Small Fellowship Group Approach
YPM groups within prison walls, as well as those outside prison walls, are structured to include two simultaneous journeys – the journey inward and the journey outward.
The journey inward involves growing in relationship with God and Jesus Christ. The outward journey involves love for all brothers and sisters around us.
The goal of YPM small groups is to connect people to God, to connect people to one another and to raise up disciples in a relational manner. Jesus focused most of His ministry on small group leadership, spending the majority of His time with a group of twelve and a group of three, never neglecting the crowds and other disciples.
YPM is committed to the idea that people’s lives are changed through personal discipline and committed small groups where challenges and faith are shared. There are many groups willing to provide worship services, revivals, and Bible studies for inmates. YPM uniquely gives inmates the opportunity within an ongoing, redemptive fellowship to both share the pain, the loneliness, and the isolation and also learn how to lead a disciplined life.
“Each day by their caring and mentoring, the Yokefellowship Prison Ministry is giving in God’s name hope to the hopeless and salvation to the souls of the lost. ”
What returned citizens have shared
"I loved your Yokefellowship because of the conversation. It wasn’t just somebody teaching you the Bible. Everybody got to discuss the Bible. We grew close. I got to understand how you think and what you were going through. And that changed the whole dynamic of Bible study. It wasn’t just somebody giving you information. We connected on a different level. I use the Yokefellowship method when I lead Bible study now. I try to get people to interact and speak about how Scripture impacts their lives."
— Zachery Brooks
“Yokefellowship came on Thursday nights at Camp Hill. I always looked forward to them coming in. Larry Lingle was one of the main people. I’ve been to his church a bunch of times since I’ve been out. One time I was at a party for him. Yokefellowship was just a bunch of guys that loved the Lord. They would come in, and they just “loved on you.” We would learn and study scripture. It was really good. They were a great group and so when I got out, I went in with them.”
— Jeff Galitsky
“I just believe in Yokefellowship, in their small group meetings, and allowing the inmates to talk. You have conversations; you listen to them. You ask somebody, what would you want to talk about? Or maybe what are you struggling with? And they might say loneliness. So it gives you ideas. You can go back the next week and have all kinds of scriptures concerning that particular feeling out of God’s Word. It’s a small group discussion, not a Bible study, and I liked that concept. It got the inmates to interact, to open up, and then be able to take that and process it through the filter of God’s Word. Getting incarcerated people grounded inside is going to help them outside.”