Alistair Begg (TruthForLife.org) was invited to speak at a local Cleveland prison through True Freedom Ministries

The man at the front of the room in the prison here is talking about the institution's culinary and hospitality training that will help some of his fellow inmates "give back to the community." He will never get back to any community; he is serving a "double life" sentence.

On August 5, 2015, God answered a tremendous prayer and fulfilled a vision Mike Swiger, Executive Director of True Freedom Ministries, had cast ten years earlier — to install a state-of-the-art computer lab inside an Ohio prison in order to offer the men Microsoft Office Certification.

True Freedom Prison Ministry follows the model Jesus Christ laid out for the disciples in the books of Acts to spread the Gospel in ever-growing concentric circles from their hub in Jerusalem, we seek to reach those first in Cleveland, then to Northeast Ohio, and then to the uttermost parts of the state of Ohio.

Every Thursday evening True Freedom Ministries hosts an addiction recovery program in the heart of the inner-city, called Reformers Unanimous (R.U.). 

Many in today’s world think only about themselves; we live in the “me” generation. God’s Word calls us to a different standard. We are to be Christ’s hands and feet to a dying and broken world. One of the ways we do this is with our Homeless Ministry.

True Freedom’s Gary Koly and Michael Swiger were featured speakers at the Nation’s largest Correctional Summit held at the Billy Graham Institute at Wheaton College in late May.

The Alpha Course invited True Freedom Ministries to partner with them in bringing solid biblical teaching to Northeast Ohio to their Women's Prison Ministry.

A note from Michael Swiger, In light of the flurry of activity the video link I recently posted touched off, I thought a few words of background would help set the video in its proper context. Many people who were unable to attend that morning I spoke requested that a video be made available.

For three decades Gary Koly has been faithfully preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to the inmates at the Cleveland Justice Center, one of the largest county jails in the United States.

Gary Koly and Mike Swiger have over 35 years of full-time ministry experience.  After much prayer and consultation with their Board of Directors, in 2012 they launched True Freedom Ministries.

In August 2013 True Freedom partnered with Youth for Christ Director of Juvenile Justice, Pegi Powe, to launch a quarterly teaching series in the Northeast Pre-Release Center in Cleveland.

True Freedom Ministries has partnered with the Alpha Course, an International Ministry dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.  The Alpha Course is an introduction to Christianity’s basic theological tenets, presented by Nicky Gumble, a pastor, and world-renown speaker and presenter.

The Juvenile Criminal Justice System mirrors that of the adult system: there is a detention facility where minors are held waiting to go to court for their alleged offenses (the equivalent to the county jail) and the Juvenile Prison where offenders who are found guilty are sent to serve their time.

Two Ohio University alumni and close friends—Marc Houk and Mike Swiger—talked about their careers in the criminal justice system to students in Dr. Nicole Kaufman’s Criminology and Criminal Justice classes in April.

Since launching back in 2012, True Freedom has had an active presence at the Juvenile Justice Center in downtown Cleveland.  Initially a half dozen volunteers visited weekly.

About 110 women enjoyed an inspirational afternoon at the first True Freedom Ministries Hunger Hurts benefit. The event was held March 8 at Lockkeepers restaurant in Valley View. During lunch, guests heard a presentation by Sandy Pocisk, who spoke about her journey from homelessness to helping others.

Setting Captives Free is a non-denominational ministry which teaches the biblical principles of freedom in Jesus Christ. Founder and President, Mike Cleveland, was captive to habitual sins for many years. He finally began to seek help and learned the biblical solution to his sin problem: repentance, forgiveness, and the newness of life that comes through the gospel.

The Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, visited the offices of True Freedom Ministries.  The governor chose to perform the bill signing ceremony here because it is “the headquarters of True Freedom Ministries”.

Through the grace of God, True Freedom experienced exponential growth in 2014, touching over 40,000 lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ!