Research has shown that the United States leads the world in incarcerated persons.  Accounting for more than 20% of the world’s prison population.  Recidivism rates in America are off the charts too!  More than 40% of people released end up going back within the first year. 

“All people make mistakes. All of us are sinners. All of us are criminals. All of us violate the law at some point in our lives. In fact, if the worst thing you have ever done is speed ten miles over the speed limit on the freeway, you have put yourself and others at more risk of harm than someone smoking marijuana in the privacy of his or her living room. Yet there are people in the United States serving life sentences for first-time drug offenses, something virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world.” – Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

Prison ministry

As followers of Jesus, we must be diligent in our work of spreading the gospel and speaking to the times as instructed by the bible.  This is why Trackstarz, E.I. the King, C2A Konnection, LLC, and Kingdom Minded Now, Inc. are teaming up to host Remembering the Resurrection at Parchman, Mississippi State Penitentiary on Monday April 10, 2023. 

This event will include live gospel music, a fellowship dinner, and a donation of MP3 Players for the residents.  Although we are halfway to our goal for this event, we are still in need. We are asking you all to help us, feed the residents’ souls, bodies, and minds during this celebration season.  It is an offering of hope for those impacted by the prison industrial complex. 

E.I. the King’s dream

Why MP3 players?  “[it’s] one of the best evangelistic tools in prison, loaded with CHH.  I personally used to let people hold my MP3 all the time, not telling them what was on it, and after they listened, they’d bring it back and say they loved it. So, the MP3 gift is going to be huge,” explains E.I. who’ll be ministering to the residents during the service. 

This will be his first time inside an adult facility since his release over a year ago.  “God is opening the door for me to get back into the prisons. I send emails, videos, and get calls weekly from a lot of my dawgs still incarcerated, and it fuels me to keep doing what He is leading me to do as they are my WHY.  To see God use me as an example of what He does with our lives when we surrender to Him,” E. I. says passionately.   

Returning citizens face a number of challenges after being released.  From navigating parole, finding work, and getting to know loved ones all over again, to healing from any traumatic event that happened inside; adjusting to life on the outside can be overwhelming for many.

“Coming home was amazing, beautiful, crazy, and chaotic, all at the same time,” E.I. describes the emotional rollercoaster of re-entry.  “[I] definitely was all in my head, feeling out of place and weird being around so many people, being free, and having a lot of social anxiety. I was concerned about how my kids were going to respond to me coming home, concerned about parole, and just the unknown, but was confident God was going before me.”

This is why the work is so important.  Whether the residents are doing a short bid or life, help us remind them, that God has a plan for their life.   And no matter the circumstance, they can rest in knowing that nothing can separate them from the love of Jesus Christ who shed his blood for our sins. 

For more information on how you can support and/or be a part of the Resurrection event, please email Ryan Righteous of The Trackstarz at ryan@trackstarz.com To make a financial donation, visit the Remembering the Resurrection GoFundMe page.  Every donation counts!  Thank you and please share and help us spread the word. 

And remember to tune in to The Trackstarz every Sunday at 8 pm est. on Holy Culture Radio, Sirius XM Channel 154.