Monday 11 January 2010

John Piper in Angola Prison

"I was in Prison And You Came to Me"

According to Wikipedia,
The Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola and "The Farm") is a prison in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Corrections. The prison is the largest maximum security prison in the United States with 5,000 inmates and 1,800 staff members. It is located on an 18,000 acre (73 km²) property that was previously the Angola and other plantations owned by Isaac Franklin in unincorporated West Feliciana Parish, close to the Mississippi border. . . . Current Warden Burl Cain maintains an open-door policy with the media, which led to the production of the award winning documentary The Farm.

Angola Prison, under the leadership of Warden Cain, encourages an active Christian ministry throughout the prison, which is actually one of the largest working farms in the US. Many of the prisoners are "lifers": while not on death row, their prison sentences are so long, they will die in prison. Many prisoners have been converted. A mission training institute has been set up, and missionaries have gone from Angola into other prisons in the US to spread the Gospel amongst prisoners in other prisons.

In the video below, visiting Pastor John Piper conducts a 30 minute Q&A session with prisoners. The calibre of the questions would put many contemporary Christians to shame. When you consider the background of the audience you cannot but marvel at the wonder of God's redeeming grace in Christ. God alone can do what man cannot do--save sinners.



Hat Tip: Justin Taylor

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