Four of the last five years, I have had the privilege of going "inside the walls" at Lino Lakes Prison located near Minneapolis, MN. The occasion has been the Dangerous Man Conference for men in the IFI transition program.
I know we often hear the words "awesome, incredible and amazing" for many things these days. As a result, the words might not have the same impact when they are used to describe something that is truly "awesome, incredible and amazing."
Each of the years I have had the privilege of being with the men in the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a ministry of Prison Fellowship, I have left the facility feeling that I have received far more from these guys than I was able to give them.
As I reflect back to last week and being "inside the walls," there are several lessons to be learned from these men that are good for everyone.
1. Admit your sin. Quit calling it a slip or a moral failure and just simply acknowledge before God that you have sinned. Do not downplay or minimize sin and our part. The men in the IFI program at Lino Lakes will look you in the eye and take full responsibility for their crime which they admit is sin.
2. Don’t glorify your sin. Several years ago, I listened to a man give his “testimony.” The more he spoke, the more I began to feel that he was enjoying telling his story just a little too much. There should be no glory or enjoyment in telling about our sin.
3. Have a plan. The most important part of the IFI program is that they have a clear plan that has proven successful. In addition the plan is successful because it focuses on transformation and not just information.
4. We need others. When I asked the men if they were going to be successful and not come back to prison, in most cases the men began by first stating that they had a mentor and others around them. They were not on their own but they had a team of others who believed in them.
As I have processed my lessons learned from inside the walls, it is not a surprise that the recidivism rate for the men who complete the IFI program is less than 1%. That means that less than 1 out of every 100 graduates of IFI has returned to prison.
Speaking at Lino Lakes is one of the most humbling experiences I have had in ministry. Perhaps it is because these men are hungry for truth and express such gratitude that a group of us would come inside the walls to invest in them.
If every men’s ministry would operate with the same principles of IFI, our country would be a very different place.
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