USA (MNN) — With nearly two million people behind bars at any given time, the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world.
That’s why prisoners are the focus of World Missionary Press in 2025.
“It’s an open mission field, and the response is amazing because there is such a sense of hopelessness in many of these places,” WMP’s Helen Williams says.
WMP has been sending its annual datebook to chaplains and inmates for decades. “We’ve been providing a date book for prisoners for years, almost as long as I’ve been here, and I’ve been here 28 years,” Williams says.
“We send [material] to federal prisons, state facilities, local jails – wherever the chaplain will use it.”
The impact is profound. WMP datebooks provide hope to people forgotten by society, whether guilty or innocent, serving a life sentence or a misdemeanor.
“It’s not a good place to be, but [the date books provide] something to grab on to every morning,” Williams says.
“We get so many letters that say, ‘I couldn’t get through my day without it.’ They say, ‘I keep it on my bunk. It’s the first thing I read in the morning.’”
WMP: UNBound
After decades of outreach, WMP is rolling out new materials and trying to reach more chaplains. The ministry is also adding a second web press and a fourth bindery to its production facility to fuel the expansion of its WMP: UNBound prison ministry program.
First shipment of 2025 WMP Scripture booklets for prison ministry.
(Photo, caption courtesy of World Missionary Press)
In the coming weeks, “we’ve got a new booklet coming out that speaks of hope; this is specifically designed for those [who] are incarcerated,” Williams says.
“It’s based on hope, not just surviving the situation, but finding a way to be stable and have something to lean on.”
Pray for the WMP prison ministry team as they work to expand the program and add necessary staff.
“Last year, we printed about 750,000 [date books], and the goal [is] to triple what we do in volume within the next year,” Williams says.
Consider partnering financially with WMP to bring hope to the hopeless.
“If they want to donate to the UNBound program, that would be wonderful,” Williams says.
“Pray that the Lord brings the people [who] can help get this thing going and keep it growing and growing.”
Header and story images courtesy of World Missionary Press.
