2024
Exciting news!
Off the Chain / 0 Comments /Dear Supporters, Brethren and Friends,
We have some exciting news that has delayed me getting this report sent out. We now have an opportunity to reach out to every inmate in the state of Florida and literally hundreds of thousands of inmates all over the country! Also, anyone in the free world who has access to the internet! Is it worth $18,000 per year?
Inmates in the FDOC were given tablets a few years ago. These tablets can be used for electronic messaging, similar to email (no USPS mail is allowed for communication with inmates any longer), education and entertainment. Soon afterwards, religious content became available through an App called Pando. Pando is owned by a group called God Behind Bars (GBB). Their App is available currently for download onto any Android or IOS device. It has been a source of frustration for me for quite some time that we had no way of providing content on the App or on the tablets in some other way. The available content, especially early on, was mostly worship services of a few select “mega” churches. We wanted to provide comparable content that teaches the true gospel and other truths of God’s word to the inmates. The inmates, through the tablets, are currently bombarded with denominational teaching.
A couple of months ago Chris Carter, a brother who does prison work also, made contact with the DOC and was granted permission for limited uploads to the tablets by WVBS (World Video Bible School). Those uploads would be screened by DOC and then released onto the tablets separately from the Pando App. That process has proved to be slow and difficult at best. Also, providing content in that way is much harder for inmates to find on the tablets and is not available for sharing with others in the free world.
During this process, the brothers at WVBS contacted GBB directly and discovered that content could be placed on their platform. Pando offers three tiers of use. The cheapest is listed below. The other two are $50,000 and $100,000 per year and include unlimited uploads at the highest level.
BASIC PLUS LEGACY $18,000/YR
- Upload 6-8 videos per month plus 1 e-book plus access to analytics
- Reach hundreds of thousands of inmate accounts all across the US
At first, I was convinced that the cost was prohibitive. However, after much thought and prayer I believe the cost is small compared to the potential audience we could reach – every inmate in Florida and hundreds of thousands of inmates in the US! Not only would we have access to all these inmates, but anyone in the free world could download the App and see our content as well! Inmates can share what they are watching with contacts in the free world and vice versa!
My Board and I have agreed that we will commit to one year of service, and we will use reserves to fund that year. During that time, we will try and raise the $18,000 to replace our reserves. I have signed a contract with God Behind Bars, the owners of PANDO, and we now have a space on the App. Here is what we look like…
We are currently looking for and evaluating content that already exists among brethren and exploring the possibility of creating some content specifically for this use. If you have any suggestions, please reach out to me. Obviously, we want content that is Biblically accurate, but also must be of good quality, applicable to the audience and with permission for its use.
Once our space showed up on Pando yesterday, I began hearing from inmates all over the state asking when we would have some content. Here is a note I received form a brother that I have worked with for a while…
I’m personally appreciative but I’m mostly excited for those who would’ve never crossed your path except through this app. Sure your sermons are hard and have the potential to offend some with already set traditions but that’s exactly what people need to hear. It doesn’t have the sparkling bedazzle that the itching ears may want to see and hear but I know your content will press their conventional thinking… I know it will be scripture based with understanding that is plain for all to understand. No one can argue against scripture, maybe interpretation, but that’s healthy as well because I believe you’ll win that battle on a receptive heart any day.
Would you be willing to help financially? Would you please pray for this opportunity to be used by God for good? Thank you for your support.
Daryl Townsend
