The season of Thanksgiving and receiving the greatest Gift of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, is upon us. Thank you for your needed blessing of prayers and investments in this very important work. The Lord has truly been honored by your kindness and heart for the prisoners.
My personal ministry has exploded in so many ways I can't even describe. Not since the days of my circuit work covering several small county jails in a week, have I seen the fruit the Lord is providing behind bars. The Harvest is truly white for harvest and read to be reaped. As always, you share in every victory and the men and women continually give their thanks for our coming and the gift of eternal life we openly share. God gets all the glory, for without His Spirit opening the doors and convicting souls, nothing would come for this effort. Each day God is working to bring new life and abundant living to these forgotten souls. Thank you for being a part of this eternal ministry that is making a difference in so many lives.
We continue to disciple men and women in the faith. The Lord has been faithful to lift up men and women we reach and train to reproduce their lives in Christ in others behind bars. We have a shining example of the principle working in the life of a young man by the name of William Watson. I'll let his testimony stand as an example of what the Lord wants to do. I believe you'll get a clear picture of how the Lord is using your prayers and gift to reach, teach and build men and women to grow in the faith to reproduce themselves for eternity. Praise the Lord for what He is doing and the power of His Spirit to reach and disciple these souls. You are such an important part of what He has done, Thank you for caring and sharing! Happiest of Thanksgiving! All praise and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See William's powerful story on the back of this letter.
In His Love for Our Prisoners,
Dr. C. Steve Bradshaw, PD President
P.S. I want to send a special thank you for the blessed opportunity the Lord provided this month. I was asked by Pastor Joe Rader to lead in preaching services at the Sequoyah Baptist Church located Northeast of Claremore. Hearts were moved and souls reached.
God gets all the glory for what He did in those four days.
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Character Building Discipleship Series
A Testimony by William Watson
I have been incarcerated for over 15 years. I am writing today about a discipleship Bible study that I started going to 5 years ago. After a decade and a half of prison programs coming and going (more of them going or being taken away than new ones being started) I began attending this Character Building Discipleship Series and knew right away this one was different.
The teacher, Steve Bradshaw, is gifted in teaching and showing the love and grace of God to a bunch of career criminals, murderers, and gang members: even though we were in prison.
Steve also came into prison several times a month to preach the true Word of God. This Character Building Discipleship class is different from any other Bible Study that I have taken in the previous 15 years. It starts out teaching foundational principles then dives into the deeper issues of the Word of God.
When I left the Dick Conner's Correctional Center in December 2024 I was blessed to find the ripe mission field here at the Jess Dunn Correctional Center. After just one month of gleaning in these fields I was offered a job in the religious programs building. The Religious Program
Director at the time, Christopher Broker, and I got along very well. He just so happened to know Steve Bradshaw and I saw that mutual relationship as an opportunity to start teaching the Character Building Discipleship Series here at Jess Dunn. I had attended the course a couple of times while at Dick Conner's and I also taught the class on my unit. The first weak of teaching the curriculum at JDCC we saw 12 men in attendance. The coursework is 24 sessions in length. By the end of the first session the graduating class had 28 consistent and committed residents receiving their completion certificates. A few weeks later when I rebooted the series 36 new men showed up for the first week.
I truly appreciate being used by God. This Bible study has helped me understand who I am
in Jesus Christ, how to use my gifts to advance the Kingdom of Righteousness against the powers of darkness, and how to encourage my brothers to step out of their comfort zone to be disciple makers using the same strategy and formula Jesus did with his original 12 disciples. One of the many great things about this Character Building Discipleship Series is that no matter how long you have been walking with the Lord, or how knowledgeable you are in the Word of God, this series encompasses a wide range of teachings for the new believer as well as for the believer that has been walking with God since childhood. My hope is that we all grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.:
Grace and peace to you all,
William Watson