The YPM Connector

AUGUST 8, 2024

Dear Subscriber First Name,

DON’T MISS THE YPM ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Our theme for this year’s conference on September 27-28 in Williamsport is “Learning From Leaders.” We hope to have with us our five most recent former executive directors: John Rush (2001-2011), Larry Coleman (2011-2013), David Bowen (2013-2018), Carl Geisinger (2018-2023) and Sean Atkinson (2023-present). We will also rejoice in worship, celebrate changing lives yoked to Christ, revel in Christian fellowship, break bread together and conduct our annual membership meeting. Click here for the Conference Schedule. 

It’s easy to register: 

1. Make your hotel reservation directly with the Genetti Hotel by phone at (570) 326-6600. Mention YPM to receive the discounted rate. Or reserve a room online (the discounted rate will be applied).  

2. Register to attend the conference and select your meals on our new website: ypmpa.org. Go to step # 2. You can pay online with a credit card or mail this form with a check. Staff and area council leaders can also provide mail-in registration forms to pay by check. 

3. Register by September 9. A $15 late fee will apply after that date. Cancellations before September 1 will receive a 100% refund; cancellations on/or after September 1 will receive a 50% refund. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Yokefellows at Rockview SCI Support Worship Concert Led by Nashville Artist Ben Fuller and Way Truth Life Radio

Each Monday evening Yokefellow volunteers Brian Bortree, Sam Heaster, Luke Martin, David Peachey, Tom Spicher and South Central Regional Director Mike Knott lead about 50 men in four YPM groups. David and Reba Bowen often join as backups for the team. Each Sunday morning at Rockview SCI, Chaplain Adam Barborich and an inmate team lead worship for about 200 men, approximately 10% of the prison population. 

The Rockview YPM team prayed for revival and for 200 men to attend the July 19 Ben Fuller concert, with testimonies and inmate-led worship that followed. There were 186 men attending and our Yokefellows shared the following about the impact of the event:

• “Thank you for praying for this event Friday night. It was amazing. Many praises! There were almost 200 men there. One pointed out to me his cellmate he brought who wasn’t a Christian. Ben Fuller really connected with them. He told his story as a recent convert of 5 years ago, and how low his life was before God changed him. This he combined with songs on acoustic guitar in a very heartfelt way that reflected his story. At one point he shared that he felt God had saved him on the ‘outside’ so he could come minister to them on the “inside.” They were very receptive to the message and singing along at various points. He also shared about how the Christian life is not always easy, and gave a very personal story of life loss after becoming a Christian and the struggle of getting through it without turning back to the old ways of coping.”

• “There was an opportunity for inmates to participate in this experience. Three respected inmates shared their testimonies and encouraged/challenged the rest of the group for salvation and witness and Christian living. One reminded them that they are the light of Rockview. Two from the inmate worship team led a closing song that had almost the whole room on their feet praising God. The inmates prayed over Ben in a very moving way at the end.”

• “Inmates were encouraged to seek out the leaders (who were standing to the sides) for prayer or discussion. Afterwards there was one who came up to the Chaplain afterwards for salvation, saying he had seen Ben play 10 years ago (pre-Christian testimony). What an amazing God connection. I am sure we will hear more praise reports of salvations and burdens lifted as we hear more in the coming days.”

• “It was very encouraging for the WTLR (Way Truth Life Radio) staff to hear men coming individually and talking about what the radio station means to them and how they listen to it, and for the men to get to see the radio hosts – a full circle of local ministry.” 

• “The church inside was strengthened Friday. The night was really about the first half with Ben Fuller and the second half with the inmate church. It built them up for their identity, their witness, their support of each other. Many praises!”

• “There were many more awesome moments and many layers of ministry that happened Friday – too many to tell. All this to say that God answered prayers, the name of Jesus was lifted up, the Holy Spirit was moving. Thank you again for your prayers in support of this amazing event.”

Freddie Nole Featured in Exhibition

Howard Zehr, a professor at Eastern Mennonite University, told the story in 1996 of 75 lifers in the Pennsylvania corrections system in his book “Doing Life: Men and Women Serving Life Sentences.” Zehr co-authored another book which published in 2022 called “Still Doing Life: 22 Lifers 25 Years Later” and it has led to an exhibition at the city hall in Beaverton, Oregon.

Freddie Nole, YPM board member and co-director of our Meeting at the Door ministry, is one of the individuals highlighted in the exhibition. The exhibit tells the story of incarerated individuals as they reflect on life before and after their 25-year life sentences. Read the excerpt below about Freddie. To read about the exhibit and other stories, click here.

“Nole is a great example of how a person who makes a horrible mistake as a teenager can transform himself into a man who can make valuable contributions … In the 47 years he has been in prison (he was released in his 50th year), he has established a prison program designed to help prisoners and their families build stronger relationships,” Stephanie Jirard of PBS station WHYY wrote in a 2016 article, Time for a new approach to juvenile sentencing in Philadelphia.

In that time, he served as a worship leader (Nole became a Christian in the early 1970s) and has received many community service awards, including the Spirit of Philadelphia award. Upon leaving the Pennsylvania corrections system, he continued his work with Christian ministries in outreach programs aimed at other inmates.

According to the Yokefellowship Prison Ministry website, Nole is the co-director of the ministry’s Meeting at the Door program, a support system for recently released individuals. Yokefellowship, founded in the 1950s by D. Elton Trueblood, a Quaker college chaplain and top advisor to Dwight Eisenhower, helps support and counsel current and formerly incarcerated people across Pennsylvania.

After a couple weeks of trying to get in touch with Mr. Nole through various organizations, an email address finally surfaced. He responded to my email immediately and was thrilled to speak about the project.

“For me, I was excited to get the opportunity to talk about the changes people make while incarcerated. People want to demonize prisons and say that they don’t work,” said Nole. “Nothing is 100%, but a certain percentage of people that want to change, will, and need to be supported. You can’t paint all these people with such a broad brush.”

He elaborated on the changes that have occurred within him over the 50 years he spent in the Pennsylvania prison system. 

“For me, it was realizing what I did when I was younger, because I didn’t see where I fit into the world. Now, I know whatever I did to go in, isn’t going to happen anymore,” he said. “I am gratified by all the people that helped me along.” 

Nole continues to work toward his goal of helping as many men as possible when they get out. His work with Meeting at the Door allows him to have a direct impact on the lives of these people coming back into society.

“We brought a guy out earlier this month and got him right into a program. Took him up to Clearfield County (Pennsylvania), provided him with transportation, clothes and the resources he needed to try to get his life going. We service anyone that comes out, and partner with different organizations that help provide some of the goods and services.”

Meeting at the Door also has a YouTube channel, featuring nine videos that highlight one or two newly free individuals each episode.

Even with all the work Nole has done with prison outreach over the last forty years, finding a “normal” job after release has proven difficult. 

From our Executive Director, Sean Atkinson

Psalm 118:24 – A Matter of Perspective

We are familiar with Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” We may quote it or sing it. I remember at my first YPM Annual Conference, David Bowen opened the second morning by doing just that. A rousing rendition of “This is the day” – what a beautiful thing. A few weeks ago in our Saturday night YPM group, this verse came up. 

Jarod is a quiet and sullen individual who isn’t much of a talker. He comes to the group on occasion and doesn’t go to church and (in his own words) “doesn’t make much time to read the Word.” 

After reading the verse, Jarod shared. “In a place such as this there is nothing to be joyful about. Everyday I see things that one ought not see and hear things one ought not hear. Daily I quite literally fight to stay alive. So forgive me for not shouting at the top of my lungs, “Hooray for today!”

There is a real danger in adding a caveat to this verse. Oh, I will rejoice when …

• The report from the doctor changes. 

• I will throw up my hands and shout when my addiction isn’t running my life. 

• I will sing like you can’t imagine when my family looks like “the picture on the box” looks how it’s supposed to look. 

• I will stop reliving what happened, everyday of my life, I will rejoice. 

The above are examples given by the men in that group. The danger is that we could miss rejoicing too… 

While I am in no way minimizing or diminishing any struggles that they or we are dealing with, we could miss the very day He has blessed us with because of those struggles. We could miss the opportunities He has for us to show kindness to someone who, in our minds, doesn't deserve kindness. We could miss the chance to start over at something that we have been putting off, relational or otherwise. We could miss the chance to stop letting our past define who we are today. I am not saying that everyday I am the picture of sunshine, far from it. 

There are days that I can’t even stand myself. But for the most part, I view waking up as a reason to rejoice. That when my feet hit the floor, they may hurt more than they used to but Jesus still has something for me that day. It may take me longer to get the coffee made in the morning and my motivation may need a second or third cup, but there is work to be done. I may not walk the dogs as much as I used to, but man, I’m going to rejoice in the day He has blessed me with. Thank you to each of you, who are following the call which He has placed on your hearts, to go where He has asked you to go and to rejoice in doing so.

Keep Us Updated

Please keep us up to date with your name, address, phone and email so we can keep you in the loop. Simply notify your Area Council or Regional Director. Thank you!

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Thank you for your continued support! 

Sean Atkinson, Executive Director 

Dave Lewis, Chair of the Board