Be Transformed Ministries

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www.betransformedministries.com Be Transformed Ministries a 501c3, Author, Speaker, Book, Bible Study, Prison Ministry. County Jail alone.

“Be Transformed Ministries” was founded after we realized just how powerful the book “Be Transformed: By the Spirit of the Living God” had become. We started receiving overwhelming feedback about changed lives; relationships were deepening, and people were coming out of emotional, mental, and spiritual bo***ge. We believe that studying the Word of God and living out its principles is the only way that the attributes of God will be reflected to this dying world. “Be Transformed” was written for this very purpose. The goal of our ministry is to bring revival to the Church, and to reach the lost. Through our “Sponsor a Transformation” Program, we intend to send our Bible study books into as many rehabilitation centers, jails, and prisons as possible. At the end of 2020, we have over 3200 of our books in the L.A. As well our books are used in 8 different countries in 4 different languages! Be Transformed Ministries is now a 501c3, and we are seeking Partners to help us in this growing Ministry. Donations can be made through https://ripeforharvest.org/?s=Sharon+Dutra

09/20/2026

Dear Be Transformed Ministry Family!
We pray you are all doing well! Exciting news on the ministry front, which I’m sure you will all enjoy and appreciate!
First of all, here are some precious letters from inmates from around the country. One inmate writes:
“Dear sister Sharon, I can’t begin to express how enriching your book Fishers of Men is to me. I found it on the book cart yesterday. This study is so compelling. I can’t help but ask you for a personal copy. I am prone to search for excellent material to use for small group Bible studies. This one is perfect. You were definitely inspired by the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your ministry to those who are in a difficult place. God bless you and thank you”. David

I would like to thank you, Miss Sharon, for writing the book called The Conviction. I saw that you had walked in my exact same shoes, and found a way out of street life and drugs. I now read more of the Bible, and have accepted Jesus into my heart and life. I knew I had to have a change in my life, and I have now given myself to Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Marcos

This is an email from Pastor Dale, who ministers to the youth in Tennessee. He sent this email to all of the participants of his ministry. He says “Good morning to all! A very special THANK YOU to Sharon Dutra of Be Transformed Ministries. We use her study guides for all of our Discipleship Training and small group Bible studies. She has also written and published her personal testimony called The Conviction. She and her husband Michael supply all the Discipleship materials for our Grounded for Good Ministry. We are so blessed and thankful for their partnership and support. Thank you Michael and Sharon for supplying us with biblically sound material. They are essential for these boys”!
Pastor Dale continues: “We had a new Spanish-speaking inmate from Tanzania. He had never held a Bible or book in Spanish. He had never held anything new. He kept rubbing the pages of your book, thanking us for it. We appreciate your discipleship material so very much! I wish you could see what we saw today. Truly your ministry is making a difference”! (And a huge thank you Pastor Dale for using our books!)

This is from our friend Carlos in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, who hosted an event there at a rehab recently. He writes “We had our event and it was awesome! The men and women are all talking about your Spanish book! Thank you for being a blessing”. (We send him cases of books for several of his ministry outreaches).

Here’s a letter from a precious inmate in Texas. He writes: “Dear Sharon, I’m halfway done with your book “Fishers of Men” and I love how you explain everything in a manner a person can understand about God! I would love to read more of your books to help me get closer to Him. Thank you so much for your support and helping others who at times have lost hope. Anything you may have, I’m beyond grateful”! Sammy

Another very important and wonderful piece of news is that the Farsi version of The Conviction is finished! As you may know, many people in Iran are suffering from addiction, hopelessness, anger, despair, and loneliness. We strongly believe that this book will bring many to Jesus, as the Gospel is presented clearly in the last chapter. They are desperate for hope and a sense of belonging, as everyone is, so please pray that this will be an effective tool in God’s hands! (Picture attached).

We are nearly through getting the Farsi version of The Conviction onto the four Iranian websites that already have our other three Farsi books on them. It’s Thrilling!

Here’s another letter from an inmate in Texas. He says “Dear Sharon, I wanted to let you know that your message and your faith are helping those who have no other way to receive it. It strengthens all of us here who are striving for a new start. Thank you for your inspiring words and teaching. Never falter from your mission. Remember that you are spreading the Good News throughout the world”! Blessings, Ramon

More of our Spanish books are going to Nicaragua with a team from our friends’ church in Georgia. Pastor Ken writes “The Nicaraguan government wouldn’t allow these books to be shipped there, because they are a socialist country, so our team will take them in as they travel there. Thank you sister, for the books!” And thank you so much Ken, for putting this together!

We continue to hand out books and outreach brochures wherever we go, because we feel the time is very short (John 9:4). It’s all about Jesus, now and forever, and we must love what our Father loves – the lost souls.
We thank you all profusely for being a part of the ministry that God has allowed us. It would not exist without Ministry Partners like YOU! We cannot believe that Be Transformed Ministries is now 15 years old!! The Lord has led us the entire time, often when we were clueless about our next step 😊
Tomorrow, Michael and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Praise God!
As always, we are eternally grateful for your love, prayers, and support. We pray for you all often.
Blessings and love, Michael and Sharon

06/27/2026

Hello EVERYONE! Its time for an update.
As usual, we have some very exciting news for you! God continues to move in His amazing ways, even while in our infirmities!
First of all, we have now sent 1,000 books to the Ventura County Jail through Chaplain Larry, whom we were privileged to meet last year. He writes “Your books have been such a blessing to our inmates! They are helping the men and women to grow deeper in Christ Jesus. We need more books, every one of them, because they all love these books so much! We thank you for sending them to us”.
We were also privileged to send 100 books to Albania when some of our church members went on a mission’s trip there recently. They were mainly used in a women’s prison there (see picture at the end of the newsletter). This is now the 11th country we’re in! Please pray that they will find Jesus and share the Gospel with others!
We received eleven letters from the precious men at Parchman Prison in Mississippi, telling us about how our books are impacting them. Parchman is one of the most notoriously dangerous prisons in the nation, similar to Angola. It is thrilling to hear about lives being changed in such a dark place!
Here’s a precious letter from a lady at the San Luis Obispo Jail, where we have sent hundreds of books over the years. She writes “I recently became homeless, addicted, and suicidal. After having it all, I lost everything. And especially my connection to God. I went to the ministry office, and they gave me a copy of Be Transformed. I feel like this book saved my life, and is going to transform my future! Thank you, thank you, thank you, and may God bless you always! (Her name is unusual, so I won’t mention it here…)

Here’s an interesting tidbit – Sharon has written over 400 pages of letters to inmates over the years!

We have mentioned the boy’s detention center in Tennessee, where Pastor Dale ministers. He wrote “Thank you again for all the wonderful discipleship training material you have sent us. Your New Beginnings and Be Transformed books are the only ones we use now for our Discipleship and Leadership training classes. One incarcerated teen was packing his personal belongings in preparation to leave last week. His box had both of your study books, along with your testimonial! (Inmates usually don’t take things that aren’t important home with them)…Thank you again for your heart to serve. Many many new believers have grown in faith and foundation by using your discipleship materials”. (See the picture at the end of the newsletter).

Our friend Carlos from Rosarito Beach Calvary Chapel has been using our Spanish books in his hometown in Mexico, but is also taking our books on their mission trips to Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico as well. He says the books are amazing and are truly helping people come to the Lord and be discipled in their faith.

We recently published our SEVENTEENTH book!! It was the Dutch version of The Conviction. And we are about to release our eighteenth book - The Conviction in Farsi. Our books are now in 6 languages – English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Farsi, and Sorani! Who would have ever thought??!! We are praying that the Lord will use the Farsi version of The Conviction mightily, what with the confusion and despair in Iran right now. (Thank you, Laura for working so hard on the translation!)

Here is a letter from an inmate at our local prison in San Luis Obispo: “I’ve spent over half of my life (17 years) in prison. For a long time, I was hopeless. When I picked up your book The Conviction, it gave me hope as I read it. Afterwards, it was like my hope was on steroids! I just wanted to thank you so much and ask if you have other material you can send me, along with a Bible if you can. Thank you for writing this book. It changed my life”! Rigo

Here’s a precious letter from an inmate at the Tulare County Jail. He writes: “I read your story (The Conviction) and loved it. It sounds like you walked in the same shoes as I did. Thank you for opening my eyes and showing me there is hope. If you could please send me another one of your books, I would really appreciate it. God bless”.n Ruben

Our books are also being used by an Iranian pastor and his wife who minister from a neighboring country to believers in Iran. They were made aware of our Farsi books through our precious pastor friend at the Beverly Hills Persian Church. He writes “They (the ministers who are using our books) have been greatly blessed by them and they are a great resource for their teachings”. You Go God!

In closing, we want to thank you ALL so very much for your love, prayers, and support. As we’ve often said, we feel the time is short, and the only thing we can take with us to the feet of Jesus are the precious souls we’ve helped to impact. That is why we do what we do and have such a passion about it. Thank you!

Michael and Sharon

P.S. do note the book in the persons hand on the right in the ad below is the Spanish "The Conviction" book!

04/11/2026

Dear Be Transformed Family,

Well, the stories keep coming – and that’s why we are sending out our quarterly newsletter sooner than we originally intended. It is pretty lengthy, but we hope it will bring you great joy as you read all of the stories, and that you will be as moved and impacted as we have been. Also, that the stories will help you to realize how powerful your prayers, love, and support really are!

We’ll begin with a message from a sweet lady Sharon was able to minister to 20 years ago in the Grover Beach area. You just never know the impact you might have on another life! She writes “Dear Sharon, I am forever grateful for your kindness, gentleness, and love for me when I was at my bottom. My life changed forever! I have learned that our salvation is not just for us to get saved and that’s it. We are to help and share with others, just like you did for me. I have thought about you so much over the years. I can’t thank you enough for that. Also, thank you so much for the engraved Bible you gave me. It’s the one I use in my daily walk with the Lord. I appreciate you so much for giving me a chance, and bringing me to Jesus”. Denise

Here’s a letter from the Chaplain at the Tennessee Youth Detention Center, where we have been sending books for a while now. He writes: “Hello Sharon, We now have room in the new Chapel for bookshelves, and your books will be part of our Faith Library. When I placed your last order of books on the shelf, they were gone immediately! I even saw a guard reading one recently! I am thankful for the ongoing opportunity to share the love of Christ through your discipleship materials. They are bringing our young people to Jesus”! Chaplain Dale

This is from our precious Chaplain friend at the Ventura County Jail. There are two jails that he distributes our books to. We have now sent him over 650 books since last September!! He says “Wow! Your testimony (The Conviction book) is chain-breaking! The inmates absolutely love every single one of your books! They are having group studies using your books. We keep getting kites (written requests) for more.

This is a sweet note from a lady we met at the Cayucos Pier a couple of months ago. We gave her a couple of books and she writes “Your books are now part of a collection of books I have that I cherish. They are truly a blessing”. Sharon has stayed in touch with her since then, and she says she has deepened her relationship with God using our material!

A beautiful gift from the Lord was when Sharon counted up the books we’ve sent individually – directly from our home - one inmate at a time. There were 640 names!! Of course, that doesn’t begin to include the tens of thousands of books we’ve sent through Amazon/KDP to institutions across the U.S. and into other countries! Wow! God has been SO faithful!
would like to receive more books of yours please. Thank you for your testimony”. Richard

This is from an inmate in Illinois who has been in solitary confinement. He writes: “Dear Sharon, The Bible and your New Beginnings book allowed me to give my life to the Lord. Before I read your book, my life was in chaos. I was full of hate, and angry with everyone. I used a lot of drugs outside and inside (prison). I had given 100% to my gang. I was surrounded by a lot of people, but what was crazy is, I felt empty. Anyway, I was put in solitary confinement in November 2025. I never thought that God would use this situation to get my attention. I felt lonely and empty and hopeless because of everything I was going through. As I was alone, I listened to something - a voice that I think it was God - that told me “How long before I'm going to have your attention?”

The days went by and the prison pastor brought me a Bible and your book Fishers of Men. It was then that I gave up and said “OK, you have my attention”. I gave my life to Jesus. It was the best thing I ever did. I started reading your book and the Bible, and I felt an immense peace. And a love I can't explain. Now I trust my Lord, and I know that He never abandoned me. I am learning to forgive those who hurt me all my life. I am asking God to help me grow my love for others. I don't use drugs anymore. Thank God, even though I am surrounded by drugs where I am, I ask the Lord for strength not to return to that path of destruction. Now that I know Jesus, I do not want to turn away from Him, because before I did, everything was chaos.

Thank you for teaching me how to follow Christ and how to use my gifts that the Holy Spirit gave me. God bless you and take care of you and your husband. Oh, and something you told me in your first letter that I will always remember was that ‘I am in a place of repentance and change’ ”. Jose

The pastor of a men’s home in Rosarito Beach, located right near the City Dump wrote: “I give thanks to God for the lives of my brothers who finished the Nuevos Comienzos (New Beginnings) book. Not only did they finish it, but they also applied it to their lives. I am grateful to God to be able to see the change in their lives and how they now serve others. They have been transformed by the Word of God through your book! Now they will share the same book with other new believers. Thank you and God bless you. Pastor Eddie Mijares

As you may remember, we have our Farsi (Persian) books on FOUR different websites, being beamed into Iran and the Middle East on the SAT 7 satellite. The situation in Iran is heartbreaking, but God is using this time to bring thousands of people to Himself. He is also using our books in such a powerful way! One of the Persian websites is Heart4Iran. In the last 6 months, we have had 69 downloads of our books. Even more exciting is the views of my testimony, which was viewed 13,276 times!
Jennifer at Heart4Iran writes: “Your partnership with Mohabat TV is bearing fruit. Through your books and testimonies, lives are being touched across borders, hope is being restored, and the Gospel is continuing to shine into places where access is often difficult.

Thank you, Sharon, for your faithfulness, your heart for ministry, and your continued partnership. We are honored to serve alongside you and look forward with anticipation to the continued impact of your message in the months ahead”. Blessings, Jennifer

Additionally, we have prayed for just the right person to translate "The Conviction" into Farsi. God chose Mehri to do this precious job. We should have the book out soon, which will be added to the Persian websites. We believe that God will use it mightily in Iran, since there is much addiction, suffering, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts amongst the Iranian people. (Do pray for the Persian people to come to KNOW Jesus🙏).

The Conviction is now complete in Dutch, and will be released in the next couple of months.

God is continuing to use all our books to bring many people to Jesus! Our newsletter is lengthy this time, but there are even more stories of souls being saved through these books! We are totally in AWE!!

Below and on the next page are the pictures of 1) The men at the Rosarito Beach, Mexico Rehab using our Nuevos Comienzos (New Beginnings) books
2) The cases of New Beginnings books being taken to the Juvenile Detention Facility in Tennessee. And 3) The women in Sinaloa, Mexico, using our Pescadores de Hombres (Fishers of Men) books.

We simply cannot express how important you ALL ARE to this ministry that God is using so vitally! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love, prayers, and support.

Blessings and love,

Michael and Sharon

P.S. Faceb00k seems to be limiting the outreach of all of our update posts🥺. Could you please give us a thumbs 👍 up on this post - so we can see it IS getting sent out? Thank you - AGAIN!

02/14/2026

To our precious Be Transformed Family! Here is our latest update with MORE exciting news to share! We are flabbergasted at the work that God continues to do through this ministry!

Here is a letter from a Spanish-speaking inmate from Kansas: “I am alone, and I have no family to talk to. But every time I feel sad, I read your words from your books, and it inspires me to keep going. Thank you so much for your gift of the New Beginnings book. It is changing my life! I pray that if I don’t meet you in this life, that we will meet in heaven with our Lord”. Marcos

This is another letter from an inmate in Pennsylvania. “Hello Sharon, I recently received a book called The Conviction. What a season for me to get this book! This book of yours has really opened my eyes and has touched and moved me. I’m now reading my Bible and praying every day. I’m also repeating the (sinners) prayer at the end of your book daily. Thank you for your story – you’ve become a big inspiration to me. Your book has become my new journey. I’ll be keeping this book for the rest of my life, and I’ll share it with my kids when I get out. Thank you again, and Godspeed”. Brian

Another 21 year old Spanish-speaking inmate from Illinois writes “Dear Sharon, I have been away from God, but I am tired of always being on the losing team and I have accepted Christ Jesus as my savior as a result of your book. I am learning little by little to know what it is to be a Christian. I have no one to tell me about him in these moments. But I have a beautiful Bible and your book. I would be grateful if you would send me another one of your books to help me grow in my faith and know more deeply about the promises of God. Thank you for your time and God bless you”. Jose

Following is an awesome email we received from our Kurdish translator in Iraq. If you remember, he contacted us about a year ago after he saw our books on an Iranian website, and wanted to translate our New Beginnings book. He said “My people need this book”. He had 1,000 Sorani books printed in Iran and shipped to Iraq! This email is long, but worth the read!
He writes “Dearest Sharon, In one of my earlier messages, I had shared with you how slowly and with great difficulty things seemed to be moving forward (with the printing and distributing the Sorani books). You kindly responded, saying ‘not to worry, because everything will happen in God’s perfect timing’.
From that day on, I took your words deeply to heart and made them a part of my life. I stopped complaining, and truly — it has been exactly as you said.
“God’s timing is always perfect. Right now, the situation in Iran is heartbreaking and tragic beyond words. All communication lines have been severely disrupted. Because of this, we honestly never expected the books to reach us. Yet, to my complete amazement and joy, I received a call informing me that the books have arrived (in Iraq from Iran) - and they were the very last shipment that managed to cross the border!
All praise and thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy of entrusting all our affairs to.
I have now collected the books. I contacted the Biblica representative, and they will come to pick up a portion of them for distribution through their own channels. The remaining books I will personally place in the hands of churches.
“I am so deeply grateful to you for always standing with me and supporting me through everything.
I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ would pour ever-increasing blessings upon you, so that through you many lost souls may find their way home to Him. With much love and appreciation in Christ”. Hamid
Another inmate writes: “Dear Sharon, I just wanted to thank you for writing me back, and for sending your New Beginnings book. Since I read your Conviction book, I haven’t been able to put my Bible down! You have also encouraged me to write my own story, and I’d like to put your name in the beginning of my book as my inspiration. I will be praying for you and Michael”. Brian

This is an awesome letter from the Rio Grande ICE Detention Center in Texas where we recently sent 160 books:
Chaplain Jimenez writes: “Dear Sharon I am writing to you to share the profound impact your work is having on our population. I personally found your testimony in La Condena (The Conviction) to be deeply moving. Furthermore, it is a joy to witness how the Word of God is taking root through the study of Nuevos Comienzos (New Beginnings).
“We are already seeing effective progress and genuine change in the residents who are engaging with Sea Transformado (Be Transformed). These titles are now circulating within our facility, which houses between 2,000 and 2,300 residents. Your contribution is providing vital spiritual tools for their rehabilitation and growth. We are so grateful for the books you have sent. Thank you”!

Additionally, since our last newsletter in December, we have sent out 1,185 books!

We are SO thankful to all of you for your continued support, love and prayers. We truly would not be able to do this without YOU! You have a partnership - in ALL of what God is doing in and through Be Transformed Ministries!
Blessings
Michael and Sharon Dutra

12/11/2025

Dear Be Transformed Ministries family,
We are so EXCITED that God continues to use this ministry to accomplish His purposes!
God -->through Be Transformed Ministries, has been changing LIVES for 14 years now! We are amazed that God would use us to further His plans in this world. We are also very humbled by it, and by you all, for supporting this ministry.
Here are a couple of amazing stories that you’ll appreciate.
To begin, here is a great letter from an inmate in Arkansas. It’s long, but oh so worth the read!
Matt said, “Mrs. Dutra, I would like to thank you for your books, Be Transformed, New Beginnings, and Fishers of Men. I am in prison for an accident I was in where another man died. I have had trouble forgiving myself. Reading your books brought to my attention that guilt is as bad as any other sin.
18 years later, I found myself reading your book. I had a long, tearful prayer with God, laying it all at His feet. Since then, I’ve had that peace that surpasses all understanding. I can never thank you enough for bringing that to my realization. I recommend your books to a lot of fellow inmates. These books truly changed my life!
I am now awaiting a prison sentence. But with the freedom you helped me discover, I truly believe this is my last time in prison. I now have 2 cellmates, and together, we use your books every day for Bible studies. It’s amazing. All three of us are happier – in jail – than we have been in years. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
I thank you for your courage. Your efforts are very fruitful. Our jail library has quite a few of your books, and I grab them to pass along to the other guys. I deeply appreciate you and your ministry. Once again, thank you so much”! Matt
Another awesome story is that Sharon has been in contact with a South Carolina Chaplain for about 6 months. As she was on the phone with him today, one of his inmate-leaders was in the office and Chaplain allowed her to talk to him. Inmate Willie was about to go into a Bible study with the men – and guess which book they were using? Be Transformed!! He said he and the other guys LOVE the book. They are growing (there are a lot of young men), and that this book is helping them to prepare for life on the outside. Wow! Willie was so EXCITED to talk with the Author, and we’re sure he shared his excitement with the group that is using her book!
God is opening more doors for us again in the prison system. Things slowed down in the facilities during Covid, and some institutions are just now allowing religious services to be conducted again. We have never stopped sending out books, but Chaplains seem more agreeable to receiving material, and inmates are having even more of a revival!
We continue to have great success personally offering our New Beginnings books to store clerks, restaurant staff, and many other people whom God leads us to! We simply carry the books with us in a bag everywhere we go, and pull one out, so they can see its cover. Then Michael asks “would you like a free book my wife wrote? It’s used all across America, in 6 languages, and in 10 Countries”. About 90% of the time, they say, “Well sure- Thank you” and Boom, they have the full Gospel in their hands for the Holy Spirit to use - to draw them into a salvation relationship with Jesus Christ!
We always try to get their names, so we can pray for them afterwards also. It’s so easy, and so fun to do this, and you can too! Just tell them it’s a book a dear friend wrote instead of “my wife”. Let us know if you’re interested, and we can send you free books to use as outreach tools!
Our final book count for the year, as of December 9, 2025, is 3,107 which adds to our now 68,107 TOTAL book count sent out to prisons, jails, rehabs, and impoverished countries and individuals!! We have more going out even now, and we are so excited that so many people are being reached with the Gospel! Don’t forget that these books will be used numerous times in prisons as they are shared with others, left behind, and transferred out.
On the International front – our translator friend and brother in Christ, Hamid in Iraq, went into Iran to get our Kurdish Sorani New Beginnings books printed. The good news is that he did get the books printed! The bad news is - he WAS detained (and released) at the border but not allowed to leave Iran for nearly 2 months! We lost all contact with him during this time as he did NOT want to risk communicating with us Americans. We were fervent in prayer for his safety, for his family, and for his safe return home during that time. As soon as he returned to Iraq, he saw all of our emails to him, and he said he felt our prayers for him. He says the books are safely stored, and he is just waiting on the Lord for the timing to get the Sorani New Beginnings books out of Iran into Iraqi Kurdistan - safely! Please do pray for Hamid and the Kurdish people.
And John, our dear friend in Holland, just finished Sharon’s autobiography in Dutch! That is his third translation of our books! Remember, he said “he finally found his calling at 75 years old” when he contacted us through the Hour of Power show he watched and began translating our books!
As we continually say, we simply could not reach all of these people - without your amazing help!
Lastly, we only mention finances once a year. We know there are plenty of ministries out there who are vying for your support. It can feel overwhelming – it often does with us, too.
But we know all of you personally, and would so appreciate any gifts you can send. And to all of you who have generously and faithfully blessed our ministry over the years, we thank you profusely in helping us share the Gospel to as many as we possibly can!
If you would like to give a year-end, tax-deductible donation, simply go online to Ripe for Harvest 501c3, at ripeforharvest.org . Click on the blue “Donate” button in the upper right hand corner, select which way you choose to donate, and follow the prompts. Please choose “Dutra Sharon & Mike -20081” in the drop down box, or write the number 20081 on the check memo line, to insure the funds go to us.
Bless you all, and we pray you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, Michael & Sharon

(The photo is of our CHRISTmas decorations)

10/18/2025

Hello dear Be Transformed Ministries family!
We pray you are all well and involved in spreading God’s wonderful Gospel! As usual, we have some very exciting news to share with you all!
Did you know that there is a great revival happening among the young people (especially males) in our country right now? The “Gen Z” generation comprises 13-28 year olds. It seems many of them are tired of the way things are, and are looking for genuine relationships, which now include seeking Jesus.
This is important, because they are “ripe fruit” for the Gospel, and we want to be part of what God is doing through our books, brochures, and media presence.
That being said, we’ll start our update with a letter from a chaplain in Tennessee who ministers at a juvenile detention facility. He is using our New Beginnings books for discipleship and says: “Over the past several weeks, God has allowed us the opportunity to build relationships with several young men at our facility. With each visit, a few more seeds of thought were planted in the minds of these unbelievers.
Last Sunday, six of these boys came to church service and four of them invited Jesus Christ into their hearts! The smiles of joy on the faces of these new believers caught my attention. You don't see many young boys smile in a juvenile facility...but these four new believers could not stop smiling... Thank you all for your prayers and your books. Please pray for these new believers... sometimes new converts are persecuted for their faith. Thank you”. What a privilege to be part of this ministry!
We have a pastor friend who moved to Georgia, and went on a mission’s trip to Nicaragua. He took some of our New Beginnings (Nuevos Comienzos) books with him, and we received a good report that they were well-received and they would probably want more books!
Another great story is that we contacted a ministry couple in Southern California who belong to our 501C3. They minister to a few prisons in the High Desert. They are sending us names of inmates around the country and we’re sending books out to more inmates through this avenue!
We have been in touch with Chaplain Ken in Louisiana for a year and a half now. He is precious, and loves his flock there, which is so refreshing. They have been using our books steadily in their training courses. He also gave Sharon the contact information to another Chaplain in Louisiana so we can get our books into the women’s prison. Chaplain Ken also invited us to speak at their prison, so now we have invites to THREE prisons in Louisiana! We’re praying about the possibility, since our health is still not back to normal.
We have been so blessed with the Chaplains that God has put in our midst! Another Chaplain from South Carolina writes “Your Bible Studies have been a blessing. They are being used with our Discipleship Ministry. The guys use the material at least three times a week”. This is especially precious to us, because Chaplain Ken ministers at a prison known for violence. Many prisoners are getting saved though, and are praying for churches and pastors on the outside! They say that “the two groups of people who have some of the greatest influence on prisoners are the Muslims and the gangs. Christians need to come alongside these inmates in a powerful way” to help point them to Jesus.
One of the men Michael connected with on Facebook lives in Lake Elsinore, where Michael lived as a boy. Marcos has been using our books to minister to the local men’s shelter, and “is so excited to have solid material in order to train these men”.
So exciting is the publishing of our Kurdish New Beginnings book! You can look it up on Amazon just to see it in print. Simply type in a search for “Sharon Dutra” and scroll down. What’s even more amazing is that we have a friend we met at Mount Hermon when we spoke there about 6 years ago. Linda ministers in Southeast Asia, but she comes home to the Bay Area periodically. She has been in touch with a Kurdish Muslim woman who lives in the Middle East, and Sharon is now in touch with her and will carefully share our Kurdish Sorani language book with her! Please pray for their conversation, as there is a great awakening in that region. Also please pray for Hamid Hakim in Iraq who translated our New Beginnings book into Sorani. He was going to print 1000 books in neighboring Iran, "as it was so much less expensive", and we have not heard from him since.
Below are some pictures. The first one is Sharon with another lady after a speaking event in Delano. We call it “Joy”! The second picture is of a man we gave a Nuevos Comienzos book to at a restaurant. (We give away LOTS of New Beginnings books in restaurants!) And the third picture is of a man who is using our New Beginnings book in a Center in Ventura. This is how effective it is to share these books with others!
Please continue to pray for us, and those we serve with the Gospel. We appreciate every effort, and as we always say “We could not do this ministry without you”!
Blessings, Sharon and Michael

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