Last summer, Headquarters was contacted by DeAnn Hilmoe, President of the Pierre Prison Lighthouse of Pierre, SD, wondering if we would allow her to make copies of the GameChangers transcripts to be used in a women’s prison. We, of course, told her to ‘go for it!’ Here is a follow up story detailing how lives were changed by the teaching of these lifechanging truths.
“Thank you for your fabulous generosity to inmates at the prison. We completed GameChangers over a 5-month period, May – November, 2024. Thank You! You have made it easy for God to move on hearts of each women.
We had 176 inmates who attended at least once, with 20-35 attending each week. Nearly every attendee participated in discussion. They were awesome! One of the inmates who is serving a maximum sentence led the discussion each time. She testified that she has harvested peace in 2024 through this and other studies.”
DeAnn also distributed 104 composition books since July. It is a strong need for their mental health and spiritual growth. DeAnn thought it was possible that there have been attendees who only came so they could get a journal; however, she knows they received from the Lord even if they were only there once (and even if they weren’t looking for Him).
Each week 10-20 prayer requests were received and shared with prayer partners. We were able to pray individually with the inmates who invited it at the end of each week’s study, and we always lift individual and corporate needs during our gathering.
We met on Wednesday evenings from 7-8 pm in the chow hall, which is also the only day hall for some women. We met previously for 90 minutes, but shortened it due to the constraints on the room.
Study: GameChangers by Graham Cooke, a 5-session study; we broke each video into several segments, and did one session per month. One Wednesday per month we livestream a worship and prayer meeting from a local church.
“We began our study May 15 and had a ‘graduation celebration’ with Rice Krispy treats on Wednesday, November 14. We had to cancel a couple of times, when supper was late and the room would be occupied for more than half of our time. I was out of town a couple of Wednesdays, and Sunny Hannum and Joel Pfeifle, longtime Aglow members, were gracious to join in during the summer along with my husband, Merlyn. Sunny and Joel have actually continued to attend almost weekly. They talk and pray with inmates and monitor what is going on when I’m otherwise occupied.
We have had many wonderful answers to prayer. One of the inmates testified that her child attended the South Dakota Assembly of God Youth Convention and accepted salvation, and both mother and daughter are experiencing the joy of her salvation.”
We would love to hear your story of where you have taught GameChangers and how those attending had lifechanging experiences.