Alfonso still remembers the moment that changed everything.
“I was having a hard time wrestling with my guilt and shame when I saw someone had left one of the ‘invite someone to join’ cards on an empty bookshelf that inmates use to place material they are willing to give up for someone else’s taking,” he recalled. “I read how I could receive and complete different lessons, grow in faith, and receive letters from different mentors. It was like Jesus was calling out to me at that very moment, giving me hope, and encouraging me to join the program.”
That day, Alfonso filled out the enrollment card for Crossroads Prison Ministries, eager to begin his journey of faith.
“After sending off my enrollment card, I waited eagerly to receive my first lesson,” he said. “Then after a few weeks, I felt Jesus’s warmth when the floor officer delivered mail in our pod and handed me my first lesson packet. I was like a child opening a Christmas present. Even though I had an idea of what was inside, it was even better than I had imagined.”
Inside that first packet, Alfonso discovered a way to grow closer to Christ.
“The lesson packet was beautifully laid out with recommended Bible verses to study, Scripture questions, and personal questions for me to grow spiritually,” Alfonso shared.
Through each Crossroads lesson, Alfonso found his faith growing stronger.
“I invest and work out my spiritual energy and consider it like me working out my faith like I do when I work out my muscles out on the yard,” he explained. “But I’m making my relationship with Jesus stronger with every word I read and question I respond to. Those responses are then ingrained in my brain—but most importantly in my heart and soul—and return to me when I need them. Once again, I hear Jesus’s voice bringing those words to me when I need them most.”
For Alfonso, the letters from Crossroads mentors became lifelines of encouragement and reminders of God’s love.
“To all my previous mentors who have been blessed by Jesus to be a part of this incredible program helping us out, may God bless you all!” he said. “Your words ring in my ears like Jesus’s voice because it is Jesus who is speaking through you as His vessel to me. Your words do not fall on deaf ears—rather, they embrace the hearts and souls of those in need of them.”
What began as a single card on a prison bookshelf has become a lifelong journey of faith and spiritual growth.
“My lessons are not just a ‘to-do list,’ but a long journey in which I’m not keeping track of how far, I’ve gone—but instead on how much closer I’ve gotten to Jesus, my faith, and the person I am working hard to become,” Alfonso said.
Sharing the Gift of Hope This Christmas
This Christmas, Alfonso’s story is a reminder that Christ’s light can shine even in the darkest places.
Just as Alfonso opened his first Crossroads lesson “like a child opening a Christmas present,” thousands of men and women in prison are still waiting for that gift of hope.
You can be part of that miracle. By giving today or becoming a Crossroads mentor, you can place the hope of Jesus into someone’s hands this Christmas.
Join Crossroads as a mentor or give the gift of hope to help share the greatest gift of all—His love—with those behind bars.