Mission Gate Prison Ministry

Dear Fellow Christians,

Greetings in the Spirit of our Lord!

I invite you to look over our web site to see how lives have been turned from crime to Christ these last 20 years.
And there are some excellent sermon and Bible study notes too!

Our ministry has been threefold:

• Regeneration
• Rehabilitation
• Reintegration

We now manage 6 guest homes with 30 plus residents in St. Louis and another 50 plus in our cabins at the Fort Good Shepherd Ranch in Cuba MO. We now have a vocational training program in carpentry, electrical, plumbing and masonry.
This supplements our GED classes and provides our residents an opportunity to re-enter society as a productive citizen.

Upwards of 8 out of 10 released convicts return to crime within four years. Our one year aftercare program has reversed this trend and over 8 out of 10 who complete our program, never return again. How does this happen? How can it happen in your community? After you have reviewed our web site:

1. Email me with any questions you might have.
2. Sign up for our monthly email newsletter.
3. Visit our guest homes in St. Louis or cabins in Cuba MO.
4. Invite me to speak or preach at your church.
5. Participate in our Christmas Angel Mission.
6. Support us with prayer, volunteer time or finances.

Thank you for this consideration and your timely reply.

Press On!

Rick Mathes

Take a "minute" to hear more about Mission Gate Ministry

About Us

Mission Gate Prison Ministry was founded on April Fools Day in 1985. On that day, we became fools for the Lord to confound the wise by doing our best to reverse recidivism. And He did it through us. Eight our of ten that complete our program, never go back to prison. Our Lord has provided for us through our donors these 23 years and many ministries throughout Missouri and southern Illinois have been inspired to succeed because of our example. We expect that souls will turn from crime to Christ once they have the opportunity to step out of their dispair into the glorious hope provided by Jesus through our ministry. All it takes is faith and a committment to step out of the boat. So we invite you to walk with us as partners in prayer, volunteer time or financial support so that we might continue to please Him and lift up the Cross of Christ.

He said, "Whatever you do to these my brethren, even the least of them, you have done it to Me."

That alone is enough to encourage us to press on and we invite you to do so with us.

Step through the Mission Gate for an experience you won't soon forget!

Article 5 - Purposes
The corporation is organized exclusively for charitable and religious purposes within the meaning of 501 (c) (3) of the Interal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law), including for such purposes:

To feed, clothe, shelter and spiritually counsel Christians and others in need, with the emphasis on assisting the homeless, inmates of correctional institutions, and the families of inmates of correctional institutions.
To provide Christian revivals, Bible studies, and counseling to the inmates of correctional centers, their families, and residents in shelters for the homeless and other institutions.
To own and maintain one or more shelters for temporary residence, Christian worship and spiritual training of the homeless and others in need.
To produce printed, audio, and visual Christian study aids and to produce radio and television programs witnessing the Christian faith and advertising the purpose and activities of the Mission Gate Ministry.
To exhort and encourage churches to minister to the needs of the homeless and inmates of correctional institutions.
To offer opportunities for worship, Christian education and Christian activities to employees and volunteers associating with the Mission Gate Ministry.
To undertake other acts and programs, not inconsistent with Chapter 355, RSMO, otherwise knows as "the General Not-for-Profit Corporation law," for the purpose of enhancing the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of the homeless, inmates of correctional centers and their families and others in need.

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STATEMENT OF FAITH

I had been going with Covenant Theological Seminary students to the St. Louis County Jail and helping with a weekly worship service when one day all the students had graduated and I was left all alone to do the service. I was a brand new Christian and hardly knew where the Gospel of John was in the Bible. So I decided to preach the song, "What a friend we have in Jesus." I knew the song and I knew what a friend He had been to me so that was what I determined I would preach on.

The chapel held about 50 inmates and when the time came, they came pouring in and we had a full chapel. Boy was I scared. The only way out of the chapel was in the back and I was in the front with 50 men between me and the door. And at the door was the ugliest man I had ever seen.

He was a black brother with white splotches all over his body. It was like someone splashed bleach on him. He had one eye missing and you could see the muscle twitch through the eyelid and he had two front teeth hanging out like a vampire. He was one of those muscle bound weight lifters with no neck, but what you could see of it he had a recently stitched knife wound from ear to ear. He was a scary sight and I began to worry that he wouldn't like me. Remember, he was next to the only door out!

I did what I could and started the service off with prayer and praise reports. We sang "Amazing Grace" so off key that we began laughing and had to start over again. And then I got into preaching "What a friend we have in Jesus."

When I was through, I asked if anyone wanted to receive Jesus and wouldn't you know it, he began to get up and walk toward me! I began to tremble because I just knew he was going to hurt me big time. When he finally got just in front of me, he fell to his knees and began to sob as deep as a man can sob and said, "Dear Jesus, be my friend!"

Well, I didn't know what to do but I remembered watching on television that you lay hands and pray. So I took his ugly face in my hands and began to pray that the Lord would hear his prayer and save him.

You can say that I am lying, you can say that I had an illusion, you can say anything you want but when I looked into his face, I saw the face of Jesus.

At that moment I realized that the Scripture was true. What ever you do for Jesus, especially to His brethren, you have done it to Him.

Seven years later I was doing the service in the same chapel again as I had done faithfully every week for seven years and guess who was sitting near the door. You got it! It was Mike. I looked up and his scar had healed, he had new teeth, his hair was combed, and his face was covered with a great big smile. He said he was just in for the night to clear up his last offense. We met in the middle of the chapel and hugged and cried together in joy that he was saved and faithful to Jesus.

I did the service that night but this time when it came time for the altar-call I looked up at Mike's smiling face and asked him to do it. He humbly stepped down and asked his brethren to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

This was the only time in my history of thousands of services since that everyone came forward crying out for salvation. All the pews were empty and the altar was flooded with weeping men reaching out to their Savior.

At the end of the service, Mike and I said good-by for the last time. Or maybe it wasn't the last time. I never saw him again but is it possible that he was Michael the Archangel? I don't want to get carried away with this whole thing but I guarantee you that the second person I hug in glory is going to be Mike!

Believe me, whatever you do to these His brethren, even the least of them, you have done it to Him!

SCRIPTURAL MANDATE

Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He wil put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance. I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angls. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?

He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal."

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