Saturday, May 23, 1998

Former inmate reaches out to others

By CASSANDRA LINDSAY / Herald Democrat

SHERMAN, Texas -- At 51, William Bumphus is completely different from he heroin-addicted burglar he was 20 years ago, but he just can't leave the prison life behind him.

For the past 17 years Bumphus has been going to prisons all over the country to tell inmates how finding Jesus turned his life around. He said it gave him the strength to not become one of the 70 percent of offenders who return to prison on new charges.

"They all know crime doesn't pay because they're sitting in prison," he said. "I let them know they can change. I encourage them to get to a church when they get out."

The pastor of Faith Center Church in Indianapolis, Bumphus is married to his co-pastor, Anita, and has five children. It's a much more settled life than he was leading in 1978 when he was sent to serve four years in jail on burglary and theft charges.

"I was saved in prison," Bumphus said. "An outside volunteer sent in Christian literature to others and I read it and it told me about Jesus."

Bumphus credits his belief in God for his early release after serving 10 months of his four-year sentence. Also, he credits God for drawing him back to prison as he continues to walk into places known only to cops and convicts trying to convert the inmates to Christianity.

He started the Jesus Inside Prison Ministry in 1981 and visits 40 to 50 prisons across the country every year. Bumphus estimates "tens of thousands" of inmates have heard him give his testimony and of that approximately 1,000 a year have been saved.

Bumphus was in the area for a whirlwind tour of the county last week. He held services at Grayson County Jail, Fannin County Jail, Choice Moore Prison and a youth center. He gave two or three services at each place, focusing on how to stay out of prison.

"This is important because you don't want them to come out the same (person as) they came in," Bumphus said. "I go back (to prison) because it changes people's lives."

Bumphus' past gives him a unique perspective on the situation inmates are in compared to other prison ministers, said Choice Moore Prison chaplain Jerry Newton. Bumphus has been arrested 23 times and knows the ins and outs of prison life. He spoke to approximately 300 people in each of his three services at Choice Moore, about 25 to 30 percent of the total population, said the chaplain.

"He speaks from their perspective," Newton said. "he spoke their language, per se. They liked the idea that he could change his life."

The key, Bumphus said, is for the inmates to accept Jesus into their lives.

"There's the saying that 'Once a convict, always a convict,' that people aren't going to change," he said. "I stress that (inmates) will not be successful if they don't get to a church."

Going into the prisons can be hard for Bumphus. He sees people he has preached to before in the same small cells they were in on his previous visits. The faces of the inmates too often reflect a face like that of his sons, especially those of his 17- and 20-year-old sons.

"I see 18- and 19-year-old boys doing 40 years," Bumphus said. "They look like my sons and I wonder how they got here."

His goal is to make sure they don't come back to prison again by giving his testimony of being a convict who found Jesus in jail. A number of the inmates at Choice Moore made a commitment to turn their lives around after Bumphus' service, Newton said.

"Every service is different, every one is good. My favorite moment is seeing the guys who I've preached to and they are successful business men or preachers," Bumphus said. "When Jesus comes into a person's life, it changes him."

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Distributed by The Associated Press