Twenty-one months ago Prison Evangelism sent our sixty thousand copies of How to be a Child of God to three hundred and fifty-five prison units in nine states. In this particular printing, we bound in a reply card in the back that asked the reader or recipient to tell us what he thought about our book. Almost two years later, the cards are still coming in at the rate of two to five per day.
Altogether, we have received almost fourteen hundred responses from the original sixty thousand books. This is approaching a 2 1/2% response rate. I understand marketing and by any standard, that is a huge response, especially when you consider the card is the last page of the book and the sender has to go through it carefully and find a stamp to mail it, plus write some response. I have been astonished at this response. I have learned what a closed environment exists in a prison and how a book can circulate almost indefinitely going from one person to another. At the rate we are receiving the cards nineteen months later, there is no telling how much longer it will go on and how many total we will receive.
Somehow, God gave me direction when this book was being designed and we made sure;
1.) The paper was printed on heavy 100# stock that was difficult to destroy and would last a long time.
2.) The text had large print. We designed the entire text in larger print that almost looks like cartoon style. The purpose was to make the reading easier for those who had sight deficiencies. We wanted the reader to be able to read the book without glasses.
3.) The text has a picture on every page. One reason is a non English reader can still get the message by looking at the pictures. I got a note from an inmate who said, “I don’t understand the Bible, but I understand your picture book”. Also, by including the large number of pictures, we were able to keep the book smaller and more compact. After all, someone said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In order to get the message across we would have needed a book twice the size of what we have and those who cannot read or cannot read English would have been left behind.
Lastly, we know statistically that for every one person who responds, there are ten that do not for whatever reason. This means that of the sixty thousand books we sent, fourteen thousand lives were impacted and it is not over yet! Whatever the case, we know this is God’s business and He will make sure His message gets into the hands of the son or daughter He has chosen to be with Him forever. Our jobs in the body of Christ is to be and do the physical things and get these books printed and delivered to the addresses He has provided. He will to the rest. You can donate and help this cause by going to the CONTRIBUTE tab at the website: prisonevangelism.com
David Howell
Prison Evangelism, Inc.
PO Box 571977
Houston, Texas 77257
713-623-0690
www.prisonevangelism.com