"GETT'N READY FOR A PRISON BAPTISM!"

Do you have a minute to celebrate with me all that God has done in prison? We couldn't have witnessed God's spectacular works without your powerful prayers. Your prayers have moved the hand of God just like Moses and the Israelites.

What an honor it is to intercede for these wonderful people. I am so excited for our new upcoming five sessions on Baptism. I cannot begin to imagine what God is going to do next...? Last year (see February 2014 post) we had 70 inmates baptized full-immersion, it was like the SUPER BOWL of baptisms! From the request of the prison, we are now beginning a new baptism series for January 2015 and are looking forward to who God is drawing to himself this year.

And he said, "Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all of your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among you shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you." Exodus 34:10 NIV

Notice God said "with you." So together, please pray for the following series as the Holy Spirit guides you:

1.     BAPTISM’S PURPOSE:

“WHAT’S TRUE AND WHAT’S NOT?" 
Saturday, December 13,  2014 

2.     BAPTISM’S PREPARATION:(Christmas Story)

“YOUR STORY IS WORTH TELLING!" 
Saturday, December 27, 2014

3.     BAPTISM’S POWER:

“GUTS AND GLORY THROUGH BAPTISM?” 
Saturday, January 10, 2015

“FULL IMMERSION BAPTISM CELEBRATION!”

Saturday, January 24, 2015

 “RADICAL STORIES OF LIVES CHANGED!”

Saturday, February 14^th

Please pray :

1. Power and freedom in the Holy Spirit as I am writing and speaking.
2. This week's message on baptism: "What's True and What Is Not?" Will be received and sink deep into the hearts of those God calls.
3. God GLORY would be revealed and He would hand pick those to be baptized. (The right women for the right reasons.)
4. SATAN WOULD BE HANDCUFFED AND BOUND from interrupting any part of this series.
5. No lockdowns or disturbances in the prison. Favor with the officers and staff.
6. Every Westwood prison team member available would volunteer to come in and help in January. (For interviews and the baptism celebration.) Team unity and protection.
7. HUNDREDS WOULD CROSS OVER FROM DEATH TO LIFE and obey the call to be baptized. I'm praying BIG!

Don't think for one minute that your prayers don't make a difference, we can see and feel how they do. Thank you for your dedication to pray for those forgotten on the fringe of society.

"It just doesn't get any better than this!"

In Him,

Shug Bury

"HALLELUJAH!" A NEW PRISON MINISTRY IS OFFICIALLY BORN!

IT'S OFFICIAL!

God has made it clear that a new vision

 for prison ministry is being born.

This new non-profit is finally hatched and registered today:

HALLELUJAH INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

"Hear The Cry Of The Inmates."

Shouting "Hallelujah" seems to have grown to be my trademark, so it was suggested to me (Thanks Kim W. and team.) that it be used as my new ministry name. 

Thank you to everyone who sent in their creative, funny, well-thought out, ideas and suggestions. 

A BIG thank you to SHINE Ministries www.shineintheworld.org for partnering with me 

and encouraging me to dream BIG!

(See below post for the long-view vision God has placed on my heart.)

"Here I am Lord. Send me!"

CALLING ALL! - A CHANCE TO USE YOUR VOICE TO HELP OTHER INMATES!

SPEAK UP for those who cannot be heard. I need your past experience to help others in prison. 

Calling ALL! Here is a chance to use your voice to help those who are without one. If you have been jailed or imprisoned, or you have a friend or family member who has been, I need your feedback. Where do you feel there is a GAP in our society and prison system, when it comes to helping freed ex-offenders walk out the door? How can we assist in helping everyone have a successful future? Please be specific, honest and open. Below is a description of the burden God has put on my heart to create a global non-profit that speaks to your concerns. It doesn't matter if it is Africa or America, the cry of the inmates are the same.

I have walked in prison ministry with inmates and ex-cons in the USA for a decade and now in Africa for the past three. I have gotten feedback from police inspectors, chiefs of villages, Bishops, pastors and church leaders. Unfortunately, some watch the freed ex-cons with a suspecting eye expecting them to fail. Many inmates do ok when first released but return to crime because of the judging and rejection. There is a huge GAP that is causing inmates to fail upon being released. There is isolation and judgment that is causing individuals to reoffending or worse - commit suicide after release.  

WHO is waiting for them to help them get back on their feet. Where are the believers of Christ? Where are the churches in all this rehabilitation? Who is waiting for them at the door when they get out? The Bible tells us DO NOT FORGET THE PRISONERS. God has put a burden on my heart to start a non-profit organization to bring awareness to this gap around the globe. This ministry will help bring

prisoners and mentors of excellence together. 

• Basic Needs: This organization will first meet their basic needs. It will include raising funds to bring needed supplies such as soap, toilet paper, shoes and Bibles into the poverty stricken prisons. 

• Power-filled Lives: I have witnessed the Almighty power of God move through the prisons. We next need to be sharing the Gospel in a simple, truthful, exciting way in order to bring Spiritual healing and life-changing POWER into their lives. 
• Expand Awareness: I'd like to bring local area pastors into the prisons themselves to see firsthand the power of God inside of prison. For Bishops, Pastors and church leaders to see their faces and shake hands with the inmates. To care for, and interact with the prisoners. To dispel their fears and see the incarcerated are no different than you or me. GOD LOVES THEM JUST THE WAY THEY ARE!
• In-Prison Leaders Training: I'd like to create and promote an in-prison leaders training and on-going Bible study for those that are incarcerated for life. So they can be there 24/7 for all who need them. Those in-prison leaders can reach deep with God's love into the darkest corners of the prison itself.
• Letter Writing Ministry: A Letters of Encouragement division to train those outside who want to help inmates inside. This is done through letter writing and scripture responses to the inmate's prayer requests. 
• Re-Entry Training: To partner in a re-entry program that provides much needed mentoring/friendship of inmates for their last few months and after incarceration. 
• Mentoring: Last but not least - inmates around the world are crying out for a non-judgmental friend to walk alongside them to help them get back on their feet and feel welcomed back into society after doing their time. 

NETWORKING WEBSITE: Why reinvent the wheel? Networking is essential! I want to assemble a world-wide web-site that all people who are serving in prison ministry can tap into for ministry support. There will be ideas from other parts of the world and links to prison organizations with contact information that may be close to them. A networking website for all to contribute their successes, failures and much needed support. What works and what doesn't?

I had a chance on my last day to meet with a few leaders in Nairobi that I had met before this trip. One was following my limited blog for training and is doing a powerful women's prison ministry, the other is working with juveniles and their families in prison ministry. They both felt they are on their own, desperate for any training and ministry ideas in Africa. In the USA we are blessed in abundance. Let's pass it on!

Please put your thinking caps on… I could also use your name ideas for this non-profit. Something edgy, yet something that crosses cultural boundaries. (For example: Rock'n The Rebels doesn't work because Rock'n isn't understood in Africa.) Let's throw a few names on the wall and see what sticks. 

What speaks to you? 

"Now is your chance to make a difference in the lives of those without a voice."

Lets allow God to mold and create this ministry together… Time is short, let's not waste it.

Shug

A FREIGHT TRAIN COMES THROUGH THE PRISON!

In our last prison visit, we had the Holy Spirit literally come through the prison like a FREIGHT TRAIN. This is what supernaturally happened…

I was preaching on "God Speaks" at the end of the book of Job. We were about 1/4 way into the message and I was summarizing the earlier chapters of Job. (For the new people in attendance.) I talked about how Job suffered and was stricken with boils… we aren't told in the Bible what skin disease Job had. It was painful and he would scrap them with broken pottery. He could have had Aids, Psoriasis, maybe Leprosy? Leprosy… I have seen leprosy. I shared in detail how I prayed for a leper during my last trip to Africa. (See picture below.) 

"The leper first came through the marketplace begging for money. People pushed him out of the way like an old dog. I couldn't help it, I was drawn to him like a magnate. I had an overwhelming love for him. None of the locals would interpret for him. Determined, I went to him and asked how I could pray for him, acting out my words with my hands. He proceeded to show me his club hands, deformed feet, and oozing skin. He could hardly stand and walked bent over with a cane. His face looked young but his crippled body looked centuries old."

"I didn't know if or when the leper would be healed, but what I did know is that if it was part of God's will, it would happen! I prayed loudly for him so that the rest of those gathering in the marketplace could hear that healing happens in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. After the prayer, the crowd was multiplying quickly and we were hustled out of the marketplace by our interpreter. I departed not knowing if the man was healed by God or not?"

The next day, one of our teams came back excited from conducting open-air preaching. "Shug, Shug!" "You'll never believe who came to our event? The leper you prayed for in the marketplace! He came forward and received Jesus as his Lord and Savior!"

The inmates listening started to applaud… I then boldly exclaimed; "Jesus Christ wants to heal each of us Spiritually. Like the seven lepers in the Bible, they believed first and then walked in obedience and became physically healed!"

THAT'S WHEN THE FREIGHT TRAIN CAME THROUGH THE PRISON! The Holy Spirit plowed through the auditorium with such force, that I felt I had to hold on to the chair to keep from being bowled over. Many inmates stood up spontaneously and began shouting and praising God. Others, had eyes wide open amazed at what they were seeing. Prisoners lifting their hands up and standing - receiving Jesus as their Lord… because of the POWERFUL presence of the Holy Spirit Himself in the room. Many of us were literally shaking and weak in the knees from what we had witnessed. We were on Holy ground!

Of course, because of this event, Satan was aroused. You could feel the darkness of the enemy lurking around causing minor disruptions during the following second service. Yet, God prevailed! The team estimated around 120 women in all stood up and received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. (Is it coincidence? That is the same number that gathered together at Pentecost in the book of Acts 1:15.)

The entire team was in AWE of the power of our Almighty God. WOW! What's next Lord? 

PLEASE PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

1. We are beginning our next service with time set-aside for the inmates (and team) to share what they experienced. Please pray that the women and our team will glorify Jesus Christ by sharing what they had witnessed and felt that day.
2. Pray that the testimony of others and the blood of the Lamb will bring unbelievers to repentance and surrender to Christ.
3. The Holy Spirit will continue to "steam" through the prison and create Spiritual Healing for all!
4. Protection for myself and our team and our families from the enemy. 
5. After testimonies, we will close with our final chapter of Job. Please pray the women will walk in obedience and be doubly blessed like Job.

One team member and myself thought the best analogy was that the Holy Spirit came through like a FREIGHT TRAIN. It didn't feel like a gentle breeze, it didn't feel like a flowing river, it felt like a physical full steam freight train charging through the prison. Wow!

"It just doesn't get any better than this!"

All For His Glory!

Shug

PRISON WAR CRY: CLAIM BACK WHAT IS YOURS!

ARMOR-UP PRAYER WARRIOR!

My knuckles are white from clinching, when I think about the holy War Cry I am going to preach on in prison this weekend. 

"WAR CRY - CLAIM BACK WHAT IS YOURS!"

"RAK CHAZAK!" This has been the mighty war cry of all generations of the Hebrew nation. A cry that ignited all people to go into battle.

(This message was inspired by Eric Ludy, Ancient War cry.)

"Rak Chazak = In Hebrew this is the rock like "OOMPH" of the spiritually zealous heart."

• The game face of a mighty warrior
• Tenacity of the soul
• The gritting of the teeth of the spirit inspired warrior
• and bearing those teeth to the enemy
• Possessing a resolute and growling resolve for the GLORY OF GOD!
• A tensing of all soldiers muscles...

"RAK CHAZAK! Where is our war cry?"

"We don't even know we are living in hostile territory. This isn't a time of peace, that is yet to come."

These inmates are now in for a spiritual battle. Why?

1. After receiving Christ as their Savior
2. Being publicly baptized
3. They need to be trained up in Spiritual Warfare 

(I recently used a similar message last Sunday evening at MN Adult and Teen Challenge Family Ministry Event.- God's Spirit was overwhelming as He moved through and convicted over 300 souls!)

"WILL YOU JOIN ME ON THE FRONT LINES OF THIS BATTLE?"

• Please pray that the inmates will armor up and realize this battle is not against their families, courts, police or drugs. That they stop being the victim, and get some "Spiritual Street Smarts" ...This battle is spiritual against the principalities and powers of Satan.
• Pray Satan will be bound from using them like puppets. 
• Pray they will realize Christ's Spirit in them is far greater than he who is in the world.
• Pray they will put on their armory of heaven. (Ephesians 6 - Armor)
• Pray they will memorize verses and use them as weapons against Satan.
• Pray in turn, they will pray in the spirit  - for guidance, victory and discernment.
• Pray they will put legs to their faith and live victoriously AS REDEEMED PEOPLE IN CHRIST!
• Pray IN CHRIST they will... CLAIM BACK THEIR LIFE, CLAIM BACK THEIR PURPOSE, CLAIM BACK THEIR FAMILIES!

"We are in a position here, to see souls set free!" Imagine what will happen, if Christians take up their battle cry once again to get Rak Chazak!" 

I personally need your prayers of protection for the spiritual warfare that can rage against my marriage, children, ministry, finances and health. Because Satan is going down!

WHERE IS YOUR WAR CRY? "RAK CHAZAK!"

Serving Shoulder to Shoulder with you.
Shug

IT WAS THE "SUPERBOWL" OF PRISON BAPTISMS!

I stand in awe of the power of Jesus Christ. There is indeed a revival going on in prison. All baptisms should have this type of celebration.

IT WAS LIKE THE SUPERBOWL. There was clapping and shouting, what a celebration!

I am reminded of Malachi 3 where the floodgates were opened and the blessings from heaven overflowed. The prison gym was transformed, there were flickering plastic candles, drying mats that lined the area and fresh flower pots that surrounded the large baptismal tub. We placed the chairs in a U-shape around the tub for all to witness.

Wow, every prayer lifted was answered. We held two back-to-back services and baptized "full immersion" 70 inmates. Because of prayer and persistence, this was the FIRST EVER immersion baptism in this prison. The Prison Chaplain was extremely happy how the team organized it and brought it all together. God worked it seamlessly. It was absolutely beautiful...

One Prison Team member who held the I.D. badges for the inmates while they were being baptized, describes her experience. 

"As I was holding their badge I would look at their prison photo and see either an angry, sad, or scared face. I was in awe as I watched the baptism experience change the reality of their faces. When they were immersed for the baptism it like a silvery liquid flowing over their faces and they rose up now beautiful, happy and so different from their prison badges."

Amazing! As I helped each woman in the tub, there was a mix of emotions. Some were nervous, some scared, others crying. I gently whispered... 

"Enjoy the moment, Jesus has been waiting for you." 

You could see the Holy Spirit just drape them at that moment in peace. When they professed their faith in Jesus Christ, the crowd went NUTS with cheering and applause for each woman. At the conclusion of their baptism, you could see the relief on their faces when I reminded them; 

"Your old life is gone, buried in baptism. You are washed and resurrected a NEW WOMAN in Christ. Now GO, and live a life victorious in Christ." 

All 200 witnesses throughout both services were cheering, clapping, celebrating and shouting "Hallelujah!" at each woman's baptism.

I wish you could have seen it! You could feel Christ's love resonate throughout the prison. 

At the conclusion of both services, I offered an opportunity for the witnesses to receive Christ through a prayer of salvation. We again had a front row seat to watch many more inmates cross over from death to life. Several inmates came up to me afterwards asking; 

"Shug, when is the next baptism, I want to be baptized in Christ!" 

It just doesn't get any better than this!

Lord, I am available anytime, anywhere in the world to help prepare hearts and do this again!

Shug

PRISON "FULL IMMERSION" BAPTISM

Dear Friend,

Have you felt the excitement that has been building in prison? We have held a two-part series that went into detail regarding baptism and sharing your testimony. We have 70 courageous, power filled women who will be "taking the plunge" and be baptized on Saturday January 25th from 6:40-8:40 p.m. Only God could create such a hunger for restoration.

I wish you could have witnessed it in prison last time... 

After the message, 70 hands raised high wanting to be baptized. Then those women met one-on-one with a team member spread throughout the gym. Each person guided by questions from the team member, fully understanding and confessing their belief in Christ. (The Westwood team interviewed each women wanting to be baptized to be sure they understood the meaning of baptism and that they had received Jesus as their Savior.) In the background, the worship team played beautifully as the remaining women worshipped.

I would confidently say, thanks to your prayers, God is creating a REVIVAL in Shakopee Prison. "Hallelujah!"

We now need you more than ever to intercede on our behalf, for our families, for the baptism celebration and for the women.

Please pray in "PRAISE" ahead of time for all that God has done and will do.

1. Thank you Lord we get to conduct a FULL IMMERSION baptism using Westwood's portable tub. 
2. Thank you Lord for a smoothly run evening, set-up, tear-down and a God orchestrated baptism celebration. That it will indeed be a celebration! (Pray the t
   ub doesn't have any issues and we have enough time for all 70 to be baptized at both services.)
3. We praise you for your Holy Spirit's presence to be felt by each person in attendance.
4. Lord, please hand invite each person - that those unsaved will come to witness the POWER of baptism and be saved themselves.
5. Pray against the enemy, that he will be unable to use any warfare against our families, ourselves, nor our entire prison team (including you) and any of the baptized women. 
6. Favor from the prison staff with no disruptions.
7. PRAY GOD'S NAME WILL BE GLORIFIED IN THIS SERVICE AND THROUGHOUT THE PRISON!

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you have granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. John 17:1-2 

I am in awe of our heavenly father. Let's pray boldly and in praise ahead-of-time!

It just doesn't get any better than this!

Shug