Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a wedding I will
never forget. The two people married were in there late 50's and had been
communicating with one another for almost 30 years.
Phil had been in prison serving 50 years for murder and, Debbie, a
friend of mine, had been serving in an area prison ministry.
I came to know Phil while visiting the Rahway maximum security
prison where the church I was serving would make periodic visits to lead
worship services for the inmates.
Phil came to know Christ shortly after entering prison when
another prisoner in an adjacent cell whispered through a duct. "Do you
know Jesus?" before being transported to another facility. Before he left,
he pushed a Bible through the air vent and that was the beginning of Phil's
spiritual transformation.
A few years later he met Debbie, director of His Persistent Love,
a prison ministry, and the two became friends.
Over the next 30 years that friendship continued to grow as they
communicated with one another through mail and occasional prison
visits. Debbie shared during the wedding that she had received and kept
over 3000 handwritten letters she had received from Phil.
During his time behind bars, Phil was a volunteer prison chaplain,
and he had the joy of leading many of his incarcerated brothers to Christ.
Phil and Debbie's friendship continued to grow over
those many years. And then it happened. Phil received news that after
serving 30 years behind bars, he would be released on good behavior, and at 60
he would now be free to start a new life outside Rahway's prison walls.
No longer separated by prison bars, Phil and Debbie could now
spend time with together one another. And during the next several months their
long friendship took another step when Phil proposed and asked Debbie to be his
wife.
I sat in the back with a minister friend of mine, and we
marveled at the wedding. I have led or attended at least one
hundred weddings in my life, but never had I witnessed one quite like
this. There were tears, laughter, and handclapping applause as both Phil and
Debbie shared their love for one another.
Before the service even began, Phil took to the mike to thank the
packed church for their presence, and then he proceeded to share a
brief and remarkable testimony of God's faithfulness and how His transforming
love had brought him and Debbie to the altar where they would profess their
love for one another and become husband and wife.
I hope this brief introduction will generate enough interest to
encourage you to watch this unique celebration of love that brought people to
their feet as together they rejoiced in the faithfulness of "His
Persistent Love."
Click on the link below and listen to Phil's testimony and, I know
you will want to witness the rest of this amazing service.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlHnizr5G0k,
Yours in faith and friendship,
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