Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife, singer Ciara, recently visited 300 inmates at a maximum security prison, where they led worship and encouraged offenders with God’s Word. Wilson and Ciara partnered with God Behind Bars, who said that 27 men gave their lives to Christ after the couple’s visit.
“Lord there’s nothing better than YOU!!!” Wilson posted on his Instagram. “Over 300 Maximum Prison Inmates worshipping Jesus! His Grace and Spirit is overwhelming in the midst of mistakes He still loves and forgives.” In his caption, Wilson quoted John 3:17, which says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Russell Wilson, Ciara Minister to Inmates
Russell Wilson, who had a disappointing year playing for the Broncos in 2022, is a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award-winner and is outspoken about his Christian faith. The facility Russell Wilson and Ciara visited was reportedly Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida. ChurchLeaders has reached out to the Florida Department of Corrections to confirm this information.
God Behind Bars partners with local churches and ministries to show offenders the love of God. In a Facebook reel posted March 9, God Behind Bars said, “27 incarcerated men gave their lives to Jesus inside of a maximum security prison. 300 incarcerated men filled the prison chapel to hear a word from @dangerusswilson. He opened the night in Isaiah, “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.” – Isaiah 43:19. That is exactly what Jesus did in this prison.”
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The reel shows Wilson holding a Bible and encouraging the men that God is doing “a new thing.”
“After this moment,” the God Behind Bars post continues, “the prison chapel began to erupt in worship and praise. The voices of the incarcerated were so loud, it felt like it could be heard by the entire prison. In a place so easily filled with so much division, there was a moment where incarcerated men put their arms around each other and prayed for those struggling with anxiety and depression.”
Ciara also spoke to the men. “You know what’s so beautiful about God’s love?” she asked. “He don’t let off. He don’t let off.” The singer said she loved God’s promise that “there’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus. So you ask for forgiveness, he will forgive you.” Moved with emotion, she said, “My heart is filled with joy.”
God Behind Bars said that Ciara sang “Way Maker,” after which “men came to the front and wept, giving their lives to Jesus. Many of these men are serving life sentences in prison, but now they will be spending LIFE with Jesus. It is hard to put words into what happened but it was a night of UNITY, PRAISE, and SALVATION! We will never be the same! God is bringing revival to prisons! Jesus is doing a NEW THING.”
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