Volume 12 Issue 03

FEBRUARY 2012

JPM Newswire
I was in prison and you visited me Matt. 25:36b

Jeremiah Prison Ministry

We are serving him by serving them! His mercy endures forever Psalm 106:1

Our Great-Grandson was born February 15, 2012!

Oh my the joy of having my 1st granddaughter, Cara, having her 1st son, our 1st great-grandson, Ethan James. He looks just like her. The blending of two families, our family tree is growing! The hardest part is that I havent gotten to hold him and love on him but I will soon. I am greatful for social media and texting pictures, which allows me to get to watch Ethan grow daily. The miracle of a baby is so totally awesome. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Jeremiah 1:5 God knows your destiny!

Inside this issue:

Our Great-Grandson My Super Hero Hospice in Prison 1 1 2&4

Pastor Toms Preaching Corner 3 Theres Power in Prayer 4

My Super Hero Leah

I want to give a praise report on my Super Hero Leah, our granddaughter! She is now in the 12th grade and remains cancer free. Its hard to believe she will be 17 in May. She was diagnosed 10 years ago with A.L.L., short for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. After chemo doctors told her she had chemo brain in other words her brain would process information slower. This was a challenge for Leah but she did not let it defeat her, she has persevered! And nothing will stop her to achieve her goals. Leah has a supportive family assisting her to achieve her goals in life This past summer she got her drivers license acing her test with a 95. Leah is home schooled via online Penn Foster High School. Just know There is Power In Prayer and your prayers are heard!

Special points of interest:

Our Mission & Our Vision. You are an extended hand. 12 years in prison ministry! Editor: Rev. Monica Cohee

Our Mission & Our Vision

OUR MISSION..........To help men in prison reach their fullest in the Lord. WHAT WE DO..... Ministering to their spirit, soul and body, through one on one mentoring as their spiritual advisor and friend. HOW WE BEGAN......... Jeremiah Prison Ministry began on November 30, 1999, and was birth out of a bond for a young man that made a wrong choice in life OUR VISION. To be able to go into the prison chapels without the inmates having to take us off their visiting list. With God all things are possible!

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JPM Newswire

Hospice Care In A High Security Penitentiary

An article was written by Kurt Streeter of the LA Times on prison hospice. I am including a portion of the article in this newsletter. My cousin, Chaplain Keith Knauf, is the hospice chaplain of this unit. I am so amazed of the compassion that Chaplain Keith has for dying inmates and the grace God has given him to do what he does. Opened in 1991 in response to the AIDS epidemic, it was cramped and spartan: 17 beds in seven patient rooms surrounding a narrow nursing station. Ill inmates from all over the state could petition to be transferred there if prison doctors gave them a prognosis of six months to live. A Presbyterian minister inspired by Mother Teresa and Gandhi was in charge. Chaplain Keith Knauf believed that working to ease death could teach compassion. He decreed that no sick convict be judged: not the rapists, not the kidnappers, not the serial killers. Dying in prison dying, as many did, with overwhelming guilt or bitterness was judgment enough. "These men are not pleasant to look at," the chaplain explained matter-offactly. "How could they do what they did? "But Jesus was asked: 'How many times should I forgive?' 'Seventy times seven' is what he said. And when you realize Jesus died alongside criminals, to me it makes sense to be here." Roughly a dozen inmates from outside the hospice worked for Knauf. Most were convicted murderers. The chaplain called them his Pastoral Care Workers. After a series of interviews and background checks to screen for troublemakers, drug users or sexual predators he chose them, trained them, mentored them and leaned on them to give the hospice heart. Continued on page 4.
Photos by Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times

Chaplain Keith Knauf.

Dying In Prison dying , as many did, with overwheming guilt or bitterness was judgement enough.

Going past the prison walls to take the Love of Jesus.

Chaplain Keith marries a dying inmate with colon cancer.

The same inmate at loss for words talking to his wife, contemplating a divorce. The inmate received compassionate release and died 2 day later at home.

Volume 12 Issue 03

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Pastor Toms Preaching Corner

God Wants To Do A New Thing A New Beginning! 1st Peter 2:9-10; Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 43:18-29 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth: Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. God tells us in the book of Isaiah that we are to forget about the things of the past for behold God is about to do a new thing. God has great plans for your future. Plans for peace. Plans for success. Plans for a great future and hope. If you will let go of the past, God will begin to bless you. You will have to get all your failures under the blood of Jesus Christ. Let God do a new thing. Our spiritual enemys plan is: To hold us hostage to our past. To keep us remembering what folks did to us. To keep us looking back so we cant move forward. Paul said, Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. God made you: To soar with the eagles. To be more than a conqueror. To be a giant killer and to possess the land. Maybe you have failed drastically, but you can get it behind you. All you have to do is face your failures, repent and trust God for a new beginning. The Bible says, If you will diligently obey the Lord, He will command his blessings to come on you. God brought Lot and his family out of Sodom and said whatever you do, dont look back. Lot was trying to follow God but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Remember Lots wife, God had a great future for her but she was stuck in the past. Dont look back anytime God delivers you from: A bad situation. From drugs.. From a bad marriage. Your destiny will change, when you walk away from your past. You cant help where youve been, but you can help where youre going. Trust God for a new beginning today.
"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." 1 Thessalonians 2:8

You cant help where youve been, but you can help where youre going.

Jeremiah Prison Ministry

I was in prison and you visited me Matt. 25:36b

Revs. Thomas & Monica Cohee 223 Cameo Drive Fayetteville, PA 17222 Phone: 717-352-0080 Fax: 717-352-0392 Email: info@jeremiahprisonministry.com WERE ON THE WEB WWW. JEREMIAHPRISONMINISTRY. COM 12 YEARS OF PRISON MINISTRY AN OUTREACH OF MARTINSBURG CHRISTIAN CENTER Page 2 continued

To Our Family & Friends We Love You

They massaged aching hands, scrubbed urine-soaked floors, walked sickly men to showers, read to them from magazines and letters, Bibles, Torahs and Korans. Trust, uncommon among prisoners, was built: Whites helped blacks, Latinos helped Asians, Bloods gangbangers helped Crips. When an inmate's last days arrived, at least one care worker sat vigil day and night. No prisoner, they vowed, would die alone. Each month, on average, five inmates died. In 2009 and 2010, the state reported 810 inmate deaths in California prisons, many from cancer and liver disease. During that time, 34 compassionate releases were granted. I am amazed at how God orchestrates our lives. My cousin on the west coast ministering to dying inmates and we are here on the east coast mentoring inmates. Can we give praise to our Lord?!

You are an Extended Hand and a vital part of this ministry. Together we are making a difference with Jesus Christ, taking life to a dark place! We go because ou send us. Thank You so much!

Prayer Corner There Is Power In Prayer

Pray for Kevin, Chris, Mike, Domingo, Michael, & Doug that God blesses them financially above and beyond their expectations. They faithfully stay in touch with us.

Pray for Randall V. in prison falsely accused of a crime.

Pray for Larry, Lewis, Corey, Bob, Greg, & Eric for favor to receive commutation. Believe with us for them for a miracle with Gods favor. Pray for Jeremiah as we continue to believe for a miracle for his release. Pray for continued healing for Larry, Bob, Corey & Harvey. Leah remains cancer free ! God is so faithful hearing our prayers! Pray for our grandson, Andy at Delaware State University. Pray for my daughter, Vickie & Dale. God knows the need! Pray for Terri, Tayler & Cara doing much better with grief but still miss Alan. Pray for my new great-grandson Ethan James Miller, born 2-15-12. Pray for my brother Norman. Pray for Toms brother, John, he is recovering well. Pray for the Salvation for every man, woman, boy and girl not saved in this world. Our prayers are heard! Please pray for all the inmates, their families, our nation, our leaders, our military and their families. Pray for reform in the prison system, for lives to be changed & a spiritual renewal across this land with men, women, boys & girls being touched. Pray for Bill our dear friend who goes with us to some of the prisons, he will have back surgery on March 14, 2012 and his wife Rose for restored health. Pray for Dotty another dear friend in prison ministry for restored health. Pray for us for strength and wisdom in all that we do, for Tom & Monica to stay cancer free & healthy to do Gods work.

Hebrews 13:5b Jesus will never leaveyou nor forsake you.