Storytelling At The Terrell Unit – (May 11, 2026)

Last year Cathy and I visited our colleague and friend Matt Thomas, who coaches the church inside Lansing Prison (Kansas). During the worship service one of the Lansing church leaders exhorted the members to share their faith on the yard. As Cathy looked around saw a few perplexed faces, seeming to say, “I’m not sure how to do that.” On the way home, Cathy said, “You know how missions agencies send people overseas to teach indigenous leaders to tell Bible stories for evangelism? I think the indigenous leaders in prison would benefit from the same training. With so much time to talk with other prisoners, they could feel more equipped to lead people to Christ.”

Cathy then set out to bring storytelling training to the church on the inside. After many calls and setbacks, Cathy was convinced this needed to happen. Finally, she found Jerry Wiles from the International Orality Movement, who went to the Terrell Unit near Houston, in conjunction with our colleague Charles Anderson (Epiphany Life Change). They scheduled three weekly sessions in March, for two hours each. After the first session, the prison went into lockdown and the other two sessions had to be postponed to May. But Cathy was so curious about how the training was received, she scheduled a visit to the prison.

So a few weeks ago we drove to the Terrell Unit where Cathy conducted a one-hour focus group with the 50+men who received the training. Their response was quite encouraging, mentioning how it gave them confidence to share the Bible on the yard but also with their families. One brother said he was going to use this training to share Bible stories with his grandchildren. He said that he didn’t have anyone growing up to pour into him and although he damaged relationships with his own children, he was hopeful to invest in the next generation.

After the focus group, this man came up to thank Cathy for setting up the training and for her focus group. Cathy looked him in the eyes and said, “I want you to know how proud I am of you for investing in your grandchildren.” He got tears in his eyes and said, “No one has ever told me they were proud of me. Thank you.”

It was a wonderful day, and we left encouraged that storytelling has great potential for the gospel in prisons.

Cathy and Charles Anderson after the event