According to a Prison Fellowship spokesperson, Jim Forbes, there is a revival taking place within America’s prisons.

In an interview with Charisma News, Forbes stated that up to 2019, Prison Fellowship distributed on average between 5,000 to 6,000 Bible to inmates in prisons across America.

However, that changed in 2020, when the demand for scripture dramatically jumped and today the organization is distributing approximately 250,000 Bibles each year.

Forbes stated it is an indication of a growing spiritual hunger among inmates.

Prison Fellowship also produces a newspaper called Inside Journal. It publishes one million copies with each edition that is distributed to 900 prisons.

READ: Massive Revival Unfolding in Prisons Nationwide

It reminds me of a letter the Apostle Paul sent while imprisoned in Rome. In his letter to Timothy, he asked for someone to bring him his cloaks, books, and especially his parchments:

¹³ When you come, bring the overcoat which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. (2 Timothy 4:13 NASV)

It’s obvious from the verse, that the parchments, which were often made of lamb skin, were Paul’s most valued commodity.

Many believe the parchments were probably scrolls containing the Old Testament Books of the Bible, such as the Book of Isaiah, which Paul quoted 25 times in his letters.

However, there is also a second intriguing possibility. It was very common during this day, for students of rabbis to take notes of what their teachers were saying. We see this even happening with the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah 36:1-8).

Some have speculated that these parchments may have been copies of the notes that Christ’s disciples had written while they accompanied Jesus in His travels around Galilee. We know there were disciples, such as Matthew, who was both a Levite and tax collector and undoubtedly quite capable of taking notes (Luke 5:27-32).