Angels Behind Bars tells the story of a man's journey of faith and conversion as he struggles with the daily challenges of being incarcerated in a state prison, in Texas. After a failed suicide attempt, Michael cries out to God, and God responds to his prayer in an unexpected way. In order to be completely free, he will have to delve deep into his childhood memories and face one of the greatest challenges in life: forgive the unforgivable.
"There was a time I believed prisons existed to rehabilitate people, to make our communities safer. . . . When I saw for the first time (but not the last) a mother sobbing and clutching her son when visiting hours were up, only to be physically pried off and escorted out by guards, I knew nothing about that made me safer. This is the heart of this country's prison system. And the prison system has become the heart of America."—Walidah Imarisha, from the introduction. This is no romanticized tale of crime and punishment. The three lives in this creative nonfiction account are united by the presence of actual harm—sometimes horrific violence. Walidah Imarisha, a sexual assault survivor, brings us behind prison walls to visit her incarcerated brother Kakamia and his fellow inmate Jimmy "Mac" McElroy, a member of the Irish gang the Westies. Together they explore the questions: People can do unimaginable damage to one another—and then what? What do we as a society do? What might redemption look like? Imarisha doesn't flinch as she guides us through the complexities and contradictions of transformative justice, eschewing theory for a much messier reality. The result is a nuanced and deeply personal analysis that allows readers to connect emotionally with the stories she shares, and the people behind them. Walidah Imarisha is a writer, organizer, educator, and spoken-word artist. She is the co-editor of Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories From Social Justice Movements and author of the collection of poetry Scars/Stars.
Angels are all around us. They are not fairy-tale creatures or New Age sprites but powerful beings created by God to reflect his light. And while we often are not aware of them, the angels are deeply interested in us. In Angels: Our Guardians in Spiritual Battle, moral theologian, author, and speaker Msgr. Brian Bransfield teaches us how to recognize the angels present in our lives. Drawing on Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Msgr. Bransfield shows how the angels — the good angels who serve God and the evil angels who fell with Lucifer — influence us in powerful ways. The evil angels are insidious as they seek to lure us into sin and away from God. The good and holy angels help us combat the wiles of the demons and accompany us on our mission of sharing Christ with the world. They serve as God’s humble yet powerful messengers and our guardians in the wilderness of this life, strengthening us against temptation. Ultimately, they lead us to the glory of the Resurrection so that we might share the victory of Jesus over sin and death.
When Charles Colson was released after seven months of prison time following the Watergate scandal, the last thing on earth he wanted to do was go back into those dark, frightening prisons, but God called him to do just that. Thus was born a life-long ministry, and here, for the first time, if the amazing success story of Prison Fellowship's thirty years of work in the darkest places on earth.
Walter Stadnick is not an imposing man. At five-foot-four, his face and arms scarred by fire in a motorcycle accident, he would not spring to mind as a leader of Canada's most notorious biker gang, the Hells Angels. yet through sheer guts and determination, intelligence and luck, this Hamilton-born youth who had the nickname of "Nurget" rose in the Hells Angels ranks to become national president. Not only did he lead the Angels through the violent war with their rivals the rock machine in Montreal in the Nineties, Stadnick saw opportunity to grow the Hells Angels into a national criminal gang. he was a visionary--and a highly successful one. Bikers are not known for their fondness for rival gangs. Stadnick and the Angels fought and defeated rival gangs, or used power of persuasion to patch them over. As Stadnick's influence spread, law enforcement took notice of the growing presence of the Angels in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. However, Stadnick's success did not come without a price. Arrested and charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder, stadnick beat the murder charges but was convicted of gangsterism and is currently serving time. Fallen Angel details one man's improbable rise to power in one of the world's most violent organizations, while shedding light on how this enigmatic and dangerous biker gang operated and why it remains so powerful.
Angel Morgan has served 25 years of a life sentence. This is the story of her journey from resentment of "the system" to recognition that God has a purpose for her life. Dr. Rosie Klein, Forensic Psychologist, was appointed to evaluate 21- year-old Angel for competency to stand trial on four counts of murder. Angel subsequently agreed to a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against the shooters she was with during the commission of the crimes. The plea deal, which got her life in prison, didn't seem like much of a "deal" to Dr. Klein. She wonders, to this day, if a jury trial might not have been a better choice for Angel. Would her abuse as a child have influenced the jurors? Would her only crime have been judged as "guilt by association? "Their relationship has continued to develop through emails, letters, phone calls, and prison visits. And now, Angel wants her friend to tell her story. It is hoped the reader will come to understand how and why some people choose the wrong path.
"Romero reveals the harrowing details of his experiences with the demonic while working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Discover the true stories of spiritual warfare being waged in the streets and alleys of L.A."--Amazon website
The chase was over. In April 1969, nineteen-year-old Jerry Shepherd stares in his rearview mirror at the two policemen approaching his car. He wants to run, make his escape, perhaps his final escape from life. Then he curls his fingers around the small Bible in his back pocket as the words Peace be still whisper through his head. He holds to those words as he steps from the car to handcuffed and arrested. Angels at the Crossroads is the compelling true story of Shepherd's amazing journey from wrongdoing to redemption. Convicted of a crime he can hardly believe he could have committed, Shepherd faces life in prison and fears not only that he won't survive behind bars, but also that he has stepped beyond the hope of prayer or forgiveness. His parents say no as they cover him with fervent prayers, but Shepherd must find his own way through the jungle of prison life to the people - earth angels - who can help him discover God's love knows no limit. On this pilgrimage to self-acceptance, Shepherd learns to forgive the past and completely and unconditionally love again. If you face a crossroads in your life, Shepherd's inspirational journey may help lead you down a new pathway to a life filled with compassion and love. Visit author Ann H. Gabhart online at www.annhgabhart.com.
The winners of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting tell the astonishing story of Mary Clarke. At the age of fifty, Clarke left her comfortable life in suburban Los Angeles to follow a spiritual calling to care for the prisoners in one of Mexico's most notorious jails. She actually moved into a cell to live among drug king pins and petty thieves. She has led many of them through profound spiritual transformations in which they turned away from their lives of crime, and has deeply touched the lives of all who have witnessed the depth of her compassion. Donning a nun's habit, she became Mother Antonia, renowned as "the prison angel," and has now organized a new community of sisters-the Servants of the Eleventh Hour—widows and divorced women seeking new meaning in their lives. "We had never heard a story like hers," Jordan and Sullivan write, "a story of such powerful goodness." Born in Beverly Hills, Clarke was raised around the glamour of Hollywood and looked like a star herself, a beautiful blonde reminiscent of Grace Kelly. The choreographer Busby Berkeley spotted her at a restaurant and offered her a job, but Mary's dream was to be a happy wife and mother. She raised seven children, but her two unfulfilling marriages ended in divorce. Then in the late 1960s, in midlife, she began devoting herself to charity work, realizing she had an extraordinary talent for drumming up donations for the sick and poor. On one charity mission across the Mexican border to the drug-trafficking capitol of Tijuana, she visited La Mesa prison and experienced an intense feeling that she had found her true life's work. As she recalls, "I felt like I had come home." Receiving the blessings of the Catholic Church for her mission, on March 19, 1977, at the age of fifty, she moved into a cell in La Mesa, sleeping on a bunk with female prisoners above and below her. Nearly twenty-eight years later she is still living in that cell, and the remarkable power of her spiritual counseling to the prisoners has become legendary. The story of both one woman's profound journey of discovery and growth and of the deep spiritual awakenings she has called forth in so many lost souls, The Prison Angel is an astonishing testament to the powers of personal transformation.
The chase is over. In April 1969, nineteen-year-old Jerry Shepherd stares in his rearview mirror at the two policemen approaching his car. He wants to run, make his escape, perhaps his final escape from life. Then he curls his fingers around the small Bible in his back pocket as the words Peace be still whisper through his head. He holds to those words as he steps from the car to be handcuffed and arrested. Angels at the Crossroads is the compelling true story of Shepherd?s amazing journey from wrongdoing to redemption. Convicted of a crime he can hardly believe he could have committed, Shepherd faces life in prison and fears not only that he won?t survive behind bars, but also that he has stepped beyond the hope of prayer or forgiveness. His parents say no as they cover him with fervent prayers, but Shepherd must find his own way through the jungle of prison life to the angels who can help him discover God?s love knows no limits. On this introspective pilgrimage to self-acceptance, Shepherd learns to forgive the past and completely and unconditionally love again. If you face a crossroads in your life, Shepherd?s inspirational journey may help lead you down a new pathway to a life filled with compassion and love.
