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Dear Sandra Turner,
. . .Your publication is a much needed "breath of fresh air" and a marvelous Christian encouragement to all. Keep up the great work, sister. . . R.N. (ME)
Dear Singles,
A comment and observation. Why are you so against and unforgiving of men incarcerated? I met a wonderful Christian inmate whose articles have been printed in Guideposts, Breakthrough and other Christian magazines.
Charles Colson, once an inmate, now a child of God has done much for God's kingdom.
M.E.B.
Dear M.E.B.
I have never been against and unforgiving of men incarcerated. Or women. However, I am against conmen, conwomen, liars, and manipulators whether in prison or out.
I hear from 20 to 30 inmates daily requesting free copies of this magazine. We don't send them if we recognize that the person is an inmate. Instead of ads or subscriptions to the magazine, we currently offer prisoners a personal profile and photo on a special web page. For a reasonable fee, we put up their names and addresses so they can receive letters from those who wish to correspond with them.
But I recommend that individuals looking for serious relationships do not pursue personal relationships with inmates. And here are the reasons.
It used to be common for me to hear from women who had lost thousands of dollars to inmates who conned them into an emotional relationship and then bilked them out of their life savings through altered money orders.
Here's how it went. The prisoner said, "Keep this money for me. I trust you with it. Just put it in your checking account."
Then a day or so after the money is deposited, "Hey that money I gave you. Something's come up with my lawyer. I need it right away. Can you wire it to me today?"
The victim wires the money or sends a certified check or money order and days later finds out the money orders she put in her account from the prisoner were altered to say $700 dollars instead of $7 and she's out hundreds possibly thousands of dollars.
Then there are certain prisons where all the inmates write the same story to women. Their wives died of cancer or in a car wreck. They were wrongfully convicted of a crime. They loaned their car to a friend who committed a felony while in possession of it. And although tried and convicted they are innocent of any wrongdoing.
One woman accepted collect calls amounting to $2000 from a prisoner and lost her telephone service because she could not pay the bill, all because the prisoner told her he was due to come into a large inheritance from his father's estate and was going to give her power of attorney over it.
Some people are just vulnerable to emotional manipulation and cannot make good judgements when dealing with someone who knows how to hook them emotionally. Lonely people are not always rational. Lonely people will believe lies that make them feel loved and emotionally warm. Con men know this.
Not all prisoners are con men. Thank God. Some are sincere Christians. All prisoners deserve the respect and honor that the Lord Jesus Christ purchased for every human being.
We simply suggest that you keep your emotional distance when corresponding with prisoners if you choose to do so. Minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Send them Christian literature. But don't take anything they say too seriously. And if you find yourself unable to do that, then don't correspond with prisoners to begin with.
Many of our singles have had their share of heartache in life already. We're just trying to inform them about what can happen and how they can keep from being unwitting targets of emotional abuse.
S.T.