To House of Hope Prison Ministry,
I am writing in regards to the acceptance of my duty as a Prayer Warrior on behalf of House of Hope Prison Ministry. I do believe whole-heartedly this is the direction in which the Holy Ghost of God is leading me in my personal ministry. I look forward to taking on the responsibility of this prayer ministry and in whatever area the Lord may see fit for me to engage in the future. This ministry has been a great blessing from God in my personal walk with the Lord.
I am also submitting my testimony and how God has radically transformed my mind, heart, soul, and spirit. I pray that it may be a great blessing to a drug addict, homosexual, and even just a regular-attending church member whose relationship with Jesus has grown cold over the years.
In closing I would just like to add, I haven’t committed to this ministry up until this point; because when I commit to something it becomes part of me, and there hasn’t been room in my heart for any commitment of this significance.
For several years, I have faced great spiritual warfare; so intense that I have woken up out of my sleep in tears saying, “Out of the belly of hell have I cried”; and cried indeed have I. The warfare has by no means ceased, but my strength has certainly increased. I can make the statement, not requesting as King David did, the Lord has enlarged my heart.
Maybe it would be wise though to cry out unto the Lord and request further enlargement, because Satan’s opposition won’t decrease, of this I am certain.
May God bless us abundantly as we proclaim the Word of Life to a lost and dying world,
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness, Brother Shane
The Beginning of Forever
“And Jesus said, Who touched me? … Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.” (Luke 8:45-47)
I would first like to thank God for House of Hope Prison Ministry giving me the opportunity to share with you my testimony. It is truly a privilege and honor to be led of the Spirit of God into the arms of love that are open wide to offenders of society such as myself. I am truly humbled to know that such charity and forgiveness rest within the bosoms of the saints of the Most High. I pray with great fervency that this testimony will be a blessing to the Body of Christ, as well as to a lost world; so that we may be mindful of the God who still anchors souls in a glorious hope that can only be found in our Precious, Divine, the Beloved and only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
My name is Shane Woodruff, I am 27, divorced, and have two beautiful daughters, whose names are Haylee and Hayven. I have been incarcerated for almost five years and will soon be back at home to fill my duty as a dad, son, brother in the flesh and in Christ. But before that blessed day overtakes me in joy, I want to share with you a story about a man who is now crucified, a man who no longer exists. He has been buried; and thanks to God’s marvelous grace, a new man stands in his place.
I pray to my Lord that I might be able to identify my old life with one lost soul, as our Lord identified with us, “yet without sin.” He humbled himself and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh and was tempted in all points as we are, so that He could be a faithful High Priest to all who are called of God. May the Lord give me the courage to declare my testimony as the woman in my text “declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him.”
This woman, for 12 years, suffered from what the Bible calls “an issue of blood.” In other words, the blood ran unceasingly from her vaginal region for twelve years. The Law of God declared in Leviticus 15:25, “And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.” In the text, Christ was in a great crowd of people, so large was the press, that He said, “Who touched me? … Somebody hath touched me.”
Do you think He knew who touched him? Personally, I believe He did, considering the fact that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). With that being the case, why did He ask, “Who touched me?” I’ll tell you why. Because He wanted her to be bold enough to give her testimony. In doing so, I believe she overcame fear, insecurity, and many other spiritual Goliaths that we face on a daily basis. Scripture says that fear gripped her heart, because she “saw that she was not hid, she came trembling.” She then declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him. Jesus then said, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (Luke 8:48).
This woman could have been severely punished for breaking the law; but she gave her testimony anyway, despite what the people may have thought. She wasn’t supposed to be in that crowd, she was unclean. But when you need a touch of Jesus, you’ll do whatever you need to do to get your deliverance. We can’t be ashamed to tell people what God has set us free from; if we don’t tell people, Christ is not glorified, and people don’t get set free. Think about the souls that have been delivered over the past 2,000 years because of this woman’s declaration of faith.
We must fight past the fear of what people think about us, and tell this world about our deliverance from uncleanness. I want the world to know that God will save a homosexual and renew his mind. I want the world to know that God will deliver a drug addict and I want the world to know that there is still power in the blood of the Lamb of the Almighty God. I don’t want to be ashamed of my testimony in the Lord, though persecution may arise and all men forsake me. The Lord will stand with me while I declare unto you before all the people for what cause I have touched Him. Praise the Lord, be blessed, Child of Grace.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)
I was a walking dead man, dead in my trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). I personally believe I played a great role in that statement Brother John made in 1 John 5:19, “…the whole world lieth in wickedness.” My parents were full of love and self-sacrifice; but like us all, had faults, flaws, and regrets. My brother was the outcast; or so he felt, because he never could get the attention he wanted. We truly were a dysfunctional family, but what family isn’t?
With the consent of my parents, I started doing drugs at the age of 15, entertaining demonic spirits which had a stronghold on my life as never before. Within my mind, my life revolved around my next high and sexual perversions. Satanic influences continued to prevail against my home and personal life. My mother, in 2001, under the influence of marijuana and crack cocaine, lost her mind. She went into a nervous breakdown and has yet to fully recover from her illness.
I think it would be appropriate to make a quick note that drugs are destroying America’s families; and they will destroy yours, if you don’t get Christ.
As a result of my home life, I felt I was forced to move into an uncle’s house, who now pastors a church. He took me in and sheltered me as his own; but as I said before, Satan had a grip on me and wasn’t letting loose. I got real religious for a while, but then turned back to my own vomit again (Proverbs 26:11) and moved on in my forward way.
I went on through life doing drugs and entertaining a spirit of homosexuality, along with many other vile fruits of our wicked flesh. Then one day, I met a beautiful woman who was to change my whole life. The sun didn’t set unless I had seen or heard from her. My aunt, whom I was living with at the time, had to make us go to school because we were addicted to what we thought to be love. Although it began with nothing more that the lust of the flesh, it did blossom into something more beautiful than words, pen, or paper can utter.
To this day, after 11 long years, that love has a grip on my heart that I know will be there till the day I die. We went on and had two beautiful daughters, who are now six and seven. Oh yes, Haylee and Hayven are my whole world and they don’t even know it.
Child of Grace, you need to thank God for the love of a family. Satan’s desire is to steal, kill, and destroy; and he is just waiting for you to open a crack in the door, as you will soon see I did.
My ex-wife and I were pill heads. Oxycodone ran our every waking breath. Thanks to my gracious grandmother, we had great credit that provided us with many nice things, which became consumed one item at a time, as drugs became more important than payments. I remember one time, while staying with my father-in-law; our lights got cut off as a result of our addictions. Is that not awful? It happens every day. When these principalities, powers, and potions of Satan’s sorcerers get a hold on the mind, they will drive you to utter despair. The Book of Mark says the woman in my text suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered; but rather grew worse. My ex-wife and I were only growing worse. The potions of the physicians were destroying our lives.
As my life was being torn apart, one pill at a time, I decided one night to release a lot of anger which had built up on the inside; I was miserable with myself. Full of anger and driven by an intoxicated mind, I rose up in the middle of the night while my family and I were living with my ex-mother-in-law. I burnt down her home. Thanks to the good Lord, no one was hurt other than a heart, a kind and loving heart. My ex-mother-in-law lost everything she had; from beautiful merchandise earned with hard working money, to precious memories that will always be held dear. I sought her forgiveness with tears, and I pray often that she has released herself from any anger or unforgiveness.
Unfortunately, people mistakenly think forgiveness is about the person being forgiven, but it is actually about the person doing the forgiving. When holding on to unforgiveness, we open up our hearts to bitterness and resentment that will destroy our character if we allow it. Be not ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Corinthian’s 2:11).
It was during this season of my walk through life that I had one of the many spiritual experiences that will forever be engraved on the tablet of my heart. As my ex-wife, our daughters and I, along with my in-laws, were on our way to a hotel provided by the Red Cross, I had a vision. It was raining that night and lightening shot across the sky like a windshield being shattered. In the twinkling of an eye, while I was driving down the highway, a black and white Siberian tiger flashed before my eyes.
I forgot about it until my birthday the following year, August of 2006. My mother bought me a big designer picture of a Siberian tiger for our trailer. At that time I remember the vision. I didn’t ever tell anybody, but I believe God was trying to get my attention. I was just incapable of hearing or seeing what the message was at the time. But I would soon have full revelation of the interpretation of this message.
No one knew I burnt the trailer down, except God and me. The fire department concluded that a dryer ignited the fire and they closed the case. But how many know that God sees all? We have to reap the consequences of sin; saved or lost, we will not mock God. We reap what we sow. There are no closed cases with sin, until a man reaps what he has sown. Salvation is one thing, but the consequences of our decisions are another. We would do ourselves a great favor in life to pen that principle down in our notepad.
After our short stay at the hotel, we all went together and got an apartment not too far from the residence that was burned. It was at this time my second daughter was born. My ex-wife and I were still heavy on drugs. I was straddling the religious fence; in church, out of church; in church, out of church. I think we’ve all been there a time or two, Amen.
We eventually separated because of my uncontrollable fits of childish rage. It was during this particular separation that our marriage would suffer a heavy blow that would not be overcome. I committed adultery. Though not knowing this just yet, I had destroyed the covenant relationship for good. An adulterer’s reproach shall not be wiped away (Proverbs 6:32-33). How true the Word of God is.
We reunited for a short while, still drugging and drinking, till one night we got into a big fight over one last oxycodone that was left. I had snorted all of my dope, and she had one pill left. I took it. We traded our family for drugs. Oh how it hurts to even write that statement. But the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). All I cared about was me. “Self” reigned on the throne of my heart; but thanks to God’s grace, He knows just what situations to bring forth in our lives to remove self and to reveal Christ.
I would like to share one final thought. Right before that final separation, after we reunited; I had trouble sleeping in the nights. It was as if I knew within myself that this marriage I was in was soon to be over. Late in the middle of the night, I would sit up and just weep in the middle of my living room floor.
A divorce was soon to take place, and I’m not just talking about in the physical. This flesh had brought me just as far as I could go; and I was ready to be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that I might bring forth fruit unto my Father (Romans 7:4). God was setting me up for salvation. I went to bed one night; after tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep and went into a dream. A dream I will never forget. I dreamed I was walking in a graveyard. As I walked, I found myself standing over the top of a grave reading the headstone. The epitaph read: “Death is Soon.”
Child of Grace, before you can inherit God’s eternal life, you must experience a death; a death to self, a death to this life, a death that Christ accomplished for you at Calvary. Oh, that men would just come to the end of self and give Christ that old life.
My ex-wife went on with her life and got involved with another man. I felt as if my life had ended. I wanted to die. I got wrapped up in selling drugs to keep my mind occupied. Then one day I was driving with a large quantity of marijuana; I was pulled over, taken to jail, and charged with possession. God knows just what to allow to get you in what I would like to call “The Narrow Place.” With nowhere to turn and no one to run to, I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. A minister of the Lord, who they call “Hambone,” came and preached the Resurrection of my Lord and I believed. I got crucified at Calvary with Jesus that night, and He raised me up in the newness of life. Praise God – I could shout! My dream had been fulfilled, the Old Man died!
I was lying on my rack by myself when those two angels came and rolled away the stone. In that dark cold tomb, the Holy Spirit of God sealed my inner man, circumcised my spirit, and resurrected me to newness of life; or if you will, raised me from the dead and seated me in heavenly places in Christ.
Jesus, Oh that men would just come to the end of self and receive You, that New Life!
After I was in the county jail for two or three days, I heard Jesus speak to me through His Word. He said, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee: Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).
Oh, my first love told me I had to make an apology for reconciliation to my ex-mother-in-law for burning down her home. I had also burnt down another home before getting locked up at the county jail. Reconciliation had to be engaged on behalf of this family too; a family that has been a strength and support to me through my entire incarceration. The Lord told me, “You ministry is going to start in prison.”
I asked to speak to the state fire marshal, who had been there the day before inquiring about the home I had burnt down before going to the county jail. I told them I burnt the home down and I also wanted to inform them that I had burnt down my ex-mother-in-law’s trailer as well. I was charged, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years, 10 suspended; with 10 to serve for 2 counts of arson and possession of marijuana with intent.
When I got to the correctional facility, as I was slipping on my black and white striped pants, the Siberian tiger flashed before my memory. Vision fulfilled and understood. God was in control, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). While suffering the penalty for my sin, God was going to raise up a soldier for the Army of our Lord. What the enemy thought evil against me, “…God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33)
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” (Romans 11:34a)
In that county jail, I began what I would like to call “The Beginning of Forever.”
And if you’re reading or hearing this testimony today, you can begin forever too. I don’t care what sin you’re struggling with, or what issue you are in bondage to; my Resurrected Jesus can lead you into the more abundant life.
Free from the shackles of sin,
No more a life of despair,
Oh, if you would just dare to believe,
You then would be able to see.
May God bless you and use you to be a blessing to this ministry. In order for these voices to cry in the wilderness and reach your hearts, it takes funds. We enjoy our weekly devotionals and the many other blessings that this ministry provides.
May the Holy Spirit move on your heart. I love you all in sincerity and truth,
God Bless In Jesus’ Name, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
THE END – NO – THE BEGINNING OF FOREVER!!
