‘Jesus Is the Answer’: 700 Inmates Worship God in Oklahoma Prison, 400 Give Their Lives to Christ
The Spirit of God moved powerfully through salvations, baptisms, and life-changing moments during an outreach at an Oklahoma prison last week. More than 700 inmates worshipped Jesus and were “touched by the presence of God,” one of the organizers told CBN News.
Pastor Paul Daugherty has been leading Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for more than 10 years, succeeding his parents, Sharon and the late Billy Joe Daugherty, who founded the church.
It is one of the city’s largest churches, and while more than 7,000 worshippers participate in services each week, the Holy Spirit spoke to Daugherty just three short months ago, asking him to reach an unlikely group with the Gospel message.
“I was like, man, I really feel like there’s a harvest of people in the prisons that we could reach with God’s love that [only a few] churches in our city [are] really going after,” he told CBN News. “I really want[ed] to reach almost every prisoner we can in an outreach.”
Daugherty says God gave him favor with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and his staff, including a timely connection with Brian Bobek, the state’s chief operating officer.
“He happened to be a Christian and said he was looking for a church to go to and started coming to our church,” the megachurch pastor shared.
Bobek advised Daugherty to make the prison outreach an event that would draw men out of their cells.
“I said, ‘I don’t wanna just do a small service for 10 or 20 guys….I want to reach almost every prisoner we can,'” Daugherty told Bobek.
The pastor and his team decided on creating an outreach that would allow the prisoners to get outside, enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs, receive free pamphlets, and a Bible.
They held the first outreach at John H. Lilley Prison in Boley, Oklahoma on June 23rd.
“We showed up last Monday and we weren’t sure if we would get 100 guys or 200,” Daugherty admitted to CBN News.
To his surprise, the dry brown field began to flood with men in orange prison uniforms. In total, 751 inmates showed up that day to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached.
As Daugherty watched the inmates file out of the prison, the Lord spoke to his heart.
“When I saw them getting out of their pods and walking towards the field…I just started weeping because I was like man this looks like a picture out of the Bible when Jesus saw that village of Samaritan people. He said the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
With the help of just 32 volunteers, 1,000 hot meals were served, 700 Bibles were distributed, and 1,300 Bible study books were handed out.
Daugherty says many lives were changed. More than 400 people accepted the call for salvation, and 41 inmates were baptized on the spot.
The pastor said he saw hardened criminals changed by the love of God.
“I saw all these [inmates] walking towards us like zombies…literally coming out of [the prison with] depression and despair and discouragement and shame,” he explained.
“A third of these guys are locked up in there for sexual crimes and then another third are locked up in there for violence and murder, and then another third are locked up in there for drug-related offenses…We had guys in there that we met that were 25 years old and then one guy that was you know 70 years old and you’ve been in there for 27 years,” Daugherty recalled.
“But I felt like God said, just walk between them, show them the love of God, shake their hands, give them a hug, preach into the crowd,” he said.
