God Behind Bars

“I began to love Jesus way more than I loved sinning.”Holy Gabbana, formerly known as Boonk Gang, and Johnny Chang sit down with Jake Bodine inside Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a raw conversation about prison, gangs, addiction, identity, failure and what ultimately led both of them to Jesus.Before Holy Gabbana was sharing the Gospel, millions knew him as Boonk Gang.His life was built around viral fame, chaos and a public identity that eventually left him searching for something deeper.Then while incarcerated in LA County Jail, his cellmate introduced him to Jesus.Holy Gabbana says that during worship inside his cell, he experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit for the first time.That moment started a completely different journey.Johnny Chang’s story began even younger.Johnny says he entered gang life as a child and was incarcerated at just 12 years old. Prison became an environment of fear, violence, survival and pressure to prove himself.Years later, after leaving that life behind and beginning to follow Jesus, Johnny still struggled with fear.He says he continued carrying a gun because the enemies from his former life had not suddenly disappeared just because he became a Christian.Eventually Johnny came to a realization:Every time he trusted himself and followed himself, his life ended in addiction, robbery, prison, loneliness and destruction.So he surrendered.In this conversation, Holy Gabbana and Johnny Chang talk honestly about what happens AFTER someone says yes to Jesus.They talk about temptation.Backsliding.Shame.Feeling unworthy.Learning that struggling does not mean God has abandoned you.And discovering that following Jesus is not about pretending you suddenly became perfect.Holy Gabbana shares how his love for Jesus slowly became greater than his love for the life he was leaving behind.Johnny explains why understanding his worth in Christ changed the way he saw himself.And together they answer one of the biggest questions someone can ask:WHY JESUS?If you feel too far gone, too broken, too addicted, too ashamed or too defined by your past, this conversation is for you.At God Behind Bars, our mission is to introduce inmates to Jesus and connect them to the local church. We believe no life is too far gone and no story is beyond redemption.CHAPTERS00:00 Cold Open01:41 Holy Gabbana and Johnny Chang Inside Angola Prison02:38 Their Stories of Prison, Gangs and Finding Jesus15:25 Loving Jesus More Than Sin16:56 Does Struggling Mean You Are Not Saved?22:55 Identity, Worth and What Jesus Changed27:20 Why Jesus?28:23 Why Surrender and Faith Matter34:09 Final Thoughts#GodBehindBars #HolyGabbana #JohnnyChang

Tony King’s powerful prison testimony of faith, forgiveness, and healing from childhood trauma. On this episode of the God Behind Bars podcast, host Jake Bodine sits down with Tony inside Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri.Tony was abused at eight years old, and the shame and rage he carried led to years of drug and alcohol addiction. In 2012, at 28 and awaiting sentencing in county jail, he killed a cellmate who tried to assault him. Sent to solitary confinement (Ad Seg) and unable to read or write, Tony heard the gospel through an air vent from the man in the next cell. Through Bible study he learned to read, found forgiveness, and experienced true freedom in Jesus Christ while still behind bars.Today Tony has his GED, is in college, and ministers to other incarcerated men. His story of redemption is proof that no one is too far gone for God’s grace.“Forgiveness isn’t for them, it’s for me.”“I don’t have to live captive to it. I can be free in Christ.”“Jesus has set me free, regardless of where I’m at.”

“MAYBE IT’S FOR ONE MORE.”Robert “Yogi” McKee had just been denied parole.His wife and daughters were devastated.Jake Bodine walked over expecting Yogi to be crushed too.Instead, Yogi looked at him and said:“Maybe it’s for one more.”Maybe God still had one more person inside Angola Prison that Yogi was supposed to reach.In this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Jake sits down with Yogi inside Louisiana State Penitentiary to hear the story behind a man who has spent more than 20 years incarcerated and has become a leader, mentor and servant to the men around him.Yogi grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini Green projects. His father was absent, his mother struggled with mental illness and some of the people who stepped in to help him as a child were gang members.As he got older, that loyalty pulled him deeper into a lifestyle that eventually led to drug dealing, robbery and prison.While incarcerated in a Louisiana jail, Yogi says his life became increasingly dangerous. After fearing for his life, he made the decision to escape. That decision eventually led him to Angola.He was 27 years old.Today, he is 52.But Yogi says the man who entered prison is not the man sitting in front of us today.After years of isolation, a panic attack forced him to confront what his decisions had cost him. He had been disconnected from his family for years and realized that if he died in that cell, almost no one would even know.So he cried out to Jesus.Yogi says peace entered his life, and for the first time he began seeing a future.From there, he earned his GED, a paralegal degree and a bachelor’s degree through Bible college. He became a certified mentor, helped lead programs for men battling addiction and now serves as a lead mentor inside Angola.But one of the most powerful moments in Yogi’s journey came when his mother died.Yogi was angry with God.Then he found letters from his mom describing how she had started going to church, stopped using drugs, gotten baptized and given her life to Christ.Yogi realized that God had used his own transformation to help lead his mother to Jesus.That moment changed the way he viewed everything.Parole.Loss.Prison.His future.His purpose.Today Yogi says that while he is still inside Angola, he will continue serving until God says his assignment there is finished.“If it’s just for one, then it’s worth it.”This is Yogi’s story.At God Behind Bars, our mission is to introduce inmates to Jesus and connect them to the local church. We believe no life is too far gone and that God can bring redemption, purpose and transformation into even the darkest places.#GodBehindBars #PrisonMinistry #PrisonPodcast

“I’m in prison and I feel more free, more fearless inside than I ever did on the outside.”Micah Wines is sitting inside Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri when he says those words.So what happened?In this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Jake Bodine sits down with Micah inside the prison cell he currently calls home.Micah grew up with a good family, played sports and had faith around him. But resentment, fear and insecurity began changing the direction of his life. He started using drugs around 14 years old, drinking heavily soon after and eventually found himself battling addiction.Years later, knowing he was about to become a father, Micah entered treatment. Sitting inside the treatment center chapel, he says he experienced the presence of God in a way he never had before.For a season, his life began to change.Then he relapsed.What started with alcohol eventually became an eight month relapse involving methamphetamine. During that season, an altercation ended with another man losing his life.Micah knew there was a grieving family on the other side of what had happened.For the next two years, Micah rebuilt his life while carrying the weight of knowing his past could eventually catch up with him.Then on Valentine’s Day, while working as a supervisor at UPS, his security manager approached him.There were officers outside waiting for him.Micah expected fear.Instead, he says it felt like a thousand bricks had been lifted off his shoulders.From inside prison, Micah opens up about accountability, addiction, forgiveness and rebuilding his relationship with his father. He also shares what it means to remain a dad to his two sons while incarcerated, including apologizing for the moments he has missed and choosing to consistently speak courage, faith and purpose into their lives.Today, Micah has graduated from Bible college inside prison and has become someone who disciples and encourages other incarcerated men in their faith.His physical circumstances have not changed.He is still behind prison walls.But Micah says Jesus has changed the man living inside them.“I’m in prison and I feel more free, more fearless inside than I ever did on the outside.”This is Micah’s story.At God Behind Bars, our mission is to introduce inmates to Jesus and connect them to the local church. We believe no life is too far gone and that God can bring redemption, restoration and purpose into even the darkest places.Subscribe to the God Behind Bars Podcast for more conversations from inside prisons across the country and stories of what God is doing behind prison walls.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction00:36 Welcome to Micah’s Prison Cell01:09 Tour of His Cell03:21 Micah’s Childhood04:49 Resentment Toward His Father06:54 Drugs and Alcohol at a Young Age07:42 Entering Treatment Before Becoming a Dad08:57 Experiencing God for the First Time09:21 Relapse and the Night Everything Changed10:59 Carrying the Weight of What Happened11:15 Officers Arrive at Micah’s Job12:36 Running to God After His Arrest13:28 Learning the Truth About His Father14:00 Forgiving His Dad15:14 “He’s Never Been More Proud of Me”16:11 Being a Father From Inside Prison18:26 Speaking Courage Into His Sons19:21 Advice for Incarcerated Fathers21:20 Micah’s Hopes for His Future22:44 Why Jesus?24:09 Micah Shares the Gospel25:14 “I Feel More Free Inside Prison”25:47 Final Thoughts#GodBehindBars #PrisonMinistry #PrisonPodcast

From a prison cell, Kevin “Big Country” Gilhouse used to look out at a lake and dream about fishing with his son. Years later, he found himself on that very lake, looking at his son on one side and the prison unit where he spent some of his darkest years on the other. ❤️Inside Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola Prison, Kevin shares his incredible journey from a childhood spent in foster care to years of addiction, violence and hopelessness behind bars. At his lowest point, Kevin reached out for help and entered the New Men program, where he found a community of men who encouraged him to pursue Jesus.On May 23, 2024, Kevin gave his life to Christ. Today, he shares how his faith has transformed the way he sees himself, his family and his purpose inside prison.In this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Kevin sits down to share the emotional story of fishing with his son for the first time, the unexpected moment his daughter received his prison identification number at a GBB event, and the important role his wife has played in keeping their family connected. He also opens up about the moments he wishes he could get back as a father and the message he wants his children to hear.“I’m better than the worst thing I’ve ever done.”Kevin’s story is a reminder that our past does not have to define our future and that God can bring hope, healing and purpose even inside prison walls.At God Behind Bars, our mission is to introduce inmates to Jesus and connect them to the local church. Subscribe for more prison testimonies, stories of transformation, family reunifications and powerful conversations about faith and redemption.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction00:44 Meet Kevin “Big Country” Gilhouse01:35 Growing Up in Foster Care04:00 Fishing With His Son for the First Time05:20 Kevin’s Darkest Years in Camp J06:49 Dreaming of the Lake From His Prison Cell07:17 Looking at His Past and His Son on the Same Lake10:12 Addiction and Hitting Rock Bottom12:47 Asking for Help Inside Prison14:28 Surviving His Darkest Moment15:18 Entering the New Men Program16:18 Giving His Life to Jesus17:10 An Unexpected Moment With His Daughter19:18 Staying Connected to His Children From Prison21:10 Kevin’s Emotional Message to His Family22:45 His Advice to Every Parent23:44 Finding Hope in God’s Plan24:26 “I’m Better Than the Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done”25:00 Finding His Identity in ChristThis episode includes discussion of addiction and a suicide attempt.#GodBehindBars #PrisonMinistry #PrisonPodcast

AT 18 YEARS OLD, JAMIE JACKSON WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE.During a carjacking, Jamie shot and killed an innocent person.In an instant, another life was taken and Jamie’s future changed forever.On this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Jake Bodine sits down with Jamie inside Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri for an incredibly honest conversation about murder, guilt, addiction, fatherhood, forgiveness, purpose, and what Jesus can do with a life that seems beyond redemption.After receiving a life sentence, Jamie says the guilt and shame became overwhelming. He went from being a teenager to being known as a convicted murderer, and eventually began believing he had nothing left to lose.For the first 10 years of his incarceration, Jamie says his daily mission was simple: find a way to get high.Anything to escape the reality of what he had done.Then, inside prison, something began to change.Jamie turned back to the God he had learned about as a child and began discovering an identity that was no longer defined only by the worst thing he had ever done.Today, after decades behind bars, Jamie says:“Who I am now is not June 5, 1996.”Jamie does not deny the damage his choices caused or minimize the life that was taken. Instead, he wrestles with a difficult question:How do you acknowledge the damage you have done while still believing God can give your life purpose?Jamie also opens up about receiving a leukemia diagnosis while incarcerated, his relationship with his daughter, and the pain of knowing his choices separated him from watching her grow up.When Jake asks what he would tell his daughter today, Jamie becomes emotional.“I may not have made the right choices, but I loved her. I prayed for her, and I trusted that God would take care of her.”This conversation is a powerful reminder that redemption does not erase the past.But your past does not have to be the end of your story.Jamie describes himself today as “a testimony” of what God can do when someone fully surrenders their life to Him.And for anyone who feels like they have destroyed their life, lost their purpose, or gone too far for God, Jamie has a message:If you are lacking love, hope, or purpose, Jesus still has a place for you. ❤️🎙️ EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Jamie Jackson00:20 Growing Up and Learning About God01:31 Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 1801:58 Becoming a Father as a Teenager02:46 Hearing He Would Spend His Life in Prison03:18 Overwhelmed by Guilt and Shame03:32 Ten Years of Addiction Inside Prison04:13 The Moment Everything Began to Change05:47 Finding Jesus and Getting Sober06:09 Finding Purpose While Serving Life07:32 Helping Others Find Hope Inside Prison08:48 Ministry and Purpose Behind Bars09:27 Looking Back at the Man He Used to Be09:49 What Jamie Would Tell His Younger Self10:11 Hope for a Future Beyond Prison11:01 Battling Leukemia Behind Bars11:33 “I Am a Testimony”12:00 “Who I Am Now Is Not June 5, 1996”12:47 Why Jesus?13:30 How Leukemia Tested His Faith14:19 Trusting God Through the Storm15:14 Jamie Opens Up About His Daughter15:23 What He Would Tell His Daughter Today16:08 Praying for Reconciliation16:36 Final Thoughts🎙️ THE GOD BEHIND BARS PODCASTJoin Jake Bodine for honest conversations about Jesus, redemption, prison, family, forgiveness, incarceration, and the life changing power of God.Subscribe to God Behind Bars for more Christian testimonies, prison stories, inmate testimonies, family restoration, prison worship, baptisms, and incredible stories of what God is doing behind prison walls.#GodBehindBars #GodBehindBarsPodcast #ChristianTestimony

“SURVIVAL MODE SAVES YOU FROM A LOT OF THINGS, BUT SURVIVAL MODE IS NOT HOW YOU LIVE.”Amanda Lynn is known today as a luxury real estate agent, entrepreneur, and television personality seen on Netflix’s Selling Sunset.But behind the success is a story very few people know.Amanda spent much of her childhood with both of her parents battling addiction and experiencing incarceration.On this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Jake Bodine sits down with Amanda for an incredibly vulnerable conversation about growing up with incarcerated parents, addiction, abandonment, losing her father, breaking generational cycles, finding success, and ultimately discovering healing through Jesus.Amanda was only five years old when incarceration became part of her family’s story. Prison visits, phone calls, addiction, and the absence of her parents left wounds she would carry for years.When her father received a five year prison sentence, Amanda eventually stopped opening his letters. She had begun giving up on their relationship.But God hadn’t.While incarcerated, her father found Jesus. When he came home, Amanda says the transformation was undeniable. Their relationship was restored, and she finally began getting her father back.Then, at 23 years old, Amanda received a devastating call. Her father had been shot and killed by his own father.Years later, Amanda can look back at her father’s life and see something greater than the tragedy. His testimony became part of hers. ❤️Amanda went on to build a successful career in luxury real estate, but success couldn’t heal everything she had carried since childhood.“I’ve succeeded in business. I’ve helped myself heal in therapy, but nothing does what God does.”Amanda says her relationship with her Heavenly Father finally began healing the abandonment she had carried for most of her life. Today, she calls herself the CYCLE BREAKER in a family where addiction and destructive patterns had continued generation after generation.Amanda also shares a powerful message for incarcerated mothers and fathers who believe their relationship with their children may be too broken to restore:“The prisoner story is not over. And your relationship with your kids is not over.”In this episode, Amanda and Jake talk about children of incarcerated parents, addiction, childhood trauma, survival mode, forgiveness, family restoration, breaking generational cycles, finding Jesus, and learning that success alone cannot heal the deepest wounds of our past.Her father’s story wasn’t over when he entered prison.Amanda’s story wasn’t over because of what happened to her family.And yours isn’t either. ❤️🎙️ THE GOD BEHIND BARS PODCASTJoin Jake Bodine for honest conversations about Jesus, redemption, prison, family, forgiveness, incarceration, and the life changing power of God.

“I TRIED EVERYTHING… EVERYTHING. IT’S NOT GONNA WORK.”Inside Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola Prison, Jake Bodine sits down with Charles Chandler for an honest conversation about prison, fatherhood, forgiveness, identity, and finding Jesus while serving a life sentence.Charles didn’t grow up believing his life would end up here. His parents served in the military, his family provided for him, and Charles openly admits that he made his life much harder than it needed to be.Growing up, Charles struggled with the absence of his father, who was working to provide for their family. As a kid, Charles didn’t understand the sacrifice. He only understood that everyone else’s dad seemed to be there and his wasn’t.That created a void.Charles says he tried money, drugs, women, acceptance, and eventually life in the streets to fill it. Nothing worked. His choices ultimately led him to Louisiana State Penitentiary with a life sentence.Inside Angola, Charles began discovering something that completely changed how he saw himself. Instead of allowing his sentence, circumstances, or the opinions of other people to determine his identity, he began asking a different question:“WHO DOES GOD SAY I AM?”Charles says experiencing the love of God changed everything. The void he had spent his entire life trying to fill finally made sense.But one of the most powerful parts of Charles’s story is what happened with his family. ❤️For years, Charles carried resentment toward his father for not being there when he was young. Then Charles became a father himself.During a recent God Behind Bars Father Son event inside Angola Prison, Charles had an honest conversation with his son about the years his incarceration had taken from their relationship. Charles told his son that if he was angry with him, he would understand.Instead, his son responded with grace.They cried. They prayed. They talked about Jesus.Through that conversation, Charles began seeing his own father differently. The father he once resented had actually been sacrificing to provide for him.In this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Jake and Charles talk about receiving a life sentence, prison culture, people pleasing, finding your identity in Christ, experiencing the love of God, fatherhood, resentment, forgiveness, and discovering purpose while incarcerated.Charles calls Angola the “home of a million masks.” After years of changing himself to fit the people around him, he says he finally discovered who he really is through Jesus.Charles is still serving his sentence, but his sentence no longer gets to define his identity.His past doesn’t define him.Other people don’t define him.Jesus does. ❤️🎙️ THE GOD BEHIND BARS PODCASTJoin Jake Bodine for honest conversations from inside prisons about Jesus, redemption, family, incarceration, forgiveness, and the life changing power of God.

“I JUST WANT MY KIDS TO KNOW… EVERYTHING THAT I DO TODAY IS BECAUSE OF Y’ALL.” ❤️Inside Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola Prison, Jake Bodine sits down with incarcerated father Leslie Harris for an honest conversation about FAITH, FATHERHOOD, PRISON, and the man God is transforming him into.Leslie grew up in Louisiana without his father.After losing his dad at just six years old, he began looking for the love and guidance he was missing in the streets. That path eventually led to crime, incarceration, and years separated from his own children.But Leslie is determined for his story — and his children’s story — to be different.Since giving his life to Jesus, Leslie says his purpose has completely changed.Today, he is studying in Bible college, mentoring men in a drug abuse program, training dogs for veterans, sharing his faith with his children, and doing everything he can to become an example they can be proud of.And despite being incarcerated, Leslie refuses to stop being a DAD.God Behind Bars has had the privilege of watching that relationship firsthand.Leslie participated in Angola Prison’s first-ever Father Daughter Dance, where his daughter ran into his arms and the two finally shared a dance he had missed for years. 😭❤️He also spent an unforgettable Father’s Day with his sons during our Father Son event — fishing, playing football, competing, laughing, and simply getting the opportunity to be together.In this episode of the God Behind Bars Podcast, Leslie opens up to Jake Bodine about growing up without a father, what led him to prison, raising children while incarcerated, finding Jesus behind bars, losing his best friend to suicide, studying the Bible, mentoring other incarcerated men, breaking generational cycles, and the man he hopes to be when he returns home.One of the most powerful things Leslie has learned is simple:BE PRESENT.He can’t go back and recover every moment he missed with his children.But he can decide what kind of father and man he will be TODAY.Leslie’s past is part of his story, but it doesn’t get the final word.“Don’t judge a book by its cover because of my past… God changed me. He changed me inside out.”This is what redemption can look like behind prison walls. ❤️🎙️ EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 Meet Leslie Harris Inside Angola Prison00:28 Growing Up Without a Father01:50 What Led Leslie to Prison?03:28 Being a Father While Incarcerated03:55 Angola Prison Father Daughter Dance04:30 Seeing His Daughter Walk Into the Dance06:55 Father Son Reunion Inside Angola Prison08:42 Raising Children From Behind Prison Walls10:10 How Leslie Stays Present as a Father11:00 Bible College Inside Angola Prison11:53 Mentoring Inmates & Serving Veterans12:17 “It’s Not About Me. It’s About Them.”12:30 The Biggest Lesson He Learned as a Father14:15 How God Transformed Leslie’s Life15:16 Losing His Best Friend to Suicide16:25 Finding Jesus Inside Prison17:15 Leslie’s Message to Inmates Feeling Hopeless18:12 Why Jesus Is the Foundation18:35 What Leslie Wants His Children to Know20:25 “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover”21:10 His Dream to Help At-Risk Youth22:00 Can Jesus Really Transform Someone?23:20 Leslie Shares His Favorite Bible Verse25:10 A Final Message of Hope🎙️ THE GOD BEHIND BARS PODCAST IS BACK.Join Jake Bodine for honest conversations from inside prisons about faith, redemption, family, incarceration, and the life-changing power of Jesus.These are real conversations with incarcerated men and women, returning citizens, ministry leaders, and people whose lives have been transformed by God.Subscribe to God Behind Bars for more prison testimonies, Christian podcasts, inmate stories, family reunifications, prison worship, baptisms, and incredible stories of hope and redemption from prisons across America.

From Mount Vernon, New York, Curtis Lambert’s life was marked by violence, pain, and survival. Kicked out of schools, trapped in gang life, and hardened by the streets, Curtis’ story spirals from a childhood of abuse to a life of crime, leading to the unthinkable—shooting his own brother.But that wasn’t the end.Locked in a jail cell, broken and desperate, Curtis encountered the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. What began as a life of chaos turned into a testimony of transformation. From guns and gangs to grace and purpose, this is the powerful story of how God rewrote Curtis’ destiny.