Jason Futch
Reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
Lanette Escobar found herself in a predicament in 2002, as a knock at her door resulted in her being greeted by U.S. Marshals. Though she had once helped others through financial stewardship, Escobar was suddenly charged with federal offenses related to wire fraud as a result of a previous employer’s actions. Although she maintained her innocence, she was found guilty.
While serving three-and-a-half years at Federal Correctional Complex Coleman, Escobar said God opened up a journey for her by ministering to those incarcerated who feel lost and forgotten. “People don’t see them as human beings many times,” she said. While incarcerated at Coleman, she found herself administering the word of God to fellow inmates and becoming heavily involved in ministry. “God kept teaching me more and more that our ways are not his ways,” Escobar said. “He said, ‘Just trust me.’”
Following her release from prison, she pursued prison ministry, starting in 2007. By 2013, she and her husband, Narciso “Cisco,” whom she married in 2010, worked toward a sound foundation for ministering to those behind the prison walls, which led to the birth of God’s Trials Ministry. The ministry is non-denominational and is open to individuals of all faiths and beliefs. “I don’t care if you are Muslim, Jewish or have no faith at all, we love them and listen to them and show them there is a savior that, no matter what they’ve done, can deliver them, forgive them and provide salvation,” Escobar said.
Until his death on April 29, 2025, Cisco was able to help his wife administer to the Hispanic and Spanish-speaking inmates. With 14 years of experience in prison ministry, his assistance was beneficial for the work the Escobars did in reaching out beyond the language barriers. “When he started at Suwannee Correctional Institution, he ministered to one Hispanic person once every week for five years,” Escobar said. “And now it has grown to about 30. It’s an honor to be able to include them and be saved.”
Escobar said it was essential to maintain the bilingual aspect of the service after her husband’s death. With the help of other inmates, she has been able to continue her work and support outreach to Hispanic inmates. “A lot of them do not speak English and they struggle with just trying to get through life inside of prison,” Escobar said. “Then [they are not] able to understand this loving God who loves them and has not forgotten about them.”
God’s Trials Ministry also stresses the importance of holidays while ministering to the inmates. During their holiday services, the team distributes hot meals to their parishioners, which include Publix fried chicken and potato salad, sweet tea and at two prisons, her homemade sweet potato pie. Beyond the holidays, they also provide pizza parties, in which Escobar recounted a moment when one of the inmates, who was in a wheelchair, cried over his slice of pizza. “I walked over to him and asked if he was okay,” she said. “He said, ‘No, everything’s beautiful. I haven’t had a slice of pizza in 45 years and it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.’” Escobar said he accepted Jesus the same day and passed away four months later, saved.
Today, God’s Trials Ministry has a small team of volunteers who help administer to inmates throughout North Florida, including Randy Jordan, who moved to Live Oak with his wife in 2007 from Fort Lauderdale. “We were attending Melody Christian Center when we met Lanette, and she came to me one day and asked if I would be interested in coming to prison with her,” he said. Initially not excited about the idea, he was eventually persuaded and fell in love with the ministry. “I’ve been doing it ever since.”
God’s Trials Ministry has been to Tennessee, Texas and Georgia and over 50 prisons within Florida, sharing testimony and hope to the inmates who reside within the walls of their respective prisons. Escobar said they see over 100 inmates at each service, and have ministered to, at most, 400 people, which was at a gym at Mayo Correctional Institution. Escobar also hosts a potluck and teaching at her home in Jasper every third Friday, allowing locals to partake in the teachings she and the other volunteers provide at the prisons. It is also open to inmates who are released and wish to continue participating in God’s Trials Ministry.
To learn more about Escobar’s story and ministry, visit www.GodsTrials.com.