In 2009 our family was torn into a thousand pieces. We had our first son Aiden and before he was even 2 months old, I was on my way back to prison. I  was shipwrecked and in the clutches of the enemies hands. I lived my whole life consumed in drug addiction and habitual incarceration. I literally grew up behind the walls for most of my young adulthood. The only things I thought I knew about being a man were just lies from the devil that dominated my life. I was totally defeated.  My wife and I were unmarried at the time, and our newly formed family was broken. Romans 6:23 says. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  God's Word is settled in heaven and this verse proved to be true on both sides. As i'm realizing that i have again fallen and neglected my responsibilities as a dad and potential husband, and just feeling hopeless, I was off to serve 2 years in prison and i felt so much shame... My wife was now with our beautiful baby boy Aiden, but in a position to have to be a single mother. She worked hard, was a great mother to Aiden, but still was empty and was in desperate need of a change. 

Taking it back to prison, little did I know that these next 2 years were going to be something that we would hold onto dearly for the rest of our lives. And would have never dreamed in a million years that it would be the very thing that God would use to send us out into His harvest fields. I got radically saved in prison. Because of faithful men and women who answered the call of God, i heard of the redeeming power of the cross, the triumphant Resurrection life, the power of His love. In that moment that i truly was broken I cried out in true repentance just like the prodical son “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”  But as i cried out and called upon the name of the Lord He put the best robe on me, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, He put a ring on my finger He delivered me from years of depression and depravity and He made all things new 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 

My time in prison was filled with intimacy with Jesus. I had never knew something so fulfilling but all i knew was i could never get to a place where i had had enough of Him but could go on for eternity discovering the beauty of God. He truly used this time to teach me to sit at His feet and learn of Him. I would love to expound more and could for hours and hours but for the sake of your time i will wrap it up! My wife was radically saved when i got out of prison and is a beautiful child of God. a few years after being released from prison we were married and are going on 4 years of marriage. Jesus is our pursuit and we have experienced the grace of God and the Redeeming power of the Blood of Christ! We had another son named Jeremiah who is two years old, and both of our boys love Jesus and know His presence.

Words cannot express all the Lord has done in us but He took us from the miry clay and set our feet upon the ROCK! For about 3 years now I have had the opportunity to minister in the Tx prisons and recently the Lord called me and my family to go into the prisons as full time missionaries to see men and their families restored just as He has done in us. We know the Lord is calling us to lead men into a deeper intimacy with Jesus and to see a radical generation of Godly men, Husbands, and Fathers raised up from behind these walls! and also we know it is in the Fathers heart to see the women in prison also redeemed into the beauty of the image of their God! And God is opening doors that no man can shut for us to share the love of God with these brothers and sisters. We know that as we step out in obedience we will see mountains move, we will have great trials, we will go deeper in Christ and we will see people restored in the name of Jesus. Philippians 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings."

Our only pursuit in the prisons is to bring men face to face with Jesus Christ, to love them, to walk with them and to pray for them... also as we hope to at some point reach into their families and children's lives. Excited to see how the Lord has written this story before the foundations of the world! 

Hudson Taylor said "God's plans, Done is God's ways, Will never lack God's supply." We know that He will provide all of our needs according to HIS GLORIOUS RICHES IN CHRIST JESUS!  With man every word that was written here is impossible But through Jesus Christ ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE!

FOR CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM,

Ben, Liz, Aiden, and Jeremiah Boutin 

(there's another Boutin baby on the way keep you all updated!)