Many requests for prayer have come from men in death row and we always encourage those who have not sought God's pardon to do so immediately; and those who have been forgiven, we urge to hold fast to the Hand that was wounded for them, the only one able to help them.
One unforgettable incident was that of an orphan boy sentenced to die in the state prison in Kentucky. In response to a plea from the boy's aunt, we wrote the Governor asking him to review the boy's case, and he agreed to do so. But because of the Governor's leaving office about that time, the file on the condemned boy's case was misplaced and nothing was done for years. He became a "forgotten man" in death row.
During his time of imprisonment he was converted, lived a consistent Christian life, and held prayer meetings for the men awaiting execution. We corresponded with him through the years, and in one of his letters he wrote: "You will be happy to know how the two boys you have been writing to, who have been converted, felt before they met their fate this morning [in the electric chair]. They said to tell you they thanked you for your prayers and that your letters had meant much to them. We death-cell boys sang some hymns last night; and they asked me to lead in prayer – and we had the pleasure of once more kneeling together before God."
This young man eventually followed the other condemned boys to death, but God had given him a number of extra years in which to help others find Christ before meeting their awful fate.
Another inmate with whom we have more recently corresponded and encouraged, was also saved while in death row and his execution was stayed a number of times. He lived an exemplary Christian life and when his time came to give his life for the crime he had committed, he turned to the witnesses and said, "Good-day, I am prepared to go."
We are thankful that in places where we could not go personally, the Apostolic Faith publications have been sent as "silent missionaries" to lead men and women to Jesus, the Light of the world. That wonderful Light has dispelled the darkness of the shadow of death for many souls and guided them into the way of peace and eternal life.