Prison Mission Partners

By his own account, Lawton Searcy grew up in a comfortable Christian home, became a pastor, and served in thriving churches across Florida, Alabama, West Virginia, and Louisiana.

In 2001, a family tragedy set him on an unexpected path—one that ultimately led him to the Elyan Hunt Correctional Center near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he now serves as a corrections program manager, leading innovative work.

Rev Reggie Watts has long been a natural leader with a desire for meaningful experience. During his time at Texas Southern University, that drive led him down a difficult path, resulting in legal troubles and ultimately a life sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

While at Angola, he experienced a life-changing call to follow Jesus Christ. Recognized
for his leadership, he was chosen to serve as pastor of Camp C and went on to earn a four-year degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

In September 2020, Reverend Watts was granted parole in a remarkable and uncontested decision. Just hours after his release, he received a call from Burl Cain, then Commissioner of Prisons for the State of Mississippi, inviting him to help bring cultural and spiritual renewal within the prison system.

Today, his vision is clear: that Parchman would become “a prison of prayer,” impacting staff, inmates, and all who enter with a message of hope and transformation.

Chaplain Eric Peng serves at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago, the largest juvenile facility in the nation, where he has ministered for the past six years. He is sent by the missional organization Good News Global and brings over a decade of pastoral ministry experience, along with six years of bi-vocational work in nonprofit organizations, including Feed My Starving Children and By The Hand Club.

He holds a Master of Divinity from Moody Theological Seminary and studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago, preparation that has shaped his calling to chaplaincy.