1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

“I would have lost heart, unless I had
believed that I would see the goodness
of the Lord.” Ps 27:13 NKJV
Cover photo by Robin Reinhold
Jodie Denning Testimony
J
odi Denning has a simple
passion for the women she
serves in her jail ministry.
Her passion is a testimony to the
Lord’s grace, love, promises, mercy,
hope and faithfulness. Jodi lives in
Las Cruces, NM with her husband
Terry.
My “Arrest” (How Did
That Happen?)
Jail isn’t something I would
have ever envisioned, or planned
for my life!!! In a way, like many
of the women there, I ended up
going because of the influence of
a friend.
Audrey went first
My friend Audrey joined a
small group couples Bible study I
was in. Her love for God is very
obvious. She is bubbly, dramatic,
full of life, lights up a room, and
very open and transparent. She
is a gifted singer on the worship
team at church and working on
Jodie and Terry Denning
a Master’s in music while teaching music at the Christian school.
Very Busy!
She is one of those really talented, “do-it-all and do-it- well”
types.
One night Audrey said she
was tired of “just being a consumer” of Scripture. She said she
felt “spiritually obese” – consuming too much, exercising too little
ouch. That was convicting to me.
Audrey told us she felt God
was leading her to go minister to
the women in jail. That intrigued me, because I could never
imagine myself doing something
like that. I have a box, and I like
my box. I don’t want to explore
out of my box. I was more of a
“join into whatever the
church is doing” type. I
would volunteer to do
things I felt comfortable and safe. Looking
back, it is obvious that
I only signed up to do
things I could easily do
in the flesh. Things that
required no real reliance
on God
Each week at Bible
study though, I would
ask Audrey how it was
going at the jail. I asked
her what she did in her
jail classes. She said
she sang, told Bible
stories, and even acted
out Biblical characters.
Then at our Bible study
she would share various
stories about how her
classes were going, and
ask for prayer.
A couple months went by, and in October 2010
Audrey asked for specific prayer for God bring her
a partner, someone to help teach, and fill in if she
couldn’t make it. She also wanted someone to share
the experience with her. I heartily joined in that
prayer because it seemed very “safe” at the time!
The best I remember it was something like this:
“God, please send somebody to help Audrey. You
know who You desire for that role. Prepare their
hearts and give them a desire to join in Audrey’s ministry.”
A few days later she called me (which was a little
odd… I didn’t really know her all that well) and
asked if I had been praying. I told her I had. Then she
asked, “so, would you like to go to jail with me?”
Yikes! I did not see that coming!!!
I gave her the standard “I-am-a-mature-Christian” answer… “Um, let me pray about it.” I read a
book once that taught we should model our prayers
after Scripture, so I did. I prayed like that great Biblical prayer warrior… Jonah!!! “I’m sure it is obvious
to You that I am Totally not the right person for this
ministry!”
“God send somebody else, anybody else… but don’t
send me!”
You’ve got the wrong girl!
I compiled my list of reasons why I wasn’t going to
jail with Audrey. I’m pretty sure God was enjoying a
wonderful belly laugh at this point! I had no experience that would prepare me for a ministry like this.
Most people in jail ministry have some experience with the jail or prison system. I didn’t even
know the difference between jail and prison! I
couldn’t sing, tell stories, or act out Biblical characters
like Audrey and I shared this fear with Audrey, but
she didn’t buy it.
She told me I shouldn’t try to do what she does, I
should do what God was calling me to do. The problem is, I had no idea what that was. I had been in a
lot of Bible studies… but I had never taught one!
Fears and more fears
I had fears about the jail environment. What is
it like? It sounds scary! Am I going to be in there with
the women? Would I be in danger? Do I need to sign up
for karate?
My husband had concerns, and he was pretty
unsure about the idea of me being in jail ministry. I’m
pretty sure he thought I was joking at first!
I also had fears about my ability to relate to the
women. I mean, what would we have in common?
Turns out, a lot more than I would have ever thought!
Would I be able to understand their slang? Would they
laugh at the middle aged white “church lady”?
Sometimes, but I just laugh with them, or use a
little jail slang!
Remember… “I have a box, and I like my box.” Jail
was way outside my box! I also had a big fear of the time
the commitment. I would have to spend time preparing
Bible studies and material and after all, I would be “giving up” one whole night a week!
I freely admit now, most this was just selfishness.
I also had fears about not being able to answer their
questions, not knowing what to say.
I had heard preachers like Ronnie Moyer say, “If
I answer your questions with… I think, I feel or I believe… ignore everything else I say.”The only thing that
matters is what does God say. But I knew my knowledge
of God’s Word wasn’t nearly good enough to do that. I
could picture myself stumbling around in my concordance trying to find verses. God used that fear to motivate me to study and learn. I had a huge fear of failing
and disappointing God and I was very afraid of being
responsible for God’s Word.
James 3:1says: not many should teach, because they
will be judged more strictly.
Those fears were healthy ones… but to not go where
God calls would be disobedience.
God… Can’t you see you have the wrong girl?
I was pretty convinced God would see my list and
realize how disqualified I was for jail ministry. I was
wrong! God let me know, “You are Going To Jail – One
Way Or The Other.” God did not see things from my
perspective, and made it very clear in several ways, and
through several believers!
That’s when I knew – I’m going to jail. Voluntarily
or not!
My “Early Incarceration”
By Nov 2010 I had been approved and trained
with a course I took. It is easy to get into jail if you don’t
mind staying a while and wearing a jumpsuit. Turns
out it is quite a process if you want to be able to leave
when you’re done. My training class of 4 hours! had a
30 minute segment on “how to be a ‘good’ hostage”! I
wondered, “What am I getting myself into?”
Audrey’s Gift
The first night, I was very nervous and scared and
Audrey took me aside and gave me a precious gift. She
told me, “Don’t ever lose sight of the fact you can’t save
them. You can’t be their Savior. That is a burden you can’t
carry because only Jesus Christ can save them. He alone
can be their Savior and you are just a vessel, so be a vessel He can use. Be obedient, be diligent in your study, be
prepared, be prayed up, and be faithful.”
I’m very thankful for that gift. This is something
everyone in ministry needs to be reminded of regularly!
Second thought
That first night as I watched Audrey teach, sing
and tell stories, I got reaaly nervous and asked myself,
“Why am I here? I don’t have any of her gifts. They love
her! I can’t do this! God made a big mistake! How am I
going to tell Audrey I can’t do this?”
But then I stopped focusing on Audrey and started
focusing on the women. I saw their fear, their pain, their
despair, their shame… I saw their hopelessness. Audrey
treated them with dignity and grace, and I watched their
shells slowly crack.
She pointed them to Jesus Christ as the only hope.
I learned something important that first night. Light
shines most brightly in dark places.
If you have a dark room & bright hallway… open
the door and the light conquers darkness. The darkness
in a black room can never conquer when there is even
one glimmer of light. I realized these women were actually pretty open to hearing God’s Word and they were
probably much more open than in the average church on
Sunday morning.
It was very clear some of them had never really
heard about Jesus Christ before. I realized what a privilege it was to be there to share Christ. When I got home,
I was so wound up it took hours to get to sleep. I could
hardly stand waiting a whole week to go back! That is
where God began the process of dragging me out of my
box and rocking my world.
You don’t get to see God’s power in your life until
you are willing to do something you know you are not
capable of doing on your own. I was definitely in a perfect position to see God’s power – out of my box and in
over my head.
...to be continued in the March edition
Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.
P.O. Box 1210, Cañon City, CO 81215
FCC Board of Directors
Lynne Schricker - Lifetime
Grant Adkisson - President
C.R. “Bob” Devine - Chairman of the Board
Advisory Members:
Marty Ross, Kenny O’Quinn, Vonna Laue
Office Staff:
Jocelyn Slattery - Administrative Assistant
Contact Information/Hours
Phone: 719-275-7636
Fax: 719-275-3760
email: info@christiancowboys.com
Website: www.christiancowboys.com
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“The Lord is their strength, and He is
the saving refuge of His anointed.”
Ps 28:8 NJVK
Our Purpose
To present to cowboys, and all whom they influence,
the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ
as Savior and Lord; and to disciple them in their commitment to serve Jesus in their relationships and in the
fellowship of the church.
Our Desire
The desire of FCC is to use our rich western heritage to
reach across this great nation, using cowboys and cowgirls ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.
... is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry that
operates on the faith-funded support of individuals and
companies who share a common desire to further the
gospel of Jesus Christ to rural America.
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