‘Gigi’ Goes to Prison

“I will send money to buy Guide magazines for readers who cannot afford a subscription,” an unprompted donor promised to Laura Sámano, Guide managing editor, in 2023.

“Thank you!” Sámano replied.

While the Guide editors were grateful for the gesture, they didn’t know how to find children with this need.

“Don’t let the money just sit there,” the donor instructed. “The children need to learn about the Lord.”

That evening, the Guide team prayed for the Lord to show them how to find names.

In January 2024, a second donor gave money to the same fund, but the readers in need had yet to be found.

Janice “Gigi” Chambers felt deeply impressed to send an email to Guide on February 22. She volunteers with J.O.Y. Behind Bars, a nonprofit ministry. Chambers regularly visits the Aaron Cohn and Muscogee Youth Detention Centers in Georgia, United States, where she gives Bible studies to the young people incarcerated in these facilities.

“It has been very rewarding, and one of the things the children look forward to the most is the Guide magazines that I have been giving them weekly,” Chambers wrote.

Chambers continued: “I am writing to you because soon my supply will run out, and the cost to continue this ministry is too expensive for my personal budget as a retired senior. I’m reaching out in hopes that you will have some way of assisting me in continuing this wonderful publication to these children. I give 10-15 Guides per week,” she wrote. “Please pray about a way that you could help in this blessed ministry to win the souls of those in the age ranges of 12 to 17.”

By the time her request came in, there was enough money to send Guide magazine subscriptions to Chambers for distribution at the facilities.

In March, Chambers sent an update to the Guide team. “Thank you so very much for the Guide magazines. I just received my first order today for this current week and then the month of April. Perfect timing! God truly does answer prayers, and y’all truly do heed the call. Please know many young men are being inspired by these books at the [facilities] in Georgia. Hallelujah for God’s Word. Keep the incarcerated youth and J.O.Y. Behind Bars ministry in prayer as we try to minister to them and their families.”

Recently, Sámano called Chambers to see how things were going. “The kids love Guide!” she enthusiastically replied. “I give them Bible studies every week, and I am still removing both staples [from the magazines] so I can take them into the detention centers. Thank you for sending the magazines! The boys now call me ‘Gigi’ since they say I’m like their grandma.”

“Our God never fails to answer even before we ask. While I have been going to the detention centers, we have had three children who have made a decision for Christ, and one now wants to be baptized,” she said. “Guide magazines are even popular with one child who states he is an atheist. However, he’s anxious to come to Bible study and receive Guide magazines.”

The original version of this story was posted by Southern Tidings.