Behind Fences: A Prison Chaplain’s Story

God’s call to prison ministry came to Nelson Zeiset at twelve years old. From that time, the Lancaster County Mennonite boy ordered his life accordingly, with a singular purpose to take the Gospel into a shadowy world among criminals. In Behind Fences, Nelson and his wife, Esther, alternately share their perspectives of Nelson’s thirty-three years in a chaplaincy career that spanned two states and seven prisons. Learn of God’s faithfulness through the 1980s AIDS hysteria, a prison riot that nearly upended the call, of lawsuits, and an inmate’s calculated scheme to frame Nelson. Marvel as the prison church grows, racial walls crumble, and despairing men find hope and forgiveness through Jesus. Be inspired to pursue your own life calling and to view God’s faithfulness on every step of the journey.

Pub Date: June 1, 2021