Finding freedom in prison

Two days after Landon Braithwait was released from prison in August, he was baptized at First Christian Church.

But there’s more to his story. A story of love and forgiveness.

Over a two-week span in June 2005, Landon broke into Nebraska Christian College, the Norfolk Family YMCA, Victory Road Assembly of God Church, Northern Heights Baptist Church and First Christian Church, leaving behind a trail of broken windows, computers and trashed offices. The burglaries and related vandalism were once estimated at $90,000 worth of damage.

Landon was later convicted and sentenced to 8-13 years in prison – 4-6 years in prison for the YMCA break-in, 2-3 years for the Nebraska Christian College incident and 1-2 years on two of the churches, all to be served consecutively. With credit for good time, Landon became eligible for parole in four years.

But those four years in prison changed his life, thanks to a committed group of men involved in jail ministry.

“My son was being ministered to and encouraged by mentors who were, in a sense, his victims, Christians, Christ followers,” wrote his mother, Dawn Schulz. “They showed up everywhere through notes, visits and prayers.”

Showing how God truly works in the lives of others, these Christ followers were associated with two of the three churches Landon broke into and also Nebraska Christian College – including Bob Moreland and Bill Miller (both former elders at FCC).

“Crazy as it may sound, when Landon committed burglary, he literally committed it against the Christian community, against the churches and other Christian organizations,” Landon’s mother writes, “and thus came the body of Christ out of the debris he left behind.”

Thus began relationships that thrived while Landon was in prison and still continue today. Landon’s aunt, Julie Mueller, who also attends FCC, told the Norfolk Daily News on the day of his sentencing that there were more people praying for Landon than upset with him. “This was just a cry for help,” she said then. “And this was an answer from God.”

Take a look at how God answered that cry for help.

The love of Jesus shone through even during his first week in county jail. During that first week, he attended church with Ed Felgate from Northern Heights Baptist Church, one of the churches he had broken into. “I was hoping he wouldn’t recognize me,” Landon says, “but he told me, ‘We love you, we’re praying for you, we forgive you.' ”

It turns out that those prayers helped sustain Landon in prison. After being sentenced, Landon soon was sent to the Lincoln Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison with every kind of criminal you can imagine. Having just turned 21 and still baby-faced, Landon says he was getting beat up within 15 minutes after arriving.

“Here I am, a new believer,” Landon says, “and I was asking, ‘Jesus, where are you?’ ” It turns out Jesus was right there, guiding him into protective custody, where he spent nearly 2 years in seclusion – time he used to get into God’s word.

“In prison, I had so much time to read God’s word, time to prepare me for what I do now,” Landon says. “Now I get up at 5 a.m. each day just to read my Bible. It’s given me boldness in speaking to people.”

Landon spent the final year and a half of his sentence at a minimum-security prison in Omaha, where he encountered friends from his days in Columbus. He soon started using drugs and going back to the old Landon. “Inside, I didn’t feel like the same Landon, but that’s what I was.”

Soon what was on the inside began to show. He started leading Bible studies and praying with his fellow inmates. And two days after his release, he was baptized at FCC.

Here's more of Landon's story, in his own words from a March 12, 2007, letter to Bill Miller, a former elder here at FCC and current member:

“I don’t know why I didn’t turn my life to Jesus long ago. Being raised, I always went to church, then to youth group, trips, and, at one time, had a relationship with Jesus, but only at church. Then I was too scared to share my love with Him anywhere else and went back to using drugs.

“So when I was arrested and became sober, I thought about my crime and sin and contemplated suicide because of how bad I felt. And because of thinking I had broken into a church, it just seemed like the worst thing you could do. I couldn’t pray because I thought I was not worthy and God would not have wanted to hear me anyway. I was getting letters from my family telling me that they loved me and not getting down on me.

“Then I began seeing Bob Moreland, Randy Novotny and Ed Felgate. All three visited Prisoners in County Jail ministry through the Norfolk Rescue Mission. And I found out they were from the churches I vandalized. I almost didn’t go back after finding that out, but they all showed me love and forgiveness.

“I didn’t understand, but it felt good to be loved by people . . . I’d wronged and I continued to go. I began to pray and read my Bible, learning of forgiveness and love, love which, as people of Christ, shone through them.

“I started reading books, finding out who I truly was, not the sin the world could see, and I gave my life to him. And I want to show others that love and let Jesus show it through me. So mainly that unconditional love of Jesus filled me, and I haven’t been thirsty since. I realized that everything that was wrong with my life could be fixed by Jesus and Jesus alone.”

So what’s next for Landon? Right now, he’s working for Commonwealth Electric on an ethanol plant near Columbus. He’s saving up money for a car and a place of his own.

But he’d love to go back to prison – but not as an inmate. He feels led to serve others in the same way that Ed Felgate, Bob Moreland, Bill Miller and others served him. “Living a life for Christ in prison is so difficult,” Landon says. “You hear a lot of people changing in prison, but very few tend to follow Him when they get out.”

Free from the bondage of sin, and now free from prison, Landon carries his “sword,” his trusty pocket Bible. In his Bible, there’s a spot in the front to fill in the date of salvation. But Landon didn’t fill in any specific date. Instead, he filled in “Daily” because each day, “I have to choose Jesus as Lord of my life.”

And for that he and his family are eternally grateful for how God works, especially in the midst of despair.

“From the horror story of prison to the freedom he was given by God through it all, Landon stands with the integrity of knowing who he is in Christ,” his mother writes. “Thank you, Father, for my brothers and sisters who rose to your call.”

Written by: Tim Pearson

Have you experienced this ripple effect? Have you seen God working through the people of firstCHRISTIAN? Do you know of a story just waiting to be told? Share it with us as part of FCC's Storytellers, either by commenting to this blog or e-mailing fccstorytellers@conpoint.com .