Helping Those Who Help Others

The public is invited to help an area ministry thank those who help victims.

Gospel Lighthouse Prison Evangelism will hold its Sixth Annual “Victims Advocates Day” 10am Saturday, August 11 at the Graceway Baptist Chuch, located at 1615 Memorial Highway, beside Grant Body Shop.

The event will start at 10 a.m. and will conclude with a free spaghetti lunch for all who attend.

While Gospel Lighthouse deals with criminals, by ministering to prisoners across the state and operating an educational ministry in prisons across the country, the ministry saw a need to help victims as well, according to GLPE founder, Dr. J.W. Stansell, also known as "Gospel J.”

Victims Advocates Day is the prison ministry's way to spotlighting those who work with victims and help the recover from violent events and start new lives away from their abusers.

This year, the ministry will be providing items for Helping Hands of Clemson and the Rape Crisis Pickens County Council. The ministry will be helping children and women who have been involved in abusive homes, children who have been taken from meth lab homes and children who have been sexually abused.

The ministry will collects teddy bears for the Pickens Police Department, whose officers give the teddy bears to children to help them deal with stressful situations.

Ministry officials say the bears help children realize that police officers are not people to be afraid of, that they are there to help them.

During the ceremony, the ministry will recognize many victims advocates for their important work.

Stansell, the founder and president of Gospel Lighthouse Prison Evangelism, extends an invitation to the public to attend this year’s event. For more information, contact the GLPE office at (864) 507-0041.

Stansell wrote a book last year detailing some of the ministry's experiences in sharing the Gospel with with prisoners.

“It Happened On the Way To Prison” is a mixture of funny stories and moving stories of prisoners finding God in the darkest of places.

The book is available at Rochester’s in Easley, or you can order a copy by writing to Gospel Light House Prison Evangelism at P.O. Box 1146, Pickens, SC, 29671-1146.