Ministry Spotlight

Ervin Watson - Prison Ministries Leader

Ralph Jones

Nathaniel Arnold

Ainsworth Smith

Harry Valcourt

The Capitol Hill Prison Ministries Team recently received recognition from the DC Department of Corrections for their work in the prison system.

The current Capitol Hill Prison Ministries Team was brought together in late 2010 and has had the privilege to minister the message of Christ at various correctional facilities throughout the area including The South Branch of the Cumberland Correctional Facility, The Correctional Facility at Jessup Maryland, and The District of Columbia Jail.

While ministering at the Cumberland facility, the CHC Prison Ministries team has been afforded the opportunity to facilitate regular church services for a group of about 30-40 men who continue to attend services regularly. When not visiting the Cumberland facility, the team joins forces with other churches and organizations within the Adventist community such as the Alleghany East Wide Prison Ministries team, and the Community Praise Center's Prison Ministry's team. Alongside the Community Praise Center team, the CHC team has regularly visited the Correctional Facility in Jessup Maryland where there is an organized Seventh-Day Adventist Church, affectionately named The Little Rock SDA Church. At the Little Rock SDA church of The Jessup MD Correctional facility, you will find church officers, elders, deacons, and ushers just like you would at any regularly operating SDA church. The Little Rock church regularly receives the same Sabbath school lessons distributed throughout the conference, which they study with undeniable fervor. At this facility the team usually attends church services where between 60 - 80 inmates attend on any given Sabbath, and where the inmates facilitate the bulk of the service, to include prayer, special music, and biblically supported sermons.

Another regular part of this ministry's outreach is the weekly bible studies the team facilitates at the DC Jail every Tuesday evening. This ministry to the men of the DC jail has proven to be especially rewarding for this group as it has allowed them to connect with inmates on a very intimate level, visiting the men directly on the actual cell blocks, teaching and studying the word of God with groups of 10-12 men every single week.

This ministry has not only been limited to touching the lives of the incarcerated but its arm has reached to the families of the incarcerated, former inmates transitioning into regular civilian life, as well as those who have just asked this group to keep them in prayer. A huge part of the outreach has been their reoccurring role facilitating the 10PM Prison Ministry hour on the 24 hour prayer line, where many, both local, as well as across the nation, have seen first hand how Christ moves through the power of prayer.

As this group continues their service, going into the communities, prisons, and jails they only ask that you pray for them. They would like prayer for the anointing of the message that they deliver, prayer for God's continuous blessings for this church, their team and blessings on every man and woman on whom lives they hope to continue to touch.     

 "So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men],  

then you are really and unquestionably free."--John 8:36 (AMP)