Nixon's Hatchet Man
Chuck Colson was the most feared man in Washington—Nixon's "hatchet man," willing to do anything for political power. Then Watergate happened, and Colson found himself facing prison.
God, Take Me
But before he was sentenced, something more transformative occurred. A friend gave him a copy of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity." Reading it alone in his car, Colson wept.
"That night I called out to God," Colson wrote. "I didn't know how to pray, so I just said, 'God, take me.'"
He entered prison as a new Christian. What he found there changed his life's direction forever.
Finding His Calling
"I saw men rotting in cells, their lives wasted, their families destroyed," Colson recalled. "And I saw that the gospel was the only thing that could transform them."
After serving seven months, Colson could have returned to his lucrative law practice. Instead, he founded Prison Fellowship, which became the world's largest prison ministry.
Over the next 35 years, Prison Fellowship reached millions of inmates in 120 countries. Colson visited prisons personally until his death in 2012.
"I thank God for Watergate," Colson often said. "I thought I was going to prison for politics. But God sent me there to find my calling."
