By C.S. Major
“Having considered numerous things, we ask as many as are able to join us in a period of fasting and prayer…” The Old Testament provided new inspiration to a group that started with six and in a few weeks grew to over 45,000 worldwide.
In January six men from diverse theological backgrounds sat down in shared devotion to God to share a joy of Gospel and deep belief that the Heavenly Father hears and answers all prayers. During several devotional sessions a question kept arising, "How can we help others that are suffering?''
Taken from the outside view this looks pretty common amongst Christian believers - except these six men are prison inmates residing within the walls of a Colorado Department of Corrections facility.
Through close conversation and prayer the group decided a "special fast" would best serve everyone in the system and community. The goals of the fast were to bring the hearts of each inmate into greater conformity and humility before the Heavenly Father, to soften the hearts of the state's lawmakers as they consider prison reform and the Lifetime Supervision Act, and to soften the hearts of the community to those released from prison as they try to rejoin society.
"We encourage all to speak with every other man, woman, and child of faith and others; furthermore, we ask you write family friends, congregations, wards, temples, synagogue, and more.... Again taking inspiration from the Old Testament, and knowing the power of prayer is truly magnified through united effort, the group began sending handwritten invitations to family, friends, and churches, asking them to join in the fast. The men hoped that maybe 50 to 100 would be part of their fast to end suffering little did they know what would happen next.
Emails were sent, phone calls made, conversations held, and soon the responses began pouring in - Idaho, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Utah, Texas, Florida, and to everyone's amazement f even a letter of support from Israel. In all, the group received over 45,000 emails in support of prison reform and changes to the Lifetime Supervision Act.
The Book of Mormon says, "We knew our Father in Heaven would hear us. We knew he would answer our prayer. We do not doubt, as we were taught by our Mothers to believe and it has become so." The fast began on March 19 at 5 p.m. Mountain time. Some participants had to alter the time slightly; one family fasted the week prior, a congregation in Colorado Springs conducted a five-day fast. Since the group in Israel was 10 hours ahead, a special prayer session was conducted on March 18 at 8 p.m. Mountain time to coincide with the groups prayers in the Holy Land.
The inmates know that positive change can only happen at the most basic level. They hope that the fast will touch the heart of every inmate, members of the community, and the legislature, and promote change, compassion, and reform for the benefit of all.
Ballooning prison costs are unsustainable and taking scarce dollars from schools and social programs that will keep kids out of prison in the future. Sentence and parole board reform is needed both to reduce the correctional burden on taxpayers and to restore balance to the justice system. An example of this unjust imbalance is the nearly 600 inmates that are still incarcerated after serving over 100 percent of their sentence. These men are caught in the state's new life sentence - the Lifetime Supervision Act.
Enacted in 1998, the Lifetime Supervision Act was originally designed to monitor and contain violent multiple offenders. Unfortunately, the state's parole board has interpreted lifetime supervision to mean lifetime incarceration and applied the life in prison sentence to even nonviolent and victimless offenders, as well as, to those who have been sent to prison for technical violations while on parole.
The Lifetime Supervision Act costs the state millions to enforce, the price for housing those held past their release date alone is over $21 million annually. This is millions that could be spent on teachers schools, and feeding the poor without re-endangering the public. The Lifetime Supervision Act taken out of the hands of the political parole board and enacted as the legislature intended will shift the millions-of-dollars burden of community supervision and treatment to the offender where the responsibility belongs. Implemented as designed by the people, the tax burden is lowered, families are reunited, and the community is safer - it is a win/win...win for everyone.
The next fast is scheduled for 18-19 June and the third fast in the series is set for 20-21 August. The goals are the same for each, the men's hope is that more will feel compelled by the Holy Spirit and human compassion to participate.
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