Doers of the Word

The Bible warns us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). Recently I made a new friend in Hawaii who has taken that message to heart.

Roy Yamamoto was a career criminal in Hawaii. When he decided to follow Jesus, he was illiterate. Wanting to grow in his knowledge and trust of the Lord, Roy asked God to teach him to read. Roy picked up the Bible and was able to slowly begin to read and understand. The more he read the Bible, the better he did. As his mind expanded, his heart changed, too.

Roy became a pastor at a local church and focused on ministry to inmates and their families. He established Camp Agape, a camp that serves Angel Tree children in Hawaii and has extended to the mainland. God is growing Roy’s ministry, and he is being used to reach into every prison in Hawaii. He is also serving the 1,700 Hawaiian inmates that are being held in a rented prison in Arizona. Roy has even been able to arrange for family members of inmates in Arizona to visit and with the dads and sons who are incarcerated thousands of miles from home.

Even when there’s not an ocean between them, prisoners are often separated from their families by shame, grief, and the sometimes-insurmountable expense of personal visits. Through Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program, you, like my friend Roy, can help connect inmates and their loved ones through the delivery of a Christmas gift and the Gospel. Local churches are urgently needed in critical areas. Go to www.angeltree.org [http://www.angeltree.org] today to give or register your church.