Reaching Women
The Personal Story of Mel Goebel and Impact for Life Ministries
1950’s
“In those days, I traveled in a tight pack with Marvin and our six-year-old brother James, also a twin. Hiking through rural Alabama’s farmland, full of creeks and mossy ponds, we’d eventually head home, hot and sweaty from the humid summer air. We’d go anywhere outside to escape the stuffy confines of our little three-bedroom house that overflowed with frantic activities of six of seven unruly kids, my Mom and my mostly absent Dad. The house was messy and quarters were pretty cramped. So, outside our one-story home, away from Mom and our sisters, we’d fill the air with the crack and splut sounds of our BB guns, or we’d whittle down dry sticks to use in imaginary swordplay.”
“It was rare that Mom would interrupt us … She’d usually be waiting on customers pulled up to Goebel’s Grocery, my family’s combination gas station/dry goods store attached to our home. ... Dad drove a truck long distance and was on the road most of the time. When home, he was gruff and often violent. And if Mom was not preoccupied with waiting on grocery customers, then she’d be away from the family when she could, perched somewhere on a bar stool, day or night.”
“Two sets of small twins basically fended for themselves in those days. Just a few years earlier, four children were in diapers at one time, obviously a strain on the family. Without Dad home much, our life was consistent only in its inconsistency.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel.
Early 1970’s
“There was no thought of bettering myself; I didn’t take any classes or work on furthering my skills in anything. I just did my time and continued in my addictions. … Seventeen months and four days. After staying loaded as much as possible, I was paroled August 21, 1976. Sent out with my box of belongings and $100 gate pay, I was like so many ex-cons leaving prison. I made lots of promises to myself and to my family. Mostly they involved making a change, leaving my troubled old friends behind. If I could just overcome my need for drugs and alcohol, I thought I could leave some old habits behind.”
“But within 72 hours of getting out, I got loaded. Again, I succeeded at what I knew best: escape. … The promises dried up. I didn’t want to fail, but I did. ... The word spread fast. Lots of inmates asked what happened. All I could say was, “I got busted. I should have been smarter. Too loaded to care.” There wasn’t much else to say.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel.
March 16, 1975
“I was awakened early with a heightened sense of awareness, a sense of something ahead. Conscious of a Presence beside my bed, I opened my eyes. A brilliant light penetrated my being. … No one could see the Presence, but there was definitely something in the room with me. … Exploding with emotion, I had to get alone.… I headed down the dorm corridor to the one toilet that offered a shower curtain and a small private space. … “God, if you can take my life and do something with it, I give it to You,” I sobbed in that tiny room.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel.
1976
Before leaving prison in 1976, with assistance from the prison Chaplain and Christians coming in from the outside world, Mel Goebel served Christ within the stone walls of the state Penitentiary. He helped bring men inside together to grow in their faith. At the same time Mel was growing in his faith by learning how to feel others’ pain and respond to their needs.
“Over my months in prison, the Unseen Presence, the Holy Spirit, alerted me often to a need. Through my developing relationship with Jesus, I realized God was calling His children, created in His image, into a relationship with Him. While still behind bars, I began to sense my life’s calling would be to help people, with God’s prompting and His power, no matter who, where, or when.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel
Within seven short months after his release, the warden approved Mel’s return to prison to conduct Bible study groups with men inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Omaha, NE.
1977
“… I did go over to Pastor Danitschek’s office and tell him, “If you don’t want me dating your daughter, I won’t.” The conversation didn’t last long, but he did not ask me to stop dating her. Later Jane told me he said he respected me for being upfront and willing to approach him with a reasonable concern. When I spoke to Jane’s dad that day, he did tell me some news I wasn’t expecting, however. “I don’t know what Jane’s told you about her health,” he began, “but a few years ago she was hospitalized for some strange numbness at the bottom of her feet, and in her hands.” “She’s never said anything about it,” I admitted. … The doctor had apparently not revealed the extent of his concerns to Jane, but he did tell her dad he suspected Multiple Sclerosis.”
“I remember being concerned about the news, but seeing Jane’s active lifestyle made that far-off possibility seem less of a reality. … It was a beautiful summer day when an unusual group gathered to celebrate our union before God. From long-haired ex-prisoners, ordinary church people to prison chaplains, pastors and family members, some three hundred guests packed into the American Lutheran Church that day as God united two people with completely different backgrounds.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel
1986
“After I was asked to rise the governor said, “I have studied your case history since you have left prison and read the letters of support. I’ve also heard the testimonies of community support on your behalf. By the powers invested in me, the state of Nebraska does hereby grant you a full pardon.”
“My heart beat loudly in my chest at that moment and my throat got tight. Tears flowed freely as I looked around the courtroom at my friends and family who had come to support me. When all my charges were read aloud against me that day, I realized in some small way this is what it must be like on judgment day, when a higher court, with a Most High Judge, will pass sentence on me. How fearful it will be for those who will not be acquitted because they have rejected through sin, their pardon offered through Jesus Christ.”
- Excerpt from The Unseen Presence by Mel Goebel
1980 - 2000
Mel joins Chuck Colson and the Prison Fellowship Ministry, serving 20 years in a national capacity as Director of Colorado and Nebraska.
2000
Mel Goebel begins Impact for Life Ministries to fulfill God’s calling to reach out to women inmates and all children of incarcerated parents with Discipleship Resources and full-circle support to nourish their life-long, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
2001
The first outreach of Impact for Life, Library of Hope, begins distributing discipleship materials to prisons and correctional facilities from the basement of Mel Goebel's home in Colorado. Today, Library of Hope is one of the largest distribution ministries, reaching one-quarter of all prisons in the United States. Nearly 1,000 discipleship libraries are shipped each year from our 7,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Colorado Springs, CO. Joining hands with Resources Partners including over 30 publishers, authors, and media producers Library of Hope distributes brand new Bibles, Bible studies and workbooks, devotionals, discipleship materials, Christian video and music, and more to help inmates receive the message of the Gospel.
2006
The first sister-ministry of Impact for Life, Daughters of Destiny, is established. Born out of a vision from the Lord to reach out to incarcerated women and teen girls and help them address their specific needs, Daughters of Destiny quickly began to take root and spread across several states. Women speakers were being raised up, many former inmates, to share the love of Christ with Daughters Inside. In it’s first year Daughters of Destiny hosted 6 Evangelical Crusades and 30 Seminar and Life Group events impacting 15,042 women in 10 states with volunteer support of Area Coordinators.
2007
The second sister-ministry of Impact for Life, Kid's Crossing, begins. Through family-friendly camps hosted in prisons all across the country, these children have the opportunity to spend an entire day in a Christian atmosphere with their incarcerated mother or father. The camps have had such huge success they have now been established with the department of corrections in 9 states. Kid's Crossing Ministry works with many Christian authors and publishers to provide brand new materials that include children’s Bibles, devotionals, Christian DVD’s/videos, worship CD's, and much more. All materials are assembled into age specific Praise Packages for kid’s 4 to 7 years old, 8 to 12 years old, and Teens. Praise Packages are given to each child as a personal gift from their incarcerated parent and is a personal expression of their love for their child(ren) even when they can’t be with them. Praise Package discipleship kits teach these children the goodness of the Gospel and that Jesus Christ is a source of support and love that can help heal and restore their broken hearts and their broken homes.