Mailing Address:
Psalm 23 Ministry
P.O. Box 1853
Bangor, Maine 04402
I have not been locked up in a cell but I have been held captive as a prisoner in my own body. No matter how impossible a situation looks, there is nothing that the Lord can't handle! If He can cure a life-threatening disease, cause me to walk and talk again and then bring me back from the brink of death, several times, He can t
ake care of the situation you're going through! As a volunteer chaplain, my wife and I are visiting inmates daily in Maine jails and prisons, sharing the message that so many desperately need to hear. Christianity is all about relationships. I love to spend time with the inmates. Many just need a friend. And if they want me to be, I want to be that friend. When I was 18 years old, I was given only a short time to live. Blood tests revealed that I had a life-threatening disease. The doctor said there was no hope! It was 1984, a time when the medical treatment for leukemia was not as advanced as it is today. And even though there was a life-saving bone marrow transplant, it would cost well over $100,000 just to get started. The money would have to be paid before I could receive treatment, but that wasn't all. An unlikely bone marrow match was also needed and a marrow bank did not yet exist. My journey was not easy. I did receive the transplant, but during the process I went into a blast crisis and came even closer to death. I found myself totally paralyzed, my lungs were collapsed, I was on life support, unable to communicate and later, confined to a wheel chair, for nearly eight years. All my joints contracted and left me a prisoner in my own body. It felt like I was stuck inside a concrete statue. I had been through a battle but I was determined not to lose the war. Years later, I still experience many complications. Conditions known as "aphasia" and "E.S.R.D." or kidney failure, among others but God gives me strength to do what He asks me to do. I may experience walls of limitations but in Jesus I am free! And no one can take that away from me. I have a burden to go and tell people what Jesus Christ has done for me and the victory He wants others to have when they put their trust in Him. I have never been in prison or a slave to drugs and alcohol but I have something in common with a lot of people. I felt hopeless and many have given up on me or told me I couldn't accomplish something. But there is good news! Jesus says I will give you victory! Victory can be found when you ask the Lord to take control of your life. The hope I have is not just in this temporary life but in eternal life only found in Him! Now I'm walking, talking, singing and bringing His message of hope and peace to others! Today, the leukemia is totally cured and the paralysis is gone. If God can use me to help and encourage someone else with His message, everything I’ve been through has been worth it all! "I love to lead prisoners to Christ! Please pray that God gives me even more fields to harvest!"
How Psalm 23 Ministry Began
I was asked how Psalm 23 Ministry began. So here it is . . . I was born in Charlotte, NC in 1965. When I turned 18, I was diagnosed with leukemia and only given 3 years to live. I had a bone marrow transplant, my lungs collapsed, I was totally paralyzed, a blood clot nearly my heart, all my joints contracted and I was in a wheelchair for 8 years. But still the Lord allowed me to live. So he called me to serve Him in 2005. I began ministry school and upon graduating with my Bachelor of Theology degree in 2007, my wife and I began Psalm 23 Ministry out of our local church. The Lord called us to help begin a storefront mission in downtown Manchester, NH. So our Lenoir, NC home church, West Lenoir Baptist, sent Terry and I off to New England as missionary’s. Within 6 months, circumstances had us moving to Bangor, Maine. Crosspoint Church of Bangor had been supporting us so we made that our home church here in Maine. Terry and I met with Pastor Jerry Mick and he asked me to begin going to the county jail here in Bangor. In 2014, I went through orientation and was approved to begin visiting inmates. For that first year, I went to the jail at least 5 days a week, sometimes visiting 4 inmates a day. I was sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone I met! So, that is the story of Psalm 23 Ministry up until now. Within the past year, I have encountered more illness, my kidneys failed and I am on dialysis 5 days a week. But I am beginning to feel better again! God is giving me strength to once again visit inmates. I go to the local county jail every Wednesday evening for a Bible study with Terry Dinkins. I also lead a Bible study at the prison in Charleston every Monday evening. Then on Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday, I visit inmates one on one. And God’s story in my life and Psalm 23 Ministry continues! So stay tuned for what the Lord’s going to do next! Please keep us in your prayers! . . .God Bless, Chaplain Tom Shuford
Thank you Sheriff Troy Morton, Chaplain Paul Dunfee and all the corrections staff that allow me to do what I need to do!
