The inmates were nervous and anxious. Many had not slept very much the night before. Today was the day they would be united with their children for one day of fun and fellowship.
As the inmate fathers trooped into the Coffield Prison chapel, the hearts of their children were definitely being turned back to them after having been absent from their lives for too long. A rush of tearful embraces marked the beginning of a very special day.
Restoring the hearts of the children
This Day with Dads was a culmination of the inmate fathers attending a Malachi Dads program every Sunday night for over a year, as they steadfastly applied themselves to learning how to better love and disciple their children from prison. By studying Biblical principles on how to be a man of integrity before God, their roles as fathers and husbands were explored in ways never before experienced before their incarceration. The majority of these men had become born again as a result of prison ministry, so this was indeed a journey of commitment and growth for them.
One of the main objectives of the Malachi Dads program was to reconnect the heart of the inmates to the hearts of their children with whom there had been little contact, or a weak or wrong relationship. Weekly writing of letters was encouraged, as well as phone calls or visitations when possible. Within the first month the men began to receive positive responses to their efforts: sweet letters from their children, and quite often acknowledgment from spouses or caregivers that they were seeing the heart changes being manifested in these Malachi Dads inmates. Testimonies were increasingly shared of the heart connections being established.
One inmate had been rewarded by a letter from his twelve-year old daughter wherein she expressed an intense yearning for her and her two brothers to be reunited with their father. Though distance and meager finances seemed to at first prohibit them coming to this Day with Dads, the Lord made a way through the Heavens Family Prison Fund for them to come with their mother. Their reunion that day, the first in four years and the first since he had been born again, was joyous and full of renewed bonding. Their mother said “there were no words to describe the amazing changes that had taken place” in her husband. She expressed “he is a totally different man”! It was a tearful and joyful reunion of three children and their father.
A beautiful broken family being restored by God
Another father wrote recently of the time he had spent at the altar with his thirteen-year-old son who had asked for a deeper understanding of some of the precepts that had been shared during the Malachi Dads program.
“Thank you all so much for everything you have done in working with us, and making Malachi Dads become a reality. My family, and my sons thank you. We had a great time and it is something I will always remember. It has brought me and my family back together and brought my kids closer to Jesus. My son asked me about the Resolution I had made to be a Godly father and what it meant because he didn’t understand it. So he had me walk up to the front of the church and sit on the altar steps and explain it to him. I could see the Holy Spirit working in him and it brought both of us to tears. I will never forget it”.
Because of your support to the Prison Ministry of His Missions International these men have made a commitment to be fathers for life, whether in prison or not. The children of these inmates have been reunited with the heart of their fathers and shown the way to a life of service to the Lord.
Malachi Dads graduates sincerely seeking restoration with their children!
You can help us with God’s plan to restore the hearts of the fathers and children by giving to His Missions International prison ministry. You can send a check to His Missions International at the address below or donate online at our web site. Hismisions.org/donate
His Missions International
PO Box 2508
Lindale, Tx 75771
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