Every Sunday at 6:45 a.m. women from Fitzpatrick Baptist Church arrive at the Floyd County Jail to have a Bible study with the female inmates. That ministry has borne fruit, as evidenced by the baptism of one woman on May 18.
Dawn Reed, wife of Fitzpatrick Baptist pastor Tommy Reed, said the early arrival time is worth it.
‘Jesus can turn anybody’s life around’
“We have some girls who have been saved. Sometimes they have burned every bridge with family and friends, so it definitely is a time they can do some reflection and make changes,” Reed said. “That is why we are there — Jesus can turn anybody’s life around. All of us feel deeply called to this ministry.”
The jail ministry to women began in 2010 when the Fitzpatrick women met with inmates during the church’s Sunday school hour. Then COVID put a halt to the ministry, and when it resumed it was scheduled at an earlier hour. “But if that is when they could get in, they said they would go — making lemonade out of lemons,” observed Tommy Reed.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
