Testimony
September, 2025

FAITH COMES BY HEARING . . .

I was born September 15, 1976. I’ve been incarcerated since August 5, 1995, coming inside a world which seemed as being condemned.

Last year, in 2024, around Halloween, I was informed that I had stage four cancer in my colon. The doctor asked that I be placed in Hospice Care and called my family to update them on my situation. I refused to allow a diagnosis from man to become my fate and requested of a higher power His opinion. The treatment of radiation caused a lot of weak days and the “Bubble Guts”.

I was being looked upon by peers and Health Care as a person with one foot in the grave and the other out. I lost weight and signs of peeling skin around my head started developing. I was diagnosed with a rare type of disease called Sarcoidosis and told there was no treatment for it, just have to allow it to take its course.

Prayer, faith, and belief that whomever I placed in the driver’s seat of my life condition would determine my outcome. On and around May 2025, I was confirmed to have a clean bill of health, no evidence or proof of that invisible killer.  With God all things are possible.

LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP MY UN-BELIEF . . . 

I’ve been incarcerated since 1980. During this time, I’ve attended many religious groups. I was searching for something I could not find. I grew up in a church of God.  The only sermon I recalled my Papa preaching was a sermon about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Bible, from the book of Daniel 3: 16-28. He preached it frequently and with great passion.

Inside prison, I’ve studied various religions in my quest for the something I was seeking. My introduction to Christian Science was a result of this lengthy search. One day I was passing the Protestant Chapel at the prison where I am being held, in California, and I saw a few people sitting in a circle around the pulpit. I went into the Chapel and sat way in the back listening to them share.

It was a Christian Science service. The following week I returned and noticed some materials laid out on the table. I saw a book entitled ‘The Autobiography of Mary Baker Eddy.” I was interested, and the Christian Science Chaplain gave me permission to borrow the book. I read it with more than a little skepticism. It was crazy, all the claims the author made. I saw her as a con-artist. However, I continued reading. The accounts of healings were not to be believed. The method of the healings was laughable, Yet, I kept attending and even had myself placed on their weekly ducat attendance list. Even though I did not believe the healing stories, it was the messages about “being made in the image of God” that intrigued me.

With my regular weekly attendance to prison church service, I began to see and sense the truth of these teachings in a different way. I began to practice and envision myself in that image. I began telling myself the pain that I felt in my neck and back was not real, but only a suggestion. There was a time I even felt that it was working, at least temporarily.

I became a member and I was certain that these volunteer Christian Science Chaplains that brought this word of Truth each week, believed what they were teaching.

One day, my adult daughter and only child, informed me she would be in Las Vegas, NV, and then in Oakland, CA, and near enough to where I am. She wanted to visit me. A date was set, and it was all I could think about.

She was living and working on the East coast. Years could go by without us seeing one another. Out of nowhere, a week prior to the visit, I began to have pain in my foot. Each hour the pain worsened, accompanied by swelling and redness. I could no longer put weight on it. I saw the doctor twice, and was treated with ointments and medication, with no relief.

The day before my daughter was to visit, I was sitting in the prison library with my legs up on a chair, trying to relieve the swelling. The phone rang, and I saw the Correctional Officer answer the call, and look directly at me. He hung the phone up and informed me that I had a visitor, “No! I don’t have a visit today, she is not coming until tomorrow,” I exclaimed. He repeated, “You have a visitor, and she’s been out there a while. They have been looking for you.” I wheeled myself back to the unit; got cleaned up, placing no weight on my foot.

Thirty minutes later, I left the unit, leg raised on the wheelchair. Then, without thinking about it, I stood up about twenty feet from the gate, and began walking behind the wheelchair, using it like a walker. I entered the area beyond the gate, was searched and allowed inside to a visitor area in an open patio area. I was informed my visitor was waiting for me there. As I passed the large window, I could see her sitting there looking as if she had been crying, I went through the door, approached the top of the stairs and parked the wheelchair. I actually ran down the six or seven steps to her table. She told me that she had been there for over an hour, and she thought I was not coming, or that I had refused the visit.

I took her in my arms and explained I had just been told she was there. I touched her face, and told her I loved her. It was very hot outside, and I suggested we go inside. I walked back up the stairs and retrieved the wheelchair from where I had parked it. We spent two hours together, talking and walking back and forth to the vending machine, and walking around the area to take pictures. It turned into a great visit. We laughed and talked about everything. Even though we are not supposed to touch, I kept my hands on her, playing with her ears, touching her dreadlocks and rubbing her hands.

It wasn’t until I was back in my cell that I felt pain; I hadn’t felt any pain while I was with her. I had no pain from the time I approached the gate leading to the visitor room. As I realized this, pain started to return, not as strong, but it was there. I remembered a passage from the prior printed Bible Lesson copy that really spoke to me. The Lesson had been on Spirit and on page 316:7 of the book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy who founded Christian Science, I re-read…” to prove the power of Spirit over the flesh, – to show that Truth is made manifest by its effects upon the human mind and body, healing sickness…” and followed by another passage on page 416: 24-27, 30….” Turn their thoughts away from their bodies to higher objects. Teach them that their being is sustained by Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.” Within two days, all the pain was gone.

I finally found what I had been searching for. It was the foundational teachings of the Christian Science Church, which is “Love.”  My love for my daughter was too much for the material pain I felt. The light was on. I had experienced a healing because I loved.

If you have a subscription to JSH-Online.com, you can access all of these articles. Otherwise, we’ve shared 5 out below.

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The Julian Alco Story

“When speaking of God’s children, not the children of men, Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you;”
~ Mary Baker Eddy

~ excerpts from Andrea McCormick’s article written for the CSICNY Newsletter

From Mrs. Eddy’s time forward, institutional work spread across the United States throughout the century. A young, class-taught Christian Scientist from San Francisco was a particularly outstanding example of the dedication and success of the early days of this work. Julian Alco believed there was good in everyone, that there was no such thing as a hardened criminal – that criminality was a learned behavior and not man’s true nature. He was the perfect candidate to serve in the prisons.

In 1916, Julian was asked by his church in San Francisco to serve in San Quentin Prison. When he accepted this opportunity, he had no idea where it would lead, nor the enormous impact it would have on his life, and the lives of thousands of others. There was no Golden Gate Bridge back in the early 1900s, so, Julian took a ferry from San Francisco, and then a train ride, and then walked over a mile to get to the prison. I know, in New York City, people devote hours to get to and from the prisons, so they can relate to his sacrifice and devotion.

On his first day at the prison, the Warden told Julian they had all the Chaplains that were needed and he would not allow Julian to conduct services nor meet with any prisoners. In spite of this, Julian continued to make the trip to the east gate of San Quentin every Saturday. He would sit on a bench outside the prison and prayerfully work for the prisoners, and speak to their family members who were also waiting.

Julian persevered every Saturday for a year and a half, until admitted… thinking how can I help prisoners get out of prison, if I can’t pray my way in?” And then one day, a convict who had indicated his religious preference to be Christian Science, and who was awaiting execution, asked that his last spiritual counsel be from a Christian Scientist if at all possible. That simple request changed the course of history.

The Captain of the Guard and the Warden both remembered the crazy person who called himself a Christian Scientist who sat on the outside of the prison every Saturday, while all the other chaplains were admitted. They decided that having Julian confined with the condemned man the night before his execution, and walking him to the gallows the next day, would surely result in this religious worker never bothering them again. So they said yes, and allowed Julian to spend the night with him.

The quality of the time spent with the convict, his calm state of mind, lack of emotionalism, and final walk up the steps to the gallows the next day so impressed the Warden and Captain of the Guard that they told the Christian Science worker that he could come inside the prison from that moment on and do the job he had so patiently been waiting to do. What they didn’t know was that they had admitted not just a man into their prison system, but also the transformative power of the Christ. San Quentin was over-crowded at that time and was the largest prison in the country with 6,000 prisoners.

Julian served faithfully as a Chaplain at San Quentin every Saturday for the next five years. Although he resigned to become a Journal-listed practitioner, he wasn’t finished with his life’s work devoted to aiding the prisoners. He crafted an ingenious Assembly Bill, which was passed in 1923 by the CA State Legislature, resulting in major changes to the Prison Road Camps in CA. It was named after him and called the Alco Plan.

This plan motivated inmates to qualify to do service outside the prison walls and to earn money for a savings account available to them after release. A good-time allowance was built into the program whereby each worker’s sentence was reduced by one day for every two days worked. Julian called this service an “Honor Camp”. He knew their innate character to be honorable, and this program gave them the opportunity to prove it. Prisoners clamored for admittance into the program.

In 1937, The Christian Science Monitor wrote an article about Mr. Alco and his prison reform. The headline read:“California Builds Highways to Re-Build Men. Prison labor camps set example to world in convict rehabilitation: men paid daily wages, work without armed guard, or within walls of confinement.”

The Alco Plan was considered a great success, and the news of it spread throughout the world. Julian received invitations from foreign governments inviting him to inspect their prisons and make recommendations for reform. Just think if he had given up on trying to get into San Quentin after a month, or two months or even three months. No one would have faulted him after such a noble attempt.

But when we are obeying the two great commandments, loving God and loving our fellow man, nothing can keep us from our destiny. Mrs. Eddy says, “Such is the sword of Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man’s higher individuality and destiny.” (p.266:2)

Julian was invited to the Far East, France, England, Spain, Greece, Russia and Yugoslavia. As a result of getting the road bill passed, CA Governor Richardson appointed Julian to be a Director of the CA State Board of Prisons and a member of the Terms and Parole Board. The Mother Church made an exception and allowed Julian to remain as a Journal-listed practitioner while serving as Director of the State Board of Prisons for California.

In keeping with the requirements for a practitioner, Julian accepted no money for the position. One day in 1935, Julian was led to make a wise decision. Instead of attending a luncheon meeting with several high prison officials at the Warden’s home at San Quentin, he chose to attend the Wednesday noon testimony meeting at a Christian Science Church, and arrived after lunch for the business portion of the meeting.

Unbeknownst to prison officials who were at the luncheon, a number of prisoners were hiding in the Warden’s basement and planned to escape by taking the Warden, and other members at the lunch, hostage. They succeeded and left the Warden beaten with a pistol on the ground. They fled in a stolen car with the other members as hostages. Julian was spared this trauma, and more importantly, was the only official who had not been captured and thus could do something about getting all of the prisoners and hostages safely back.

All the hostages were returned safely and all the prisoners captured. During the Warden’s recovery period, Julian was appointed Temporary Warden of San Quentin Prison. Just think – a Journal listed practitioner as the Warden of the largest prison in the United States! We can’t possibly orchestrate these things ourselves. Only unrelenting faith such as Joseph had in the Bible and Julian had in this instance, will pave the way for such opportunities.

Julian saw each of these prisoners as children of God, and as such, treated them with great respect. He did everything he could in prison and out of prison to help these men and women get on their feet. Once prisoners were released, Julian got businesses in the community to offer coupons for free food and free lodging that the prisoners could use until they could care for themselves.

Julian constantly helped prisoners offering odd jobs to work around his home, painting, doing repairs, any excuse to pay the former convicts a fair wage. Clearly this man saw himself, along with each of these men, in the Kingdom of Heaven. His work blessed not only San Quentin, but also inspired and changed the way prison systems around the world thought about the worth of incarcerated individuals.

—

More inspiring articles:

1. Jeffrey Scott Johnson, “Freedom from heredity”, 7/1/2024, Christian Science Sentinel, “Recently my dad showed me an album he had found with family photos dating back to the 1800s. This fascinating collection sparked much conversation about the past and our family’s history. Contact us to read the full article.
2. Dunsire, Julie, “We saw him as the guest of God”, 4/24/2024, Christian Science Journal, “My spiritual preparation was to recognize that no one could be outside of “the structure of Truth and Love.”
   https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1njiorn2ga2?s=copylink
   
3. Larsen, Whit, “Lessons from volunteering at a prison”, 5/27/2024, Christian Science Sentinel.  “It was humbling and gratifying to see the men we visited starting to glimpse their true nature as lovable and loved.”
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1zc3ls8hu0?s=copylink
4. Larrance, Stephen, “A Prisoner Finds Something He Can Count On”, 2/19/2001, Christian Science Sentinel. An inmate describes how learning about God in prison brought him peace in the face of adverse circumstances.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2001/2/103-8/a-prisoner-finds-something-he-can-count-on
5. Talcott, Brian, “A Spiritual Vision for Prison Reform”, 10/17/2011, Christian Science Sentinel. A Teacher of Christian Science shares inspiration he has gained from his Christian Science study that contributes to healing of both individual inmates and our prison system.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2011/10/113-42/a-spiritual-vision-for-prison-reform
6. Amos, James, “I feel Compelled to Write this Testimony in Order to Show that…”, 9/20/1982, Christian Science Sentinel. A returned citizen describes how he found Christian Science in prison and was healed of deep drug addiction that had persisted for over 20 years and a heart condition and how he became a productive member of society and a church member after his release.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1982/9/84-38/i-feel-compelled-to-write-this-testimony-in-order-to-show-that
7. Rose, Cebastien, “Light in the Prison”, 11/7/2016, Christian Science Sentinel. A Christian Science Chaplain shares how prayer provided him with an opportunity to see harmony and goodwill prevail when faced with an inmate who loudly and angrily disputed some passages from the Bible Lesson and how he has also witnessed a turnaround in general in acceptance of Christian Science at that institution.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2016/11/118-45/light-in-the-prison
8. Warmack, Wanda, “Courage in the Prison Compound”, 4/7/2003, Christian Science Sentinel. A young woman in her 20’s just out of graduate school starts a job as a correctional officer in an all-male prison with a lack of confidence and some fear. She soon becomes the subject of a threats on her life by an inmate.  She responds with prayer and a deeper sense of love. A complete turnaround occurs in the attitude of the inmate who threatened her.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2003/4/105-14/courage-in-the-prison-compound
9. Name Withheld, “In 1992 a Friend and Teacher at the Prison Where I am Serving…”, 9/5/1994, Christian Science Sentinel. An inmate who had lived a life of violence and anger and hate for many years finds an entirely different way of life and a spiritual perspective through his study of Christian Science.
   https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1994/9/96-36/in-1992-a-friend-and-teacher-at-the-prison-where-i-m-serving
10. Interview with Alicia Sanchez Alivarez, “Direct Access to God – Even in Prison”, 4/26/2004, Christian Science Sentinel. A woman wrongfully incarcerated finds true freedom through the study of Christian Science while in prison. In turn this new view leads to physical healing and the overturning of her conviction.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2004/4/106-17/direct-access-to-god-even-in-prison
11. Taylor, Corey, “An Overwhelming Sense of Peace”, 9/17/2012, Christian Science Sentinel. An inmate with a Baptist/Pentecostal background finds Christian Science while serving a 75-year sentence and it transforms his life in the prison and leads to him becoming a member of The Mother Church.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2012/9/114-38/an-overwhelming-sense-of-peace
12. Sindayihebura, Gervais, “Christian Science Opens Prison Doors” 1/2/2012, Christian Science Sentinel. An inmate in a prison in Burundi discovers Christian Science through a French Herald and then obtains the help of a Christian Science practitioner. He becomes a devoted student of Christian Science and has a great change in thinking to a more spiritual perspective. He is soon and unexpectedly released and finishes his education and acquires a good job and harmonious life.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2012/1/114-01/christian-science-opens-prison-doors
13. Scott, Bill, “From Bootlegger to Healer”, 12/5/2011, Christian Science Sentinel. This article is about a person, Ray Olmstead, who became infamous in the Seattle area during Prohibition as “King of the Bootleggers”. A PBS program was made about his life as a bootlegger. In prison he found Christian Science and it transformed his life. After release from prison he went on to become well-known as a Christian Science practitioner who helped others in that capacity for 18 years.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2011/12/113-49/from-bootlegger-to-healer
14. The Christian Science Monitor Editorial Board, “Getting Up Close with the Criminal Justice System”3/26/2018, Christian Science Sentinel. This brief article highlighted some of the positive developments in the political sphere that were occurring in recent years.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2018/3/120-13/getting-up-close-with-the-criminal-justice-system
15. Gustin, Amanda, “We Never Failed to Find Listeners”, in the Church Alive section of the Christian Science Journal, Feb. 2011. A short review of some experiences and references to institutional work in early Christian Science history.
    https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2011/2/129-02/we-never-fail-to-find-listeners
16. Cole, Judy, “A Key to Break Out of Prison” Christian Science Sentinel, 7/7/2008. This was an interview with Judy Cole who was a Christian Science practitioner and was also a former correctional officer. She shares metaphysical truths that are helpful in institutional work.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2008/7/110-27/a-key-to-break-out-of-prison
17. Hughes, Virginia, “Out of My Comfort Zone – and into the Light” Christian Science Sentinel, 2/28/2011. This article is by a woman who was painfully shy and fairly new to Christian Science when she became a Christian Science institutional chaplain. She describes her experience and the wonderful results she had. https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/2011/2/113-09/out-of-my-comfort-zone-and-into-the-light
18. Nelson, Jack, “Second Thought”, Christian Science Sentinel, 5/31/1993. This article is about a former Ku Klux Klan who found a totally new perspective in studying the Bible after being imprisoned. This article is not about a Christian Scientist. This man did not discover Christian Science while in prison but was totally changed just through his Bible study.
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1993/5/95-22/second-thought
19. Priso, Alice,  “A Holy Place Here and Now” Christian Science Journal, December 2015. This article was written by a Christian Science practitioner who served as a Christian Science chaplain in a prison in Cameroon in Africa. She describes the very difficult conditions in the prison and the great reception given to Christian Science in the institution and also the big improvement in prison conditions during the time she was serving there.
    https://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2015/12/133-12/a-holy-place-here-and-now
20. Lobl, Tony, Our freedom to not “cling to personality.” June 28, 2021  Christian Science Sentinel. A visiting chaplain needed to be willing to  “look beyond the personality of one of the inmates,” and “to see all that is  ungodly as completely separate from the one exhibiting ungodliness.”
    https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1t476tqa3w8?s=e
21. Gwalter, L. Ivimy, “ Identity” June 1942 Christian Science Journal. Sin in all its forms is belief that man is incomplete, unsatisfied, and that because of his incompleteness  he steals, lies, lusts, hates, and murders.”
    https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/25cd64ok5h2?s=e
22. Booth, Tim, “He just walked right up to the bars and loved those guys…” August 2011 Christian Science Journal “….I tried to explain why I love the Christian Science chaplaincy so much…but only two words came to my lips: It helps.”
    https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/5gqbia97je?s=e
23. Hoerner, Sandra, “As Thyself” August 1968 Christian Science Journal “Beloved, you are God’s own, completely free from sin.” …   “And as Love purified my sense of self…  self condemnation was dethroned.”
    https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1mmven0hxfm?s=e
24. Simon, Milton “Accepting the True Report” September 1947, Christian Science Journal “Thought illumined by God is never darkened or confused by false reports about man’s present perfect selfhood.”
    https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/18um4fq6yae?s=e
25. Alexander, Daniel “How I found the church — and it found me” April 2024, Christian Science Journal “My initial encounter with Christian Science was in prison, where I went to a Christian Science church service just to get out of my cell. At the time I was serving a life sentence for a crime I had not committed, although I had engaged in other criminal activity from an early age.”  How I found the church—and it found me  / The Christian Science Journal
26. Whit Larsen, “Lessons from volunteering at a prison” May 27, 2024, Christian Science Sentinel.  “The maxim “Those who are hardest to love need it the most” (often attributed to Socrates) is familiar to many, and I’ve been saying it most of my life. But recently a fresh take on this occurred to me.”

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