Each year at Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach Florida, Fruit Cove Baptist Church sponsors a Christmas banquet for the inmates. The banquet is conducted by Fruit Cove’s Men’s Ministry in which approximately 100 inmates receive a barbecue dinner often getting to go back for seconds! Many of the inmates say it is the highlight of their year to enjoy such good food.
Each inmate who attends must qualify for the banquet by attending Bible study classes for the year. If their attendance is at least 80% they qualify to attend. In addition to the feast, the men participate in music worship, testimonies, games, gifts, and a sermon message by a guest pastor. These men are truly grateful and their response is often: “the Lord is good!”
The good news of Jesus Christ is also quite tangible in that the love of Christ is exemplified by acts of love. In the gospel the writer confirms in Matthew 25:35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is alive today and thriving even in the least expected places. To God Alone Be The Glory!
