Introduction

My name is John Eddings. This is me in the picture with my lovely wife Helen; she and I work side by side with each other in ministry.

I am honored to be the Founder and President of Ephesians 4:28 Ministries, Inc., which is the parent nonprofit organization behind this project. Our mission is to help troubled children and adults, and I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this introduction and to review the following related material.

Our hope and prayer is that you will consider becoming a donor who will help us establish and then successfully operate Micah’s House, a Christian residential transition program for men returning to society following incarceration. We chose to name it Micah’s House because we will guide the troubled men we work with by the precept of the Old Testament verse Micah 6:8: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.”

Unfortunately, our world is filled with way too many men and women who find themselves incarcerated due to the crimes they committed, and many people in society believe they belong where they are because of those crimes and do not deserve any help. Sadly, I once was one of those people who was incarcerated and generally viewed as worthless. However, Walt Johnson, a Christian mentor, listened to God’s direction; he reached out and ministered to me while I was still incarcerated. Walt saw how I was still misbehaving while there and did not hesitate to say that prison was where I needed to be at that time. But that realization did not stop him from being there for me as a helpful mentor.

I wish I could say that his steadfast help led to a change in me sooner rather than later, but it did not. I continued to get high (even in prison, almost every day), gamble, and so many other things that I should not do. Then, there came a night 28 years ago in Florida State Prison when I finally surrendered to the Lord, and I have not been high since then. I began starting a new life there, applying myself to different in-prison programs, and fifteen years later (after serving 38 years, 7 months, and 13 days in prison) I was paroled. That was on February 13, 2013, and I have been a free, law abiding, and productive citizen ever since. But I have not accomplished this without help from others.

My primary crimes were robbery, kidnapping, and escape, and I was sentenced to 904 years plus three life sentences. All but the final seven-year sentence came from offenses in Florida, with those seven years coming from a California offense committed during my last prison escape period. 

My first ten months of freedom were spent in a transition home in Fresno, California, and Walt and his wife Hazel met with me there on that very first day. They also purchased a bicycle for me, which was my sole transportation. Ten months later my parole was transferred back to Florida. Walt and his son Mike drove me down to LAX to make the flight; they also gave me $1,300 to help me get started. I saved that gift, and it went toward rental payments for my first apartment. Later, Walt loaned me the money (which I repaid in full) to purchase a vehicle. These are only some examples of how Waltꟷa man who once made it very clear that he believed prison was exactly where I needed to beꟷwent on to help me transition back into society successfully. He was not the only person to help me during this transition period, though. I was blessed to have help from others as well. And that is the point to all of this: I NEEDED HELP! 

A successful proven path (when possible) calls for every person being released from prison to spend (at least) that first year of freedom in a structured residential transition program. 

These people are starting all over in a world they have been away from for a long time (and sometimes, like me, for a very long time), and they need so much more than just (just?!) a roof over their heads. The truth is that most of these people do not even really know what they need, and they almost always have no idea of how to sensibly pursue meeting their needs. And this is why so many of them simply refer back to what they already know and are comfortable with and go back to facing their hurdles in the same way they did beforeꟷwhich is how they so often end up back in trouble again! 

What they need is Christian structured guidance framed in the conditions of the transition home where they reside, and this is exactly what we will be providing for them at Micah’s House.

The following material covers our experience in this area, outlines our plans, and describes how you can help us accomplish this very important goal.

Thank you for considering this request. God bless you!

John