dictate to us how to solve the problem of sin in our society. They say,
"Lock them up and throw away the key!" Many of our spiritual leaders have bought
into this philosophy without really knowing what is going on.
Any person who is willing to stop and think about
it should understand that simply locking up a problem will not cause it to go away. There
is a lack of concern about moral training and it is tragic because it allows our
instututions to breed crime and sin.
I attended a seminar on the future of private
prisons in our culture. The seminar was hosted by the Department of Corrections and
several key people from our state legislature was also there. I heard a lot of talk about
how great things were going to be because one group,(The private prison industry) would
actually help streamline the other group (The Department of Corrections) into being an
effective tool to provide a good economic boone
to those small towns that are slated to host the
private prisons. There was an estimate given that for every inmate that goes into a
private prison the host town’s economy profits by $25,000 per prisoner per year.
During all of this talk not one word was
mentioned about doing anything to teach an inmate that there was a better way of life.
There was an air of success about the entire meeting. The general feeling being that it is
a great day for corrections in Oklahoma. With this new private prison plan the Corrections
Department can now prosper as never before. If jobs get scarce in the government sector a
real pro can always get a good job in the private sector. I am sure that some of the more
successful entreprenuers among the ranks have been prudent enough to buy up some stock in
the private corporations.
Until we in the church open up our eyes and
decide that crime and sin is everbodies business this situation will continue to get worse
and worse. Please don’t think that I believe everybody ought to be set free. I firmly
believe that crime should be punished. However, it does no good to lock a person up
without also holding forth some form of hope for that individual to be restored. There is
hundreds of men and women in our system that wants to change but don’t know how.
Another thing that we ignore is the fact that crime is a young man’s game and we are
providing a revolving door to the youthful first offenders while trying to make examples
of the older ones. In truth many of the older proponents of three strikes and your out are
the most likely to want a changed life. God bless you, Don
Health Update
I visited my doctor today after having a catscan
ran on Monday December the 15th. The results of the test are not good. It seems that
another tumor has reappeared in the same place that the other one was. The new tumor is
said to be about 1 centimeter in size.
I hate to give you such a dismal report but God
is still in control of everything. I have nowhere else to go and I don’t want to go
anywhere else. He is sufficient! Please keep me in your prayers. I will keep you posted on
what the doctors plan to do.
I assume there will be more surgery. I do hope
that they don’t suggest anymore chemo treatments. Don
The Grapevine
Greetings in the name above all names Jesus
Christ. Thanksgiving has come and the blessed Christmas season is here. If I started to
count all the blessings I have experienced over the last year I would not have enough
paper to write it all down.
I was invited to spend Thanksgiving at the Jalou
Ranch in Floresville, Texas. My brother and his wife Janet own a hereford ranch there.
They also own some restaurants in the South Texas area. Both of them are excellent cooks
and they very graciously host a meal on each Thanksgiving Day.
The Crystal City Correctional Center is about a 2
hour drive from Floresville. This also gives me an opportunity to visit my friend Crystal
Eaves who is the Jails Co-ordinator for Campus Crusade at this institution. Crystal has
done a fine job by enrolling others in our mailbox school but she really needs your
prayers at this time. She pled guilty about a year ago with the understanding that she
would serve 10 years and some other cases that she had would be dismissed. She was
recently told that she has to serve a 6 year sentence before she can even begin to start
on her 10 years. I have read her judgement and sentence papers and its pretty clear that
the 6 years was supposed to be dismissed but without an attorney she is like a voice
speaking into the wind. Please remember this in your prayers. She is very repentant and
looks upon the whole situation as though she deserves it otherwise God wouldn’t
permit it to be happening. It also may be true that satan is tormenting her for all the
Christian work she is doing while incarcerated.
Carolyn Lang has taken over the responsibility of
co-ordinating our mailbox school. She now has 3 or 4 ladies from the church helping with
the grading of the lessons. They have also formed a prayer group and have asked the church
to give us some volunteers to act as mentor’s for some of the more hungry students..
Wanted Alive gets Gifts
for 97 Children
Due to the efforts of Crystal Eaves I was able to
obtain the names of 97 children whose moms were incarcerated. I took this list to the
church and they bought gifts for all of the children in the Oklahoma City area. I
delivered the gifts to their caregivers for the children only last week. We were also able
to get a few things for a family that was burned out last summer. They are still in need
of clothing and furniture. Anyone who wishes to help this family can get their address and
phone number by calling me at 405-787-8428.
Untitled. By Linda
Morales
By the brook with a handful of water and sand.
I felt you speak as through my fingers it ran.
The awesome presence, the holy hush.
My soul bowed in silence before its own burning bush.
Such a young child then but it stirred me so.
I knew you existed and desired that I know.
This moment was ours just between you and me.
There I chose to worship your majesty.
Wonder of wonders, I knew you were real.
All nature was shouting to tell how you feel.
Every flower a love letter, made to proclaim
Every song from each bird assuring the same,
So touched by your presence and assured by your grace.
My heart named this spot, "The Most Holy Place."
Children can know you even fools need not err.
Your Spirit confirms what all nature declares.
You can be trusted, loved and adored.
You aren’t at all an uncaring Lord.
You’re the shepherd who sought and found me that day.
You’ve never left, you’re my guide and stay.
A CAPTIVE SET FREE, Carl
Dutton's Story
At the age of 16, I
was arrested for public drunkenness. I began drinking to be sociable with the men I worked
with and to feel good, never dreaming I would become a drunk. Not long after the drinking
began, I started smoking pot and taking pills to feel even better. In a very short time I
was a drug addict. Since my wages were only $1.00 an hour, I started dealing drugs and
buying and selling stolen property to feed the habit. Every addict in town knew how to
find me, to buy drugs and sell stolen property.
Although I was married, I was continually in and
out of jail and went to prison twice. Soon I had lost everything, my home, wife, children,
humanity, and dignity. Out on the street I wouldn't work, I had to get high during the day
and try to find a place to sleep at sight. There was an old car in my mother-in-law's
back yard, where I had stowed a sleeping bag. I couldn't let her see me because she would
turn me in, so I would wait until after ten o'clock and slip over the fence and sleep in
that old car. I had to wait until I was sure she'd gone to work before I could get up,
then I'd go up to the house and try to see my wife. Before very long though, I'd get
arrested again.
On January 26, 1983, I was back in the county
jail; I always hated that place but it was worse this time. Those bars were the biggest
bars ever, seemed like they were a foot thick! The walls seemed to be closing in, the
floor coming up, the ceiling coming down, and there I was caught in between them.
Tormented by claustrophobia, I asked myself, "What am I doing here? How in the world
can I he back in this place again?"
On a shelf, in the day room of that tank, was a
beat up old bible that the Gideons had left there at some time. Something within me said,
"You need to read that bible." I thought, "Read the bible? Only wimps and
sissies read that, and I'm tough." After all, there were guys in there that I'd been
in prison with, fought with and done drugs with and if I read that bible they would see
me! Still, something kept saying, "Read that bible, read that bible." After
several days of pacing the floor in that place, I was so tormented that I went into that
day room and picked up that old bible and began to read.
Oh, how the Lord convicted my heart and soul as I
read. I thought, "Oh my, this book, this book it's true, it's true!" As I
continued to read, God became so real to me. I knew my life was nothing, so right then I
said, "Lord, my life is nothing, forgive me Lord, forgive me for the life I'm living
and give me another chance. I believe, with your help, I can do a whole lot better next
time! Just give me one more chance, Lord."
I want you to know, He brought up before me all
my past faults and failures, and the many times He had tried to save me, but I had
rejected Him. But then He forgave me, He came into my heart and saved me, washed and
cleansed me I tell you, I had never felt so good...so pure...so clean. I didn't even feel
like the same man who had been put in jail for the crimes he had committed. I was a brand
new person, and even though I had lost everything, I felt like the richest man in the
world because the Lord Jesus Christ had saved me. Just like the old hymn says, "Just
as I am, without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me."
I still had to go to prison for the third time,
but this time it was different, instead of "doing time", I was using time to
grow in the knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ. I read the bible every day and listened
to tapes. I was really serious about serving the Lord and living for Him. Then one day,
while I was reading, I heard some guys getting high on dope that had been smuggled in. The
thought came to my mind, "Go in there and get high." But while that thought was
on my mind, I heard a voice within me saying, "No, don't do it, read the book."
The struggle went on over and over as I read. Then, the next thing I knew, it was 5:00
A.M. And my first thought was, "Jesus, you kept me from getting high, oh thank you
Lord Jesus, praise you Lord!" Since that time I have not been tempted with drugs and
all the thanks goes to Jesus, who set me free!
After only one year in prison, I was transferred
to a work release center in Enid, Oklahoma. There I found a group of men who were having a
prayer meeting every night. I joined with them in prayer and received the glorious
blessing of the Holy Spirit. Such joy! The Lord seemed to he directing my footsteps, work
was found immediately. A man, who had been there for six months and hadn't found work,
asked for prayer and was hired the very next day. Because of this answer to prayer, he
gave his life to the Lord.
While at Enid, I received my first pass to come
home. My wife picked me up at the bus station and on the way home she kept looking at me
and the smile on my face. Later that day, she asked me what had happened to me. I told her
about Jesus and what He had been doing in my life, and my wife got saved!
Soon afterward, I was transferred to Oklahoma
City, under house arrest. Everything seemed to be going well when another test came. God
allowed me to be returned to prison to complete my sentence. I didn't understand why, but
I remembered the scripture, "And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).
I was learning to lean on Jesus and follow His direction.
I completed my sentence, joined a bible believing
church and in my free time passed out bible tracts and witnessed in shopping centers,
nursing homes and on the street. Jesus has fully restored my life and given me joy
unspeakable! My wife and I recommitted our lives in Holy matrimony after having been
divorced for more than ten years, and all our children were saved. The Lord provided us
with another home and much, much more!
The Governor of Oklahoma granted me a full pardon
on Feb.10, 1989, restoring all my rights of citizenship. Jesus had granted me a full
pardon of my sins back there in 1983 in the Oklahoma county jail. Bound for prison for the
third time I had been lost, without hope, headed for hell, when I read that old Gideon
Bible and cried out, "Lord, my life is nothing, forgive me, give me another
chance", and by His grace and mercy, He did! I figure that the Lord has used my
witness, to His glory, to change the hearts and lives of those held captive to sin and
have led more than 5,000 men and women to Jesus since beginning this ministry. But, the
work is far from being finished. The need is greater today than ever before. There are
thousands of prisoners, all needing to hear the Gospel news
Your prayers and support are urgently needed and
greatly appreciated! Your support adds to the testimony of this ministry.
Carl & Dorothy Dutton
Don Holt's Testimony
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