What hath God wrought?

Do you remember that phrase in U.S. history? 

It dates back to May,1844, when Samuel Morse (the man credited with developing the Morse Code) sent a telegram from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland. The message: “What hath God wrought?” It was the very first long-distance telegraph dispatch. The quote was based on a Biblical phrase in the book of Numbers: “See what God has done.” That milestone is often credited with revolutionizing communication.

I’ve been thinking about that phrase all weekend. 

It began after I attended, via Zoom, the quarterly meeting of the HUMANINT FOR PRISONERS Board of Directors. 

I got to thinking back to the day when this all got started. 

As a middle-income white man living in an all-white community, I knew very little about prisons and incarceration. But, my dear friend Maurice Carter, an indigent Black man sitting behind bars for a crime he did not commit, encouraged me to do something. He was convinced that an agency should be formed to help those incarcerated men and women when they didn’t know where to turn. So, when our little organization went into service in 2001 there was just one part-time staffer: me. I was assisted by a few kind friends who politely agreed to serve on a board of directors. 

Who could have guessed the incredible progress over the next 25 years? 

As I listened to staff and board reports Friday, I was not only amazed…I was touched! 

-No longer a one-man show, the HFP services are now provided by an incredible team of 6 persons and 17 active volunteers, including two staff members who have actually served time in prison!

-We operate in our very own office condo in Spring Lake, debt-free!

-A list of dedicated men and women of various professions serve on a board that is committed to guiding this organization in its compassionate mission!

-HFP’s client list has now reached more than 6,000!

-In 25 years, records show that this organization, the only kind of its type in the entire nation, has touched the lives of half of the total Michigan prison population! 

And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg! 

It's no wonder that the Morse phrase kept popping up in my mind. And be assured that those words are genuine. God gets the credit for the amazing success story of HFP! I cannot personally boast about its success. 

But, I can and do take pride in the fact that God chose this crooked stick, with no experience in such matters, to get it all started!  

SOLI DEO GLORIA!



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