Contributed
The Holy Spirit is working at Martin Correctional Institution (MCI) in Indiantown, Fla., which houses approximately 1,500 inmates, including 250 at Martin Work Camp prior to release.
In 2017, God spoke to David Rivera, a member of Midport Church in Port St. Lucie, Fla., during an announcement by Skipp Shimek, then Fort Pierce Church prison ministries director. As Shimek asked for support for the work at Martin Correctional Institution, Rivera turned to his wife, Samady, and said, “I believe God is calling me to be in prison ministries.”
Rivera began holding services at Martin Correctional Institution in September 2020, with just five men attending. Within a year, attendance grew to 80. Today, a lively group gathers every Sabbath, with an average of 100 men participating in worship. A congregation has been planted in the facility, with a functioning church board, 12 elders, and a dedicated music team.
Beyond worship services held each Sabbath, inmates attend discipleship classes on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Additional discipleship classes and worship services are also conducted in the Work Camp chapel on Friday evenings.
Rivera shares enthusiastically about the evident work of the Holy Spirit at MCI, particularly regarding the calling and training of 12 inmate lay pastors. “The Holy Spirit is using these lay pastors powerfully,” Rivera said. A team of more than 20 volunteers from area churches supports this growing ministry, with additional support from Florida prison ministries.
John Mills, Florida Conference prison ministries director, baptized 11 inmates in the prison chapel’s baptistry on Sabbath, April 5, 2025. Later, on July 5, he baptized 12 more. With these baptisms, the total number of baptisms in the prison congregation this year has reached 32.
Testimonies continue to be shared of what the Lord is doing in prisons across the state. Truly, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37). This mission field must be reached, and the Lord is calling workers.
Today, Rivera serves as a volunteer chaplain at Martin Correctional Institution, faithfully continuing the work God began in his heart that Sabbath morning in 2017.
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