Greetings in the Wonderful Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A team formed of 10 brethren: Rob Brown, Jesus Nunez, Willie Ripple, Constantin Lupancu, Allen Andras, Francisco Sanchez, George Ieremciuc, Johnny Buia, Aurel Balici and Adrian Greab went to the cities of Rosario and Buenos Aires, Argentina from March 24 to March 31 to spread the word of God to inmates in nine prisons, many churches and a Remar halfway house. First we want to thank God because he was with us on our trip and guided and protected us all. During our week there, we distributed about 480 bibles. It rained every day we were there.

We left Saturday, March 24 from Chicago and after a 12-hour plane ride we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there we took a bus, which was arranged for us by brothers Hugo and Daniel Brodbeck, our hosts for the week. It took us another 5 hours by bus to get to city of Rosario, which has a population of 1.5 million and where we spent most of our time. We divided into two teams one composed of: leader Rob, Willie, Allen, our interpreter Francisco, and Adrian. The other team consisted of: leader Jesus, Aurel, Johnny, George, and Constantin.

As soon we arrived each team spoke at a different church. One church was called “Vision de Dios” (Vision of God) and had about 250 members. All on the team had a chance to speak and at the end of service a lot of people decided to pray that they would get closer to God.

Monday morning we went to our first two prisons, one of which was in the city of Nujere, which was for women. There were about 15-20 women present at the service but others listened including about 6 or 7 guards. The word of God was preached to them but at the beginning not all of them were paying attention, but after 10-15 minutes we could see that even the guards were paying attention. At the end we saw some of the women crying because their hearts seemed to be truly touched by God. Some of them decided to give their lives to God.

Monday night there was much flooding in the area and even the church services were cancelled because of flooding in the churches.

Tuesday morning we all went to another prison in the city of Santa Fe, which was for men. The prison had about 750 people. Two weeks prior to our visit, 12 inmates were killed in a riot there. One team went to the south wing and the other group to the north wing. We spoke to about 60 prisoners for about one hour and a lot of them also prayed to give their lives to Jesus. After we spoke to the inmates, we got a tour of the prison and we saw were some of the inmates were receiving industrial training. They had sections for learning carpentry in order to make furniture, training to make cement grills, benches, metal desks and chairs, floor tiles, etc.

Tuesday night we went to Remar, a halfway house, in Rosario and about 100 people were present. The whole team attended. Also attending were the homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts, etc. It was a special night because we really felt the presence of God in a special way and we felt certain that hearts were touched and lives were changed. Many now want to start serving God and to minister to other people that are going to thru the same pain as they have gone through.

Wednesday morning we went to two more prisons in the city of Pinero, but we didn’t get a chance to speak to a lot of inmates in one of them because it is a very dangerous prison and there was a conflict inside the prison that morning and there were a lot of guards present in order to get the situation back to normal. But the inmates who heard the word of God decided to give their lives to Jesus, and we pray that they could be a light for the other inmates who couldn’t be present to hear the Word of God.

Wednesday night, Rob Brown and Jesus Nunez held the Prison Training Seminar, which was attended by about 65 people. One woman in particular heard about the seminar on the radio and had traveled a long way to attend. She is interested in working the women’s prisons and has only been in prison ministry for two weeks. She said it was a big blessing for her to receive the training.

Thursday morning we went to another prison in Rosario and again one team went to one wing and the other team went to a different wing. There were about 140 inmates who were in Christian wings but we also we spoke in another 3 wings with about 12 people in each present. Many were hearing the Gospel for the first time.

Thursday night we went to a church, which was pastored by a Brazilian missionary. Special prayer for some of the young people was made.

Friday morning we went to 2 different villages around Rosario, which are considered among the poorest in Argentina. We distributed food that we had purchased to about 110 families, but after we saw how great the need was so we bought food to feed another 70 families. Also we gave preached the word of God and gave bibles to the people before we gave them the food. We thank God for the chance that he gave us to touch those people lives even for a small way considering how vast the need is.

Saturday morning we left for Buenos Aires. There we went to one of the few prisons in the world that has only Christian inmates and is run by a Christian administration. The name of the prison is “Cristo la Unica Esperanza” (Christ, the Only Hope) or Number 25. Argentina gives numbers to each of their prisons. We had lunch with the director who, with tears in his eyes, shared his personal testimony of how Christ changed his life. After we finish eating, we were invited to take part in the church service being held in the prison. People from outside the prison come with their families, including children, to take part. Many from around the world have come there to see what God is doing. As soon we entered into the room we felt the presence of God in there. All of us had tears in our eyes because we felt the Holy Ghost inside and all around us. It was something that we are going to remember for the rest of our lives because its something rarely felt even in the churches of America. God has done something special there because the inmates spend each day in prayer, fellowship, Bible Study, and worship services.

Saturday night we returned to the U.S. We saw His Mighty work again like we see in every country we visit. We thank Him because we had the great privilege to speak the word of God in prisons and churches in yet another country. Please pray for the lives of those who gave their lives to Jesus that they will become a light in the darkness. Amen.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Staff Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Jessie,

In these past couple of days, I went back around to gather the results of your visit, and I can tell you that it is unanimous. Everybody has been impacted with the work that you are doing.

And in general, the questions are ” How can we get to know you better in order to help you out in the future.”

Other people have learned about you and other churches are asking for information.

I have a friend in the Pastoral Prison work that found out about our visit to the Coronda Jail and he told me of the impact that has resulted in the testimonies of the inmates and the help of faith and hope that your ministry gave.

I had coffee with the Co-Secretary of Human Rights, and he liked the idea of having the province participate in some way in the training of chaplains.

I was in the Government office, to see if there were any changes in the statutes of the

Civil Associations, but since in was a holiday week, the workers didn’t really feel like

working, so maybe next week they will give me the latest copy and I’ll send it on to you.

I am gathering a lot of information that I’ll send to you soon.

I’m ending on this note.

In the Church where we were Thursday, Pastor Gladis told me that on that day there was a group of 10 adolescents there that had a lot of issues: bad conduct, drug addiction, & theft. Since then, those same young people have changed their attitude, come to church to work, and even helped to make homemade bread. Sunday morning, they were all making and kneading the dough. She told me she took out photos of them because the church couldn’t believe the change. I am using her words.

Your visit has been a blessing for us and for the people, which for a long time didn’t feel like they were treated with love by people giving without asking for anything in return and now that has changed.

Well then, this has been a very long letter, but I summarize, that surely you will understand it better than me.

An embrace until we meet soon,

Hugo Brodbeck

We were in Kenya to preach the gospel in prisons, crusades, and churches. There were seven of us who went: Chaplain Rob Brown, Pastor Willie Ripple, Pastor Aurel Balici, Constantin Lupancu, Pavel Sav, George Ieremciuc, and Adrian Greab. Our main focus was to work along side Pastor Joseph Ngara who is the local leader of an established Kenyan prison ministry, Prisoners for Christ, and to establish permanent prison training institute in Kenya. We ministered in eight prisons and we purchased and distributed 288 English Bibles and 500 in Swahili to the prisons. Once we got to Nairobi, we divided into two teams for the week. Here are some of the highlights.

SUNDAY:

-we attended services at Church on Rock, Langata with 300 in attendance in the morning where all of us had an opportunity to speak.

MONDAY:

-we went to Getahuru Rehabilitation School, which housed 120 children between the ages of 8 and 15.

-they are kept there for 3 months in which time they are observed and tested to determine their future classification.

-each child has only one uniform which they wash every night

-we gave each one a piece of soap and we donated some Bibles to the library

-we also visited Jamahuri short sentence prison

-most of prisoners are there for stealing or other minor crimes

-there were about 150 prisoners and some of them were really moved and decided to give their life to Jesus

-we gave each one of them soap and bibles were donated to the library

TUESDAY:

-we purchased 300 full Bibles in Swahili from the Bible League in Nairobi.

-we drove about one hour from Nairobi to the city of Ruiru, where we spoke at the Prison Training College of Kenya.

-there were 1500 students present (including 400 Muslims) that were there to study for 9 months and then be assigned to work in one of the 96 prisons in Kenya. The account of the Philippian jailer was preached.

-also present there were representatives from the Gideons who distributed either a bible in English or Swahili to everyone.

-also we went to Ruiru Government Prison

-there were about 450 prisoners present of which ¼ were Muslims

-we gave each prisoner a Bible and a piece of soap, only 2 Muslims refused the

Bible

-throughout our visits to the prisons, Pastor Moses Mabongah who is a Chaplain at the Training College helped us.

-that night we drove 4 hours to the city of Nyeri and on the way we saw a lot of poor villages.

WEDNSDAY:

-in the morning we went to Kingongo Government Prison in Nyeri, which is divided, into 3 sections: women, medium security and maximum security

-Pastors Balici and Ripple went to medium security

-Chaplain Brown and Adrian went to the women’s section

We even had the opportunity to preach to the prisoners on death row. 6 men raised their hands to ask Christ into their hearts.

-then all 4 of us went in a big yard were all 1500 inmates were brought in so they

could listen to the word of God

-in that moment we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Adrian said this was one of the most unbelievable moments of his life.

-over 200 men raised their hands to give their lives to Jesus Christ

- in the afternoon we drove back to Nairobi and had dinner with the president of Prisoners for Christ and his team/staff , a likeminded organization headquartered near Seattle, to discuss our mutual visions for prison ministry.

THURSDAY

-the whole group got together and we went to the AIM mission headquarters in Kijabe where we delivered Christmas gifts we had transported from their family members in the U.S. to Rob Brown’s friends, Drs. Kevin and Karen Shannon.

-Kijabe is the location of the largest mission station in the world and Dr. Kevin is the director of the 277-bed hospital located there which has a high standard of care compared with most other hospitals in Kenya.

-free time

FRIDAY

-free time

-in the afternoon, brothers Constantin, Pavel and George and went back to Nairobi where they participated in a crusade.

-the rest of us toured the hospital in Kijabe -at night we drove back to Nairobi

SATURDAY

-brother Rob hosted a prison training seminar at the Church on the Rock for the people who were really interested in or already working in the prison ministry; there was very good feedback from them about the day long training

-Pastors Balici, Ripple and Adrian went with pastor Ngara and bought food that they wanted to give away to the poor people.

-at night they packed the food in separate bags

SUNDAY

-we went to pastor Ngara’s church where everyone again had an opportunity to speak

-after church we gave away the food that was bought to 72 families who were very, very poor and who lived near the church.

MONDAY

-we met with the director of Project Phillip at the Bible League in Nairobi to plan the next phase of prison ministry training in Kenya.

-brothers Rob and Constantin went to meet with a lawyer about establishing an NGO in Kenya. Potential board members were also present. The process of establishing Chaplains for Christ International and a permanent Prison Ministry Training Institute in Kenya has begun.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Name, which is above every name, the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A team of 7 of us worked from Jan. 21 to Jan. 30 in the prisons within the state of Santa Catarina.  There were no Chaplains in any of the prisons. The team included: Willie, an ex-con, Constantin, Adrian, Aurel, Pavel, John and Vasile. The team visited 6 prisons and did two Prison Training Seminars as well as distributing over 435 Bibles in Portuguese to the inmates and distributing many bags of beans, rice, sugar, and cooking oil which were combined in one month packages to over one hundred families in some of the poorest areas in Blumenau and Jaragua do Sul.  There was ministry to inmates with praying to commit their lives to the Lord.  Also, there was ministry in 8 churches in the evenings. One of the greatest miracles occurred when a connection was made with the Ministry of Justice representative who said that if any of the directors of any of the prisons did not cooperate with us, he would fire him.  We had access to every prison in the state.

Jan 21, Sat. -  the ministry began in Blumenau, 680 kilometers from Sao Paulo.  At the first prison, Presidiu de Blumenau, evangelism took place in the yard with 70 women, 29 men and a group of about 100 homeless inmates including families of women, children and visitors.  About 35 prayed to receive Christ as Lord.  In the evening, there was a great visitation from the Lord in the Assembly of God Church with 1000 in attendance with many recommitments.

Jan 22, Sun. – the group divided and ministered in three churches, one of which was in Blumenau.  One young woman testified that she was prepared to commit suicide but she attended the church for the first time ever and the Lord delivered her and she rejoiced with tears that she was free of the torment the Enemy had put in her mind.  The pastor will follow-up and help her in the faith

Jan 23, Mon. – the first Prison Training seminar took place in the afternoon with over 100 in attendance.  Forty attendees were inspired to start prison ministry and to become affiliated with Chaplains for Christ.  We also met Daniela Gherman who became our Romanian interpreter.

Jan 24, Tues – we distributed the bags of groceries along with local pastors, including Senior Pastor Nilton dos Santos the brother of Daniel dos Santos, our main connection.

Jan 25, Weds – our second and third prison visits took place in Floreanopolis, the capital of the state.  Ministry to 165 men and 70 prayed to commit their lives.  One director requested Bro.Willie and the team to pray and lay hands on him and to pray for the work of the prison.  The evening was spent on an ocean tour on a charter boat and brothers Constantin, Aurel, and Adrian caught some fish.

Jan 26, Thurs – we attended two more prisons in Joinville.  In one prison, we had the first evangelical services in the history of the six-month-old prison.  The Gospel and the testimony of Willie Ripple touched about 300.  There was such an impact, that over 200 men prayed the salvation prayer.  We began the second seminar with 60 in attendance in Jaragua do Sul.

Jan 27, Fri – we returned to another prison in Joinville.  In one area, the inmates were so dangerous, we had to preach to them from the roof of the prison were 350 more men and 60 women heard the Good News and 200 men and 40 women prayed the sinners prayer. One woman was baptized with the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues and many tears. In the afternoon was free time in Barra Velha.

Jan 28, Sat. – visited prison in Jaragua do Sul with 32 inmates ministered to and 20 committed their lives.  At night, the team split to minister in four churches.  Pastor Balici ministered with a word of knowledge that there was someone there who traveled along way to attend this service to be healed of an incurable disease.  At the end of the service, one man testified that he was that man and that the Lord had healed him that night.

Jan 29, Sun. – we gave the second session of the second seminar in Jaragua do Sul.  At the end 30 more dedicated themselves to prison ministry.  We also distributed food to 25 more families.  We visited an elderly sister who had a word of knowledge from the Lord before the team arrived that our ministry in Brazil was according to His timing and that a sign of that was that we should trust that He would protect our families. In the evening was ministry to four churches.

Jan 30. Mon. – we toured Curitiva and returned to Sao Paulo for a night flight back to Chicago.
Praise God for all that He did in this place through our weak vessels.  What a remarkable opportunity it is to serve the Master in this way.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Name, which is above every name, the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A team of 6 of us worked in the prisons near Caracas, Venezuela in May.   The team included: Alberto, a Puerto Rican brother who served as our translator, Willie, an ex-con, Constantin, Adrian and Alexandru, three Romanian brothers and myself.   This was a somewhat different trip than many of our other trips in that our Prison Ministry Seminar was the focal point.  Of course, we did visit prisons and distribute over a thousand dollars worth of Bibles like we usually do.  These services in other countries are always so encouraging.  The inmates are always respectful and glad to have us minister to them.  There are never enough Bibles because nearly every single inmate would like to have a Bible and sometimes they even fight over them!  We also bought food and distributed it in a poor village on the edge of the Amazon jungle. With grateful hearts they received the food and the Gospel message of a changed life.  On Monday and Tuesday, I conducted the Training Seminar with about 65 in attendance.  There are no Chaplains in Venezuela so this concept was new to many of them.  They embraced the precepts of Chaplaincy and prison ministry with all their hearts.  The second day was memorable.  A representative from the Ministry of Justice was present and explained that the prison ministry in Venezuela was in chaos.  She said that various ministries would visit the prisons with no order or consistency involved.  She said that there was no coordination between the churches and the prison ministry and could I possibly help.  I spent the next two hours explaining how a cohesive Chaplaincy could be developed.  At the end of the day, we invited 15 people to come forward (no pastors) to be prayed for a dedicated to full-time ministry in the prison system.  When we were finished, the Ministry of Justice representative thanked us for giving them direction on how to proceed and also remarked at the “coincidence”.  “What was that?” I asked.  She said that on Thursday, an agreement for the Evangelical churches of Venezuela to provide a Chaplain to every one of the 35 prisons in the country was to be signed and could I meet with the Evangelical representative.  I met with Samuel Olson on Wednesday and told him about our seminar. He said that he wanted 5 of those dedicated to full-time prison ministry to be referred to him to become the first 5 Chaplains for the prison system.  He said that they had been working on this approval for six years and that they had no other candidates for the Chaplaincy yet.  God’s timing is absolutely perfect.  Please pray for this breakthrough and that the 5 men we immediately notified and spoke with will become the first fruits of many Chaplains in this country. Praise God for all that He did in this place.  What a remarkable opportunity it is to serve the Master in this way.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our recent trip to Honduras was one of the best prison ministry trips we have ever had. A team of 7 of us worked in the prisons near Tegucigalpa, Honduras the first week in March. I met the team on Feb. 28 after I arrived from Guatemala City where I had been working for a week with a medical team from Evergreen Park, IL. That team of 29 saw 1700 patients and the spiritual clinic, where I worked, ministered to each one of them. We had 7 local pastors working with us every day and over 200 people prayed to accept Jesus as Savior.

On Tues. morning, March 1st, our team met with the Director General of the Honduran Penitentiary System, Jaime Banegas and evangelical Chaplain Jimmy Hughes, who works as the only non-Catholic Chaplain in the country. Our team was asked what we wanted to do in the prisons for the week and we were given complete access to the entire prison system. We were also allowed to take photographs anywhere we wanted to. This access is unprecedented in my visits to 27 countries. We distributed 475 Bibles, 300 bars of soap, and 100 toothpaste/toothbrush sets. We ministered to 65 women at the Cefas prison and 131 youth at the Nuevo Horizontes prison. At the maximum-security prison in Tamara, we ministered to 66 men in the segregation unit (Casa Blanca), 209 men in the Cervino Multiple unit, 30 men in the Maximum Security unit (see our Special Report), and 8 men in the hospital. The men of Casa Blanca have asked us to come back and build a church in their unit. On Fri., we ministered to over 60 men at the medium security prison at Comayagua. In addition to working in the prisons, we ministered at a rehab. home, churches, and distributed 400 pounds of beans/tracts to families living in housing erected as an aftermath to Hurricane Mitch, which completely devastated the country in 1998. Many lives were touched by the Gospel message and we are invited to return at any time.

Our team had a very interesting mix of: three Romanians, a Mexican, two Chaplains and an ex-convict who is now an ordained minister. There was remarkable unity and focus as all team members submitted to the proper authorities with few exceptions. Only inexperience in prison work created any incidents of concern. Thankfully, the Lord protected us and gave us favor in this country. Praise God for all that He did in this place. What a remarkable opportunity it is to serve the Master in this way.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I will be posting to our Website a complete newsletter report on our trip to the prisons in Honduras last week but I felt I needed to send a special report on one part of that ministry. We ministered in the largest and most dangerous prison in Honduras; Tamara National Penitentiary.  We were given “carte blanche” access by the miracle grace of God. We ministered one-on-one with every inmate in the maximum-security section which houses 30 of the most dangerous men in the country. They are there for kidnapping, murder, and assault outside and inside the penitentiary. Four of these inmates, including Juan Carlos Miralda, are accused of the bus massacre in San Pedro Sula, Honduras just before last Christmas. Many of these men, including Juan Carlos, prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and we gave each one of them a Bible with instructions on how to read it. They all expressed thankfulness for the ministry of the Hope of the Gospel in a place one inmate described as “hell on earth”.

Below is the AP account of the arrest of Juan Carlos.

Police Arrest Presumed Bus Massacre Leader
By Associated Press

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – President Ricardo Maduro said Monday that police have arrested the alleged mastermind of an attack on a public bus that left 28 passengers dead two weeks ago. The suspect was identified as Juan Carlos Miralda, 24, one of the leaders of the violent Mara Salvatrucha 13 street gang. In addition, police seized a 22 cal. gun,15 grams of cocaine and several cutting weapons.

Ten other gang members have been arrested in connection with the bus killings. All have been charged with homicide.

The massacre took place on a bus filled with workers returning home and shoppers buying gifts for Christmas. A car carrying two armed men cut off the bus, after which one of the men got of the car and started shooting. He then climbed aboard the bus where he continued to fire, while two other men fired from behind the bus. The majority of the 56 passengers aboard the bus were women and children.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Wonderful Name that is above every name, the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We have just returned from a two-week trip to Spain and Portugal.

Five of us traveled to Spain and four of us continued on to Portugal. This was a very different kind of trip from many of our previous trips. Usually, we do everything that we plan and more. This time, we did very little that we planned and yet we say the Hand of God at work in the opportunities presented to us.

Spain – our team embarked on two areas of ministry. Since there were three Romanians on the team, we spent a lot of time ministering in Romanian churches and to Romanian people. There is a very large population of Romanians near Madrid in a city called Arganda del Rey. One important contact that was made was with Romanian pastor Rus who brought several youth from his congregation for “open air” evangelism with A.G. missionary Jacob Bock in the very center of Madrid (Plaza del Sol). We participated in this for two nights. He is also interested in a making a trip to Romania with brother Constantin Lupancu and a representative of an organization based in Spain called “Remar” (similar to Teen Challenge) for the purpose of establishing ministry in Romania to drug addicts, street people and ex-inmates when they are released.

The other area of ministry was to Spanish speaking churches in Spain. Primarily, pastor Jaime Flores of the Christian Life Center in Tinley Park made contacts, built relationships and generally got very excited about his first mission trip. The Verbo church, started in Guatemala, located near Madrid and other churches expressed interest in becoming affiliates of Chaplains for Christ and establishing prison ministry in Spain. We brought 230 full Spanish Bibles on the plane with us for distribution to inmates in the prisons. One pastor is coming to Chicago Jan. 26 and will minister in the Cook County Jail and discuss affiliation with us. We also made contacts for possible trips to Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium. In reality, the whole world is open to us. However, we want to go only where He sends us.

Portugal –The three Romanians and I continued on to Lisbon on the overnight train and stayed there three days. In addition to ministry in the Romanian churches, we participated in an Elim Church baptism service in December in the Atlantic ocean. The Romanians seem to take it all in stride but this American was cold. We ministered in the prison at the Estabelecimento Prisional de Alcoentre located 50 kilometers north of Lisbon. Getting into this prison was a real miracle. Because of some miscommunications, our contacts in Spain made no arrangements for us in Lisbon until eight hours before we were to board the overnight train to go there. When we arrived in Lisbon, everyone told us it was impossible to get into the prisons with no notice (we wanted to conduct a prison service the same day we arrived). While I have been able to arrange for such things in Latin America without notice, Europe is quite a different matter. Each one we talked with told us it was impossible but we asked if we could try. We eventually found ourselves working with a Portuguese brother who has weekly services at a prison but even he was denied entrance on the day we arrived because all the inmates were at a Christmas party. When we arrived at the prison with 1000 tracts in Portuguese, we knocked on the door. The first guard told us no entrance but just then a corporal and a sergeant came through the door and we talked with them for a while. Again we were told that the Christmas party was going on and where was our access permission form? They told us that they couldn’t help us but perhaps we should talk with the lady who was also just leaving for lunch. It was the Director of the whole jail. Her timing was perfect. We explained that we wanted just 15 minutes to pass out these tracts that we had brought from the U.S. and she gave us permission. After lunch, we had a one-hour service with four men in Spanish. I translated for the Romanians and at the conclusion, we prayed for each man individually. One Venezuelan was at the service for the first time and as soon as we began to pray for him, he broke down sobbing in repentance. We purchase several Portuguese Bibles for this brother to use in the prison.

“… I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it:” Rev. 3:8

Please continue to pray for us as we are currently making plans for trips to: Romania, Guatemala, Honduras, and perhaps Senegal. May the Lord richly bless you all.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Wonderful Name that is above every name, the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We have just returned from a one-week trip to Guatemala in Central America

SUMMARY.  Three of us arrived in Guatemala City on Mon. and went directly to a meeting with the local missionary and a representative of Ministerios Vida, who would help us get into the prisons. We purchased 140 full Bibles in Spanish to go along with the three suitcases full of new testaments and Gospels of John we brought with us. We proceeded then to the Centro Preventivo prison for men in Guatemala City where we met with 6 inmate “pastor” leaders and conducted the prison training seminar with them. Each of these leaders was responsible to provide pastoral care for their own pavilion (12 pavilions in all) and they were very grateful for the training. In the evening, we spoke at the Philadelphia Assemblies of God Church in the Santa Martha Colony and spoke to about 150 leaders. On Tues. morning, we traveled two hours to the El Boqueron prison in Santa Rosa. We had services in the general patio with inmates and families and also in the Maximum Security areas. In the evening, we spoke at the church of one of the pastors who belongs to Ministerios Vida. On weds. we went to Centro Correctivo Santa Teresa prison, in Antigua. Missionary Jeff Mills helped us gain entrance for a full service there. On Thurs., we traveled to Puerto Barrios for two days of work with the people in the villages of the tropical rain forest passing out 800 pounds of rice and beans to them.  On Fri., we returned to the U.S.

DETAILS. This trip was, as usual, a whirlwind of intensity but the Lord put the details together and I sensed His Presence throughout the trip. We left on Oct 18 and returned Oct 22 but so many powerful and amazing things happened in the short days of ministry that we had. On this team were Francisco Sanchez, a Mexican, Constantin Lupancu, a Romanian, and myself.

On Mon., we arrived and were whisked to a meeting with the local missionary who set up the trip for us. We purchased 140 Bibles but that was not nearly enough for our ministry in the three prisons. For the first time, I conducted the Prison Training Seminar with inmate leaders who were encouraged to expand their vision. They have the opportunity to minister to the inmates 24 hours per day while visitors and Chaplains do not. All six who attended were grateful for the materials and training that we gave them. That evening, we spoke to 150 leaders at the Philadelphia church about the importance of obedience to God in all things.

On Tues., we traveled to the El Boqueron prison in Santa Rosa. ALL of the guards wanted a Bible and the Director of the prison was a sincere Christian man who wanted us to give a Bible to every single one of his 160 prisoners. We gave about 100 out at this prison but I have never seen a Director of a prison so cooperative and glad to have us in his institution. We were able to minister to every single area of the prison including “the hole” when the most violent inmates are housed. In the evening, we spoke to more leaders at a Cristiana Vida pastor’s church on the importance of conviction, repentance, submission and commitment to God. The service lasted 3 and ½ hours.

On Weds. we all went in for a service at the Centro Correctivo Santa Teresa prison, in Antigua. Because two inmates had been killed in a riot there two weeks ago, we were only supposed to be allowed to speak to the inmates through the bars and have no direct contact with them. However, after talking the administration, they opened up the entire facility to us and we had a full service in the patio with about 40 inmates present. It was as though an Angel of the Lord had opened the prison doors for us. I thought about the Apostle Peter who was in prison and an Angel opened the door and he walked out. We walked in. We distributed 40 Bibles, not enough, including many of the guards. Missionary Jeff Mills is now interested in continuing this new work at this prison and he has already submitted the paperwork to the authorities in order to do this.

On Thurs., we traveled to the Puerto Barrios area and purchase 800 pounds of rice and beans and immediately took them in the tropical rain forest to distribute them to the villagers there. We also had a meeting with the local leaders to make plans for a medical mission trip from Maranatha Chapel in Evergreen Park, IL. in Feb. 2005 at the Mision El Faro children and family ministry site across the bay from Puerto Barrios.

On Fri., we distributed the remaining rice and beans and we returned to Guatemala City by small airplane. While the ride was beautiful, we ran into a storm just as we arrived at Guatemala City and had to make an emergency maneuver at the last minute that provided a little more excitement than anyone was expecting. We landed safely, and then returned to the U.S.

In conclusion, please pray for us because we are receiving many invitations to conduct our training in many countries. We have a specific invitation to San Pedro Sula, Honduras for March of 2005. Also, we have put the training on videotape and DVD in order to equip and prepare trainers to go out and do the same training that I have been doing these past few years. We are also developing a training institute here in Chicago for this purpose. We have an office and an institute director. Please continue to pray with us about this ministry as we continue to build on it.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Wonderful Name that is above every name, the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We have just returned from a one-week trip to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

SUMMARY.  Four of us arrived in the D.R. on Mon. and went directly to the national television station to tape a program to be aired in two weeks. On Tues. morning, we conducted the prison training seminar from 10am to 2:30pm. Then, we bought 347 full Bibles to distribute in the prisons. In the evening, we spoke at Trinidad Assemblies of God Church. On weds. we went to the women’s prison for a service. In the evening, we spoke at a small house church. On Thurs., we went to the Juvenile Jail for two services and then to the Men’s Jail for two more services and distribution of Bibles. The name of the prison was Najayo. On Thurs. evening, we spoke at Calvary church. On Fri., we returned to the U.S.

DETAILS. This trip was a whirlwind of intensity but the Lord put the details together at the last minute and it felt like it had been planned since the beginning of the foundations of the earth, which it was. We left on Aug 23 and returned Aug 27 but so many powerful and amazing things happened in the short four days of ministry that we had.

About a month and a half before his departure, one of our jail volunteers, Willie Ripple, called me to tell me that he was leaving for the D.R. will a team to do leadership training but that he wanted to know if I could arrange for him to do prison ministry instead so I gave him some contacts and that was all I did at that time. On Aug 10, with less than two weeks before departure, Willie called to tell me that an itinerary for a full week of prison ministry was arranged for but the Hispanic minister that was to accompany him could not obtain a passport so Willie would have to do the jail work alone. Another complication was that the leadership training team would be doing their work in Santiago and the prison ministry would be done in Santo Domingo. 92 miles and two mountain ranges separate the cities. Willie asked if I could go with him because he was going alone and he spoke no Spanish. I agreed and on Aug 20, brothers John Janks and Constantin Lupancu also decided to go. We needed the Lord’s help to gain approval at the last minute for these two brothers to go into the prisons. Even though brother John forgot to bring his passport to the government office on Tues. afternoon, but I had brought a photocopy of his passport with me and they accepted that. On Weds., we all went in for the women’s service at Najayo prison. As in other third world countries, the policy is for the women to keep their babies with them fulltime until 3-5 years of age so that the mother can raise their children in their early years but the children are raised in prison.

On Mon., we arrived and were whisked to a television station do be interviewed for a program to be aired in two weeks.

On Tues., we had our Prison Training Seminar from 10:00AM to 2:30PM. With less than one weeks notice, we had over 70 people come to the seminar. At the conclusion, eight came forward to be dedicated to fulltime Chaplain’s work in the prisons. Another 21 were dedicated to be jail volunteers and visitors. At the conclusion, one woman stood up with tears rolling down her checks and gave this testimony. She was a lawyer but her pastor had told her that the Lord had a prison ministry call on her life. A new president had just been elected to the D.R. and just yesterday, this woman had been offered the position of Attorney General for the Dominican Republic. She testified that she now decided that she would decline this position in favor of the one God was calling her to – a higher calling- in order to help organize the prison ministry in the D.R. based upon the training we had given. In the afternoon, we bought $1800 worth of complete Bibles (347 in total), the most anyone there could recall ever having been purchased to be given away in the prisons. In the evening, we preached to several hundred at the Trinidad A.G. church.

On Weds., we all went in for a service in the Women’s prison. In the evening, we spoke at a house church and met a Dominican man who grew up in New York. His background was similar to Willie’s, (one of long term drug abuse, prison and now dedicated to the work of the Lord) but Eric was now discouraged and not attending church. The team was able to encourage and help rebuild his trust in the Lord.

On Thurs., we had two services in the Juvenile prison and two services in the Men’s Prison. All four were very powerful and we were permitted to take photographs in the Juvenile prison. These will be posted at our website, www.chaplainsforchrist.org. In the evening, we spoke at Calvary A.G. church.

On Fri., we returned home.

In conclusion, please pray for us because we are receiving many invitations to conduct our training in many countries. Also, we are putting the training on videotape and DVD in order to equip and prepare trainers to go out and do the same training that I have been doing these past few years. We are also developing a training institute here in Chicago for this purpose. We have an office and an institute director. Please continue to pray with us about this ministry.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the Wonderful Name that is above every name, the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have just returned from a two-week trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and Lima, Peru.

BOLIVIA. The first week I joined with a medical missions team of 28, many of which were out of my home church, Maranatha Chapel.  We set up a medical clinic near Santa Cruz, Bolivia with the team seeing over 1100 patients there in four days and I also visited one prison. The medical team had brought with them a team of doctors and nurses as well as medicine that was given to people without charge. My role was to lead the Spiritual Clinic where I presented the Gospel and prayed with each patient after the doctors had seen them and before they were given their prescriptions. This was an evangelized area but each non-Christian heard the Gospel and 95% of them (199 men, women and children) prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior. It was a privilege to see the transformations that took place with tears, repentance and joy with person after person who heard the message of hope, many for the first time.

On Sunday night, we spoke at a church near the worksite and I sensed “life” as soon as I walked through the doors. With wonderful anticipation, the Power of the Holy Spirit filled the church and a powerful message of submission to God went forth. The church was filled with the team from the U.S., Bolivians and Guarani Indians. At the altar call, almost all of the Bolivians and Guarani responded with weeping and crying out to God. There was a demonic manifestation in one of the Guarani women who had come to the altar. Pastor Jessie Nuñez and I prayed with her for deliverance.

In addition, I was able to enter the Palmasola prison with a team of 5 Bolivian men who worked with me at the Spiritual Clinic. As I walked the dusty road from the front gate to the men’s section of the prison, I found myself becoming very discouraged. It was hot, the rest of the team was enjoying their free day and I was very tired from the work of the week. I found myself thinking, “The rest of the team thinks I’m crazy for going into these prisons on our off day and maybe I am. I don’t want to go in here. I’ll just give a ten-minute presentation and be on my way and I won’t put my heart into it.” Then, when I was about a hundred yards away, I saw one of the many inmates standing at the gate begin to jump up and down when he saw us coming. Then I heard, “Brother, remember me! Soto Prison in Madrid!”

This inmate had been in that prison in Spain when we ministered there May of 2002. He was so excited and encouraged that God had sent me to Palmasola to minister to him that he couldn’t stop jumping up and down. I gave him a Bible but also told him I didn’t want to see him in any another prison somewhere else in the world. Of course, this was also God’s way of uplifting me and we had a tremendous service with 36 men attending and 24 praying to receive Christ. I preached my heart out. At the end of the service, I arranged for my little team of 5 to be able to return with the local pastor for a three-day revival service in the prison and possible weekly ministry there as well.

PERU. In Lima, Peru, I joined with 2 other men from the U.S. composed of Cook County Jail volunteers John Janks and Constantin Lupancu. Both of them preached in all four of the prisons we visited. We also worked with Peruvian members of a prison ministry group named: “Jesus Christ Breaks the Chains” and we also conducted two days of the Prison Training Seminar with almost 100 in attendance. Additionally, we participated in a three-day Regional Congress conducted by Remar (a teen challenge type of ministry headquartered and founded in Spain by Spaniards).  The countries represented were: Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela. I was invited to preach all three days including the Saturday meeting at the National Stadium (soccer stadium) with an official attendance of 7,000.

Monday. We traveled 2½ hours to Aucallama prison (650 male inmates) in Hudral, near the ocean.  First, we ministered to about 25 inmates who were in “the hole” and many prayed for a changed life. Then, we ministered to about 125 in the exercise yard for about 3 hours. About 30 responded to the altar call. We had permission to take photos and even made a videotape of the service.

Tuesday. This day, we visited Lurigancho prison (7,700 male inmates) in Lima. Again, we started in “the hole” with about 150 inmates there. There were a series of 15 cells side by side each measuring about 10′x10′ with 10 inmates in each cell. Two beds per cell and no bathroom.  We used a bullhorn and I presented the plan of salvation to them all simultaneously. Many hands were extended through the bars at the end in response to the Hope of Salvation and Redemption. Then, we went to the “drug unit” which consisted of about 150 men in one room large enough to have the floor covered with the mattresses they slept on. These were not recovering drug addicts. They were active addicts many under the influence of the drugs during our visit. Drugs are constantly brought into the prison. It was difficult to spiritually penetrate the cloud of drugs but God did get through, we believe, to about a dozen who prayed and testified of their belief that their lives were now different since they heard and believed the message given.

Wednesday. Our journey today took us to the Santa Monica prison (700 female inmates) in Chorrillos. We spoke in the visiting area so that many inmates and visitors were able to hear the Gospel presentation. Some there are members of the terrorist organization The Shining Path. Also, there were inmates from Holland, Canada and South Africa so they were glad to hear the messages from Constantin and John in English. Many were weeping and open to the life-changing message of Christ. That evening, we had the first of a two-part seminar on Prison Ministry with almost 100 in attendance. This was one of the most receptive and enthusiastic groups to attend a Chaplains for Christ training seminar.

Thursday. Today, we traveled to Sarita Colonia prison (2000 male inmates) in Callao. We were told before we left for the prison that we would all be denied access but maybe we could talk with the director of the prison when we arrived. Then, a miracle: although our Peruvian volunteers were not allowed into the prison, John, Constantin and I went in with 100 full Bibles and 150 Gospels of John. The inmates in Maximum Security (mostly foreigners) had prepared their exercise yard with chairs, invited inmates from other pavilions, baked a cake on our behalf and prepared a program for us. They had been waiting since 8 AM and we were not allowed in until 1 PM.

During the initial visitor search, the guards took our passports but forgot to ask us for our other forms of identification so I carried in my Cook County Sheriff’s badge and I.D., which I had to leave at the gate of the other prisons. Each prison in each country has different entry requirements. Finally, we stood before the director’s office waiting for an audience. When he finally opened the door and saw us, he quickly tried to close the door in our faces saying he did not have time to talk with us. Before he could close the door, I flashed my gold star. Suddenly, he opened the door, had us sit down and was quite cordial. What door God opens, no man can close.

The director carefully looked at my credentials and said “Captain” (actually, it says Chaplain) and I explained where I worked and in what other countries I had entered the prisons. We asked for permission to go the Maximum-security area, bring all of the Bibles and Gospels of John, one of which we had with us and he asked if he could keep. We also gave him a Bible. He then gave us permission to do all that we asked to do for as long as we wanted, but had his assistant take our credentials to the front gate and ask the guards why we had been allowed to enter with our credentials. No group had had been permitted to visit that area for at least the last 17 months.

We had the service in that area with inmates from Peru, Holland, Germany, Portugal, England, West Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Romania. Since most of the inmates spoke better English than Spanish, I preached in English even though I had preached in Spanish in the other prisons. Have you ever seen stoic Hollanders or Germans crying in repentance? We did that day.

Many of them told us that they were truly changed and would never be the same again. A fight broke out between two inmates at the back behind the service but it was quickly quelled. We ate our cake cut by the inmates with a large butcher knife (this is common in Latin countries) and the inmate pastor refused to accept money we offered him for the cake and sodas he had purchase as a blessing for us. He even refused to receive money we offered to send him via the U.S. Embassy. He did agree to accept our offer to buy a guitar, strings, tambourines and 20 full Bibles in English for their church inside the prison. Unbelievable. I have never had an inmate refuse to accept money offered to him. Such wisdom and dedication to the Master.

That night, we had the second session of the training seminar and a dozen people responded at the invitation for prayer for them to enter full-time ministry as chaplains in the prisons. Before we came, there were no prison chaplains in Peru. We are hoping that some of these will fulfill that calling.

Friday. This was the beginning of the Remar Congress. Already, I had been interviewed on the radio and spoken at a church, which was televised and recorded for pastors all over Peru. This morning, I was privileged to be the initial speaker and was given an hour to preach to 500 in attendance. I sensed such a mighty anointing from the Lord and sensed that this was one of the most powerful messages He had even given through me. I challenged the group at the conclusion to come to altar to dedicate themselves to getting prepared to proclaim the Gospel whenever and wherever the Lord sends them. Dozens responded and many remarked afterward about how the message had touched them.

Saturday. This was the day of the Adoration, Praise, and Prayer Celebration at the Soccer Stadium with Latino singers from Bolivia, Peru, Spain and the U.S. I was given 10 minutes (I took 17) and the only other speaker was the founder of Remar, Pastor Miguel Diaz. I spoke on the parable of the one lost sheep and encouraged those who had lost their way to return to the Lord who would speedily recover them from their sins and return them to fellowship with Himself. The ushers told me that many responded to the message but all I could see was faceless people as my words echoed throughout the stadium.  The official attendance was 7,000 in a stadium that holds 45,000.

Sunday. Free day and we visited underground catacombs of a Franciscan order.

Other Congress activities were canceled.

For all of this, we praise the Living God without Whom we could do nothing and all efforts are in vain. Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement.

“… whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Philippians 4:8

Chaplain Rob Brown