Ex-Con Now Converted & Baptized

This past Sunday night Grace Church baptized three men – a university professor with a PhD, a Vietnam veteran, and an ex-con recently released from prison. My brother John baptized the first two men. I had the opportunity to baptize the third man, Billy, who I met in prison as his counselor. Billy was probably the last man I would've expected to come to Christ. He was one of my guys for several months in prison and had to meet with me for one-on-one therapy sessions and attend weekly group therapy. Billy was great at trying to avoid me and was not one of my more compliant men.

When Billy was about to be released to a drug treatment facility, to my surprise he asked me to visit him which I did. After several weeks in treatment he was transferred to a halfway house near Grace Church in West Philly. He began attending services and said it was the highlight of his week. At some point he understood the gospel and his need of a Savior. The story of his life is extremely sad. There are few people in his life since he has burned bridges with a life of crime and addiction. Now he has a church family and brothers and sisters in Christ. He has a long way to go and we specifically asked people to pray for him. If you think of it, pray for Billy, and for the other men as well that they would grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.