Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Baptist Paper
Search
Close this search box.
The Baptist Paper
Search
Close this search box.
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds
  • Request a free trial
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds
  • Request a free trial

Former inmate returns to where his new life began

  • November 4, 2021
  • Trennis Henderson
  • Featured, Latest News, Missions, Mississippi
(TAB Media photo)

Former inmate returns to where his new life began

When Chris Pernell visits Clay County Jail each month to lead a Bible study for inmates, it truly is a full-circle moment. He teaches in the same jail chapel where he professed faith in Christ as an inmate more than a decade ago.

A recent Tuesday night service at the detention facility in West Point, Mississippi, drew 20 inmates clad in jail T-shirts and striped pants, filling the chapel’s half-dozen wooden pews.

The sparsely decorated room features a cross and crown of thorns prominently situated behind a small pulpit. A banner on one wall boldly proclaims, “God Is Real.”

As Pernell stands to speak, he is just a few feet from the spot where he began his new life in Christ.

“I know what it is to travel in shackles and chains,” he tells the men. “When I came in, I was a wreck. I was a mess.”

Pernell added that during the 28 months he was incarcerated for drugs and violating probation, he made a commitment “to be better than what I was when I came in.”

The pastor who let the phone ring

With a supportive family, a steady job, a caring local church and seminary extension training, Pernell is now dedicated to helping create a positive spiritual difference in the lives of others. In addition to the jail ministry, he often speaks at area prisons and a drug recovery facility in nearby Columbus.

He said a key part of his faith journey has been an unexpected friendship with Jim Sallee, which began even before he went to jail. Sallee, pastor of Riverside Chapel Baptist Church in West Point, “came into my life” as a friend and mentor “who helped me, who guided me, who gave me firm instructions in the Word of God.”

Prior to his incarceration, Pernell recalled, he was visiting with Sallee when the pastor’s phone rang. Rather than interrupting their conversation to answer, Sallee kept visiting with his office guest.

When Pernell asked if he was going to answer his phone, the pastor responded, “No, this is about you. I need to know you.”

“That said a whole lot,” Pernell remembered. “That said more than I can say right now of the sincerity in him of wanting to help people.

“This is what really helped me to understand how true this man was to the ministry and to God,” Pernell said. “He’s been a friend, confidant, pastor, leader, mentor. Everything I can think of that is good, that’s what he’s been in my life.”

Sallee recalled that Pernell told him at the time, “That’s the first time anybody ever put me first in their life.”

“That was just a huge moment that really touched my heart,” Sallee said, “to realize that some of the most simple things can touch people’s lives, just giving them the attention that they need.”

He went on to speak on Pernell’s behalf in court and to faithfully visit him almost every month he was imprisoned.

“The scripture is pretty clear … that we’re all supposed to be discipling somebody,” Sallee explained.

During their monthly visits in jail, “We would talk about the Lord. We would talk about the issues that he was facing. It just became a deep, close friendship in a very unusual setting.”

Sallee said he is grateful “to see God work in a man’s life to change him from violence, full of sin, full of hatred, full of anger, to one who is now full of compassion, love for other people, cares about other people.”

 ‘Only God can change you’

Even with the nearly two-and-a-half years he was in prison, Pernell insists “the journey has been good.”

“Overall, everything that I’ve gone through, I can say I’m thankful for because it let me know that after all of this, there’s a better way in life,” he said, quickly adding “only God can change you when you really want that change.”

“My passion now is to go back in and talk to the men and to help them,” Pernell said. Assuring the inmates “you can be free of those things that can cause the problems in your life, the struggles, the trouble,” he affirmed that “there have been quite a few men who have been led to the Lord.”

“The way I live now is totally different from what it used to be,” Pernell related. “I credit it all to God and to those who God has blessed to be in my life to help with those changes” — including a pastor who let his phone keep ringing.

Share with others:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Latest News

  • Confederate Railroad band member now spends days as traveling evangelist
    Confederate Railroad band member now spends days as traveling evangelist
    November 30, 2023/
    0 Comments
  • William Carey University mourns passing of president emeritus Tommy King
    William Carey University mourns passing of president emeritus Tommy King
    November 29, 2023/
    0 Comments
  • Baptist Nursing Fellowship celebrates 40 years of nurses on mission
    Baptist Nursing Fellowship celebrates 40 years of nurses on mission
    November 29, 2023/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

Confederate Railroad band member now spends days as traveling evangelist

A Georgia man’s chance meeting with country music star Chris McDaniel in a Delaware store led to a life-changing encounter with someone far more famous.

William Carey University mourns passing of president emeritus Tommy King

William Carey University mourns the passing of President Emeritus Tommy King, whose wisdom guided the university for more than 15 years – overseeing explosive growth in student enrollment and visionary expansions …

Baptist Nursing Fellowship celebrates 40 years of nurses on mission

Nurses and other medical staff came from across the United States attended the Baptist Nursing Fellowship Summit 2023, recently held  at First Baptist Church Jackson, Mississippi. 

Panel discussion encourages women’s calling to ministry

Women’s ministry leaders from across North Carolina encouraged other women in their callings as part of a special women in ministry panel discussion and luncheon held during this year’s Baptist State Convention of NC’s annual meeting.

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us
  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us

Explore

  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy
  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
The Baptist Paper
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2023 TAB Media Group
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ

Email:
news@thebaptistpaper.org

  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Archive
  • Your state news
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Persecuted Church
  • Submit your news
  • Photo Galleries
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Editorials
  • Archive
  • Your state news
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Persecuted Church
  • Submit your news
  • Photo Galleries
  • Our Team
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Manage Online Access Account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Hosted Church
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • Our Team
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Manage Online Access Account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Hosted Church
  • Donate
  • Contact us

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log In

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy/Terms of Use

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy/Terms of Use
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel