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In the work of Prison Fellowship, we participate in special ways in proclaiming the good news of transformation through Jesus Christ. Joe Williams' story is a profound witness to that news. If I did not hear it from his own testimony, I would never have believed that the colleague I know had lived the life described in this book. Yet God has used even the degradation of drug addiction to show His power in Joe's life and to others through him. I have known Joe since the early 1990s as a strong leader nearly tireless in serving Jesus Christ. It has been my privilege to serve with him in Prison Fellowship. I will never forget the day Joe accompanied me to Lansing for a visit with Governor John Engler and his top staff to talk about ways the state can do a better job with corrections. Joe looked every inch the executive, right down to the cufflinks. He spoke knowledgeably about his work with ex-prisoners in transition and what programs really make a difference. It was in a discussion about the value of prison programs that teach inmates a trade that the thunderbolt came. The consensus around that shining mahogany table was that it does no good to provide job training in prison. Then Joe quietly spoke up to say that if he had not learned the upholstery trade in prison at Fort Leavenworth, he would not be there that day. I looked around the table and realized how difficult it was for the top leaders of the state of Michigan to believe that the man before them had been a prisoner whom no one would have given the least odds of making it into a governor's office. And yet, there he was. It changed the entire discussion, and Joe's comments commanded a new level of respect and credibility. In his introduction to this book, Joe expresses the desire that readers in
despair about their own lives or those of loved ones caught up in wolfish
lifestyles will find hope. Indeed there is hope, because the Good Shepherd is at
work to seek and to save--in His own way and time--His sheep that are lost and
to redeem their wasted days for His own great purpose. Thomas C. Pratt, President,
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Copyright (C) 2012 Joseph Williams. All rights reserved |