The Forgiveness Foundation February 2012 Newsletter

January 31, 2012

Friend of The Forgiveness Foundation

Re: February 2012 Newsletter

Dear Friend,

The  Forgiveness Foundation Christian Ministries is all about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. More particularly, TFF wants to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the entire world. Since TFF cannot believe for the unbeliever, our goal is to introduce people all over the world to the Bible, encourage them to read it, and engage them in conversation and worship. We accomplish this over the World Wide Web. Every month the numbers of people who visit TFF’s website increase. By the end of today, TFF’s website received 527 more visitors for January 2012, than it had for January 2011. That is God acting through this ministry. Praise the Lord!

If you have never visited our website, I encourage you to take a moment and visit us at: www.theforgivenessfoundation.org. I suspect it is not what you are expecting to see. Our ministry began by sharing the Gospel with all 3,351 death row inmates throughout the United States. From that starting point, God took us to a Worldwide Web ministry. We are now taking the Gospel to the world through our website. The majority of visitors to our website are searching for information regarding the inmates to whom we minister. Visitors to our website are often left asking themselves, “Does God really forgive murderers?” Lord willing these visitors email us, sharing their forgiveness dilemma. Our ministry focus is on God’s forgiving grace and mercy. Most of the emails we receive at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it are people sharing how they broke every commandment in ways the Apostle Paul could never have imagined. We share with them that the Ten Commandments and the law identified sin, allowing us to know what it is. We point out that the Bible teaches us from Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (TNIV) We share with them that no sin is to grave for the shed blood of Jesus to cleanse. We encourage them to study the word and learn who God is for themselves. We encourage them to take a Berean attitude toward God’s word and not accept at face value what TFF or anyone tells them about God. He shares Himself with all of us through his word: get to know Him. This is how the Lord brought 1,717 to study the Bible with TFF last year. Today, The Forgiveness Foundation’s 52 Week Bible Reading Plan, is being used by a group of high school students in Brazil, a group of young women in India, a group of agnostics in The United Kingdom, a ladies Bible Study group in France, a Bible Study group in Italy, and over a thousand individuals throughout the world who want to get to know our Lord and Savior up close and personal. TFF wants every person in the world to know that no sin is so great that it cannot be covered by the cleansing blood of Jesus.

On April 10, 2010, at 10 AM EST, at Lucasville, Ohio, Darryl Durr was executed. Darryl had written to TFF for several years and through our letters I felt as if I knew him personally. When word of Darryl’s execution reached me, I felt sad, not knowing that the impact of Darryl’s relationship with the Lord would still be impacting TFF today. Darryl had accepted the Lord some years before TFF began communicating with him. He was certain, more certain than any other inmate I have written, that his execution would be carried out. He felt genuine remorse for his crime. He shared that although he believed that Jesus had covered his sin at Calvary, he still feared death. We shared many letters in the three months prior to his execution. April 10, 2010 came. April 10, 2010 went. I missed receiving letters from Darryl; he really wanted to know the Lord and challenged me to seek a deeper understanding and relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On May 27, 2010, TFF received a letter from The United Kingdom. As I read the letter my heart filled with joy and sorrow. Darryl had been writing with a lady in the UK and when he died, having no relatives, the Ohio Department of Corrections mailed his personal belongings to his friend in the UK. Her letter to TFF shared her relationship with Darryl to us. She learned that Darryl had no one and befriended him and helped him with his financial needs. Darryl in return shared the only thing he valued with her, his love of Jesus Christ. The story does not end there. This lady, a non-believer, gently coming to Christ, shared the letters we wrote to Darryl with some of her British friends. Some, who are believers; some, who became believers; and some, who are still traveling the road, Lord willing, to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Our website, which rarely saw a visit outside the United States, began receiving regular visits from across The United Kingdom, then France and Germany, and now the world. Our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , email address began to fill with questions from all over the world about Jesus and forgiveness. There is nothing mystical about how this happens. In our case, we shared our love of Jesus with Darryl. Darryl shared the love which Jesus shared with him with a lady in The United Kingdom, named Mary. Darryl never told me of his friend Mary, nor had he told Mary about TFF. The letters written to Darryl coupled with his love for Jesus has opened the entire world to the ministry of The Forgiveness Foundation. I did not know that Darryl Durr, rejected by his family and condemned to death by the State of Ohio, would be the link that would bring 1,717 people across the world to study God’s word. Darryl, like all, committed sin in his life, some serious enough to be incarcerated. From the moment Darryl accepted Jesus he was no longer a condemned man, he was merely waiting to be released into the eternal custody of Jesus Christ. Darryl was executed on April 10, 2010, I think of him, his love of the Lord, and his impact on our ministry often. On April 10, 2010, Darryl planted a seed that became, The Forgiveness Foundation World Wide Web Evangelical Ministries. No one who loves the Lord is ever in bondage.

When people ask me why we share the Gospel with men and women on death row, I think of this Bible passage,” (11) And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,”Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (12)But when He (Jesus) heard it, He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (13) Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:11-13 (ESV), and Darryl Durr. Then I thank the Lord for coming to call sinners for I am one.

The Forgiveness Foundation 14 Days of Prayer: The Forgiveness Foundation asks you to join us in a time of special prayer beginning February 15 through February 29. As the ministry of TFF grows, we need to continuously seek God’s purpose and direction for our ministry. It is important that we minister where God wants us to minister and not where we may choose to venture without His direction. (1) Please pray for the Lord’s direction for the ministry He has entrusted to us. (2) Please pray for the men who are scheduled to be executed this month, pray for salvation for the unsaved, peace for the saved and that if any are innocent that it be revealed before they are executed. As God entrusts TFF with more ministry opportunity our needs grow. (3) Please pray for God’s provision. As God continues to grow the international web ministry that He entrusted to TFF our equipment needs are changing. TFF needs a Mac mini computer, an Ipad, a new high volume letter printer for our death row ministry and to update our website. It will cost TFF $10,400.00 to purchase the equipment and services needed. Like all ministries, we need funds to pay our rent, telephone bill, purchase envelopes, insurance and postage to carry on our ministry. (4) Send us your prayer requests. Please email your prayer requests to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or mail them to us at The Forgiveness Foundation, 100 2^nd Street NW, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902. Join in The Forgiveness Foundation 14 Days of Prayer and let us pray for each other.

Eight men are scheduled to be executed during the month of February:

February 01 – Donald Newbury – Texas (Stayed)

February 08 – Edwin Turner – Mississippi

February 15 – Robert Waterhouse - Florida

February 16 – Gary Allen - Oklahoma

February 22 – Michael Webb – Ohio (Stayed)

February 28 – Anthony Bartree – Texas

February 29 – Robert Moormann - Arizona

February 29 – George Rivas - Texas

Please pray for Donald, Edwin, Robert, Gary, Michael, Anthony, Robert, and George. Pray for salvation if unsaved, peace if saved, and if any of these men are innocent that it be discovered before they are executed. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of Donald, Edwin, Robert, Gary, Michael, Anthony, Robert, and George’s sins at Calvary. All that remains is for them to accept Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior to receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life. Please pray earnestly for these men keeping in mind that in God’s eyes murder is a sin and in the eyes of Texas, Mississippi, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona; murder is a crime that, in these cases, is punishable by death. At Calvary, over 2,000 years ago, Jesus accepted the punishment for the sin of murder these men committed and now they need to accept the salvation and forgiveness Jesus desires to give them.

My mother entered hospice about two weeks ago. The doctors have given her from two weeks to a month. She is experiencing a great deal of chest and stomach pain. Please pray that the Lord may grant her a peaceful passing when the time comes.

We thank you for your prayers and financial support. The Lord continues to bless TFF by providing new ministry opportunities. Through your prayers and financial support TFF’s ministry has grown from sharing the Gospel with men and women on death row to a ministry that currently serves 88 countries throughout the world. I encourage you to join The Forgiveness Foundation 14 Days of Prayer from February 15 – 29. Prayerfully consider a gift to help the ministry of The Forgiveness Foundation. You may make a gift online by going to: www.theforgivenessfoundation.org, and clicking onto the PayPal logo and following the instructions. If you prefer, you may mail your gift to: The Forgiveness Foundation, 100 2^nd Street NW, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902.

Easter is just 67 days from today. When I think of the birth of Christ, I think of this scripture, Luke 1:34 -37 and especially think of verse 37 because it is awesome to know that nothing is impossible with our God, “And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. And behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Godspeace!

Rodney Rexrode, The Forgiveness Foundation