Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham dedicated a new chapel that is designed to meet the spiritual needs of guards and staff on the grounds of Louisiana’s Angola Prison Friday.

The chapel, completed in late May, was constructed by Samaritan's Purse staff and volunteers working alongside prisoners. Eighty-nine volunteers from across the country came to Angola to construct a place where guards can receive spiritual encouragement and grow in their faith.



"As we look at this building we want it to be used for the glory of God," Graham said. "This is a place to worship Him and to study His word and to find out what He has in store for us. It’s my prayer that here in this house of God, that His word will be read distinctly, that the men who stand behind this pulpit will give understanding of God’s word to each and every one who comes here."

It was the second time Graham has spoken at a chapel dedication on the grounds of Angola, the largest maximum security prison in the United States.

In 2006 he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to thousands of prisoners during a one-day Festival inside the prison. He learned that Christian inmates inside the area known as Camp F were meeting in the kitchen, in the exercise yard, and sometimes even inside the execution building because they didn’t have a chapel.

Moved by their desire to worship, Graham pledged to raise funds to purchase building materials that the prisoners used to construct the building. In April 2008 he spoke at the dedication.

That chapel became the fifth at Angola to minister to the spiritual needs of prisoners. The new facility built by Samaritan's Purse is the first for guards, staff, and their families.

“Because of the church we will be able to meet a need that’s currently not being met,” said staff chaplain Roger “Brad” DeLaughter.

The lift-changing power of the Gospel has transformed Angola Prison, which once was known as the bloodiest prison in America because of the level of inmate violence.

Warden Burl Cain arrived in 1995 and challenged the prison chaplains to change the culture of the facility. Today, more than a third of the inmate population professes faith in Christ. Inmate violence has steadily declined to an all-time low.

But while outreach efforts to the prisoners have borne fruit, a significant segment of the Angola community has been neglected.

“Most prison ministries do not address the needs of the guards at all,” DeLaughter said. “We want to meet those needs.”

In addition to a sanctuary for church services, the facility includes classrooms for Sunday school, evangelism training, and spiritual growth.

Samaritan's Purse , United States , Evangelism , Dedicated to the Gospel