The first time Troy Fuller got caught he served 42 months on a robbery charge. During that time he learned the books of the Bible but he didn’t read the Bible.
After he got out the lure of alcohol and drugs attracted him back into old habits and he found himself behind bars again. At the Oxford Federal Prison he started attending chapel services but he still didn’t read the Bible.
Then one day he heard a fellow inmate quoting the Bible, and the scriptures got his attention.
"I wondered how he did that and it was like a voice telling me, ‘he reads,’" Troy recalled. "That inspired me to start reading the Word and I started to enjoy it. I knew then that God was using this incarceration to teach me about Him."
After his release, living in Madison, Troy found it was easy to get distracted and lose his Bible reading time. And get attracted back to old habits. This time, when he got caught, he didn’t have to go back to prison. Instead he spent six weeks at Teen Challenge, a ministry in Milwaukee.
To complete the diversion program he had to return to Madison. As he was leaving a Teen Challenge staff member gave him a card and said, "when you get back to Madison I want you to contact this guy." He knows now that that card is what has kept him out of prison and employed at a job longer than any other job he’s ever held.
The card read "Lou King, Man to Man Ministries." Troy didn’t know Lou King but he called him up and they got together. They’ve been getting together on a semi-regular basis ever since.
"Lou was someone who not only inspired me but held me accountable," Troy said. "I had someone who would see me, and who I could spend time with, and who would know if I was straying off. I began to see the hand of God at work in my life, saying ‘I’m not letting you go.’"
Lou King came to Madison to take a sales job about 27 years ago. He didn’t have a theology degree but since his job kept him on the road a lot he decided to spend his spare time in his motel rooms reading the Bible. One day he read the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:36, "I was in prison and you visited me."
"Up to that time my attitude about those in prison was ‘lock ’em up and throw away the key,’" he said. "I realized I had the wrong attitude entirely about those men in prison. It was because of that phrase in that verse that it all started."
Lou got involved with the prison ministry of Bill Glass, a former NFL lineman who became an evangelist. There he met more volunteers and began spending a lot of time behind bars, visiting with inmates, telling them about Jesus and how He could transform their lives. For ten of those years he visited the Oxford Prison on a monthly basis, but that was before Troy was incarcerated there.
In 1994 Lou and former Madison businessman Roger Kubly established a Christian community that they called Safe Harbor to help men make the transition from prison back to life on the outside. "Roger and I recognized that the biggest struggle is when they’re released from prison," he said. The ministry doesn’t have a lot of resources but over the past 15 years they’ve been able to help about 40 men through Safe Harbor, usually after referrals by prison chaplains.
"The men sign a covenant that they agree to meet with us every month, or every two months," he said. "They could call us at two or three in the morning. As long as they didn’t abuse the privilege we’d go meet with them, even in a bar or whatever." For a few, like Troy, the relationship has lasted for a number of years.
"I like to think of myself as a mentor in training," Troy said. As part of his training he’s taken charge of Safe Harbor’s sole outreach ministry, directing parking in the 40-space parking ramp at Safe Harbor’s offices on Monroe Street for fall home football games. The money raised, about $5,000 per season, goes to Safe Harbor and Teen Challenge.
Troy credits his relationship with Lou and his faith in God for giving him the success in life that he’s now enjoying. "To God be the glory," he said. "I know it’s not me. If you’ve ever laid on a concrete slab, you know how good your old mattress feels. I know I’ve been in the dark but now I have food, I have clothing, I have a job in this economy."
Before he met Lou the longest Troy had ever held a job was seven months. He’s had his current job, as restaurant host, for over two and a half years. Sometimes he imagines what his life would be like if he hadn’t taken that card that day at Teen Challenge.
"It was just one card, one guy. And he gave it to me. Nothing really stuck to me until I met Lou. I’m very thankful."