More than 300 inmates at Angola Prison—Louisiana’s state penitentiary—made professions of faith in Jesus Christ and 50 were baptized during a worship event hosted by the God Behind Bars ministry and featuring Grammy-winning vocalist Lauren Daigle.
Photos and videos from the event were posted Oct. 9 on God Behind Bars’ social media feeds, showing Daigle leading in worship and inmates being baptized at the event, which drew more than 1,000 prisoners to an outdoor arena on the prison grounds.
“The incarcerated men held onto every word,” God Behind Bars wrote in an Instagram post. “Most of these men are serving life in prison … This message shifted the hearts of these men.”
In a video, Daigle tells the crowd between songs, “Greater is He who lives inside of me than he who lives in the world. There is nothing anyone can do to you when you know the truth of who God is. … He comes to set people free. He’s the hope of the world. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is mighty. He is powerful. It says He is slow to anger, rich in love, abounding in mercy. He sends our sins as far as the East is from the West. All we have to do is repent because He is so gracious. His grace is so powerful. He’s come to set the captive free.
“That’s why Paul—he said I can have everything in the world, or I can be with nothing, and I am content.”
Breaking out in song, Daigle added with her trademark pipes, “The joy of the Lord—it is your strength!”
According to God Behind Bars, they invited every prison in the state to the event, and nine facilities brought buses full of prisoners, including from one women’s prison. It was one of the largest outreaches ever held by the organization, which spreads the Gospel in jails and prisons and helps disciple incarcerated youth and adults across the United States.
“These inmates [at Angola] were prayed over, loved and the Holy Spirit fell on this prison,” the ministry wrote in another post. “We fed EVERY SINGLE PERSON and gave them soap and socks! Every one of them heard the Gospel. Every single man heard that Jesus loves them and died for them and that there is HOPE! We are still overcome by what God did. You could feel the Holy Spirit inside of this prison!”
In decades past, Angola was considered the most dangerous prison in the nation and has been the setting of several movies. In recent years, Christian evangelists and church groups have helped begin to change Angola’s previous reputation.
Back in 1995, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary began offering discipleship classes at Angola, which eventually developed into the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary at Angola—a full-orbed Christian education program that offers prisoners the opportunity to earn associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Christian ministry and pastoral ministry as well as non-credit certificates.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has had an ongoing connection to Angola Prison—the pinewood caskets that Billy Graham and Ruth Bell Graham are buried in were handcrafted by Angola prisoners after Franklin Graham visited the prison and learned about the carpenter shop where the caskets were made.
“The prisoners are people who need forgiveness too,” Roy Graham said in a 2018 interview. “And that’s what my grandmother loved about it—that we all need forgiveness too.”
God Behind Bars CEO Jake Bodine says the sole mission of the ministry, founded in 2009, is to “reach the least of these” with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.
Photo: Instagram screenshot / God Behind Bars