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The Metanoia Minute
Monthly Prayer Requests and Ministry Updates October 2016

In This Issue
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Thank you so much for being a vital partner with our ministry. Prayer IS the work of the ministry and we appreciate the hundreds of people who pray for us regularly. Prayer is behind all that we do at Metanoia.

Recently our Board President, Mr. Alan Bonderud, was pulled aside by a prisoner at Walker State Prison where Metanoia facilitates a mentoring ministry. The prisoner relayed to Alan that so many of the men inside are silently screaming for someone to come alongside of them during their incarceration.

There are many men and women who have gone decades without someone on the outside with whom they can communicate, whether via correspondence or in person. 

Please remember these prisoners in your prayers. Prison is a place where one can feel lonely in a sea of people. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would raise up more laborers to work in a field that is truly ripe for the harvest.
October Travel Schedule 
  • 9-12: Gatlinburg, TN: Brief fall family getaway.
October Update & Praise  
  • Our Board of Directors has implemented a strategic plan which will shape the ministry for the next 5-7 years! We are excited about seeing how God is leading us.
  • It looks like the Lord is opening the door for mentoring to begin at Hays State Prison in Trion, GA ahead of the planned January launch. Stay tuned for more on that. 
October Prayer Requests  
  • Please pray for Shelly as she keeps up the daily work of maintaining the correspondence ministry. 
  • Please pray for Rev. Randy Jackson and the expansion of the mentoring ministry into the State of Georgia. Once again we were told by a high-level Corrections Official that this is the most important component of the faith and character model. Pray that God will raise up the laborers.

  • We have applied for a substantial grant package which will facilitate Metanoia's growth over the next 6 years or so. Please pray that the donor will catch on to our vision and see the amazing work that God is doing in our prisons across the country.

  • Please pray that God will help us in finding the right people we need to fill important positions over the course of the next several years.
  • Please pray for the creation of our national database. Someone is working on this for us and it will link together churches, prisons, prisoners, service providers, etc.
  • Please pray for the men and women who are involved with Metanoia, whether as students, corresponding disciplers, mentees, mentors, or supporting churches.
Watch our Videos or Listen to Interviews
MNA-Metanoia Prison Ministries has been blessed with some videos that were produced by Genesis One Productions, with the help of Christ Covenant Church. Andy Caldwell directed, shot and edited the videos, and I think he did a fantastic job. You can watch the videos here:  Metanoia Video and  Metanoia Video 2 . Please let me know what you think. Also, please visit Ligonier.org and watch another video here:  http://www.ligonier.org/blog/metanoia-prison-ministries/

If you would like to listen to an interview by Dan Frye of A Rebel's Cause Radio, you can watch or listen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSVVOxtDyQM

If you are interested in listening to the radio interview with Pastor Kevin Boling of Knowing the Truth, you can hear it here:   http://www.sermonaudio.com/playpopup.asp?SID=31312142251
If you are interested in listening to the podcast interview with William Hill of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Confessing our Hope podcast, it can be heard here:  http://www.gpts.edu/podcast/Broadcast7_(Casson).mp3

Upcoming Events: Mark Your Calendar!

I thought it might be good for you to be aware of various events that we are scheduling so that you can both pray for us, and attend if you find yourself in the area. Here are the events on the calendar thus far:
  • Nov. 4-6: Hospers, IA, Missions Conference at First Presbyterian Church.
Mark, Raylene, Eliana & Joelle
About The Casson Family   
Mark Casson   is a husband, father, businessman, author and PCA Ruling Elder who also happens to have spent over 15 years serving a life sentence in California's prison system. He is the Director of Metanoia Prison Ministries and the Director of Prison Ministry for Mission to North America. Mark is a sought-after speaker who has taken the gospel of grace to high schools, college campuses, prisons and churches. He has a passion for mercy ministry to prisoners that is infectious.

His beautiful wife, Raylene has been a school teacher for more than 20 years and has taught in Bolivia, Canada, and the U.S. in both Christian and public schools. Raylene currently works part-time as a reading intervention specialist in Hamilton County, TN. 

They have two precious daughters. Eliana is 7 years old and has played in CA, NY, FL, MT, UT, OR, ID, NV, AZ, NM, TX, OK., TN, SC, HI, WI, GA, SD, WY and MN. She loves her little sister, Joelle, who is 4. Their daddy calls them his beloved rapscallions.