In 1992, Jeffery Hopper, along with his dad and brothers, pulled off a million-dollar heist at the Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, resulting in a long prison sentence. While he recalls not being so remorseful about the crimes he committed at the time, he was remorseful for abandoning his 5-year-old daughter, Amanda.
Behind the prison walls, Jeffery met Jesus Christ for the very first time, and was given an opportunity to reconnect with his daughter through Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree Program. He describes his first introduction to the ministry of Angel Tree.
“The prison compound that I was in was in Texas. If you aren’t familiar with the summers down there, they are a scorching 110 degrees. The only place on the compound that had air conditioning was the chapel. We were limited time, but everybody would take turns going and sitting in the chapel.”
“One day, the chaplain presented the program Angel Tree. The way I remember he presented it was to reach out to your family; to your loved ones, to your children, and they would present gifts to these children on your behalf.”
Jeffery explains how his motivation for getting involved wasn’t the best back then.
“My objective was I was going to get a gift, and maybe that gift was going to somehow mend those wounds for my daughter, because I had no other way to do it; I had no other means to send her anything and was only able to see her every so often.”
“So I signed up, like all of the other guys did, in disbelief thinking, ‘Do people really do things like this for other people who can’t repay them?’ I was so skeptical of it.”
“When I signed her up I filled out all of the information, listed all the games including a Candy Land game, and things that I wanted her to have from me.”
Angel Tree was able to deliver these gifts to Jeffery’s daughter and received a letter of gratitude from her in return. He shares the contents of that letter,
“It had a picture of her opening gifts, the letter was written in pencil and said, ‘Thank you for the doll, thank you for the game, and thank you for the coat. Love, Amanda.’”
“That was 22 years ago and I still have that letter tucked into my Greek New Testament sitting at home from that day.”
Over twenty years later, Jeffery and his daughter now see each other almost every day and she, too, is a strong believer . . . and it all started because of an Angel Tree gift.
You can help brighten a child’s Christmas by making a donation to Angel Tree. $99 will help reach 6 children with a Christmas gift, the Gospel, and a message of love from their incarcerated parent. Give a gift online.
Jeffery Hopper is now a Chaplain in southern Louisiana. He has also written an autobiography of his life, , about how God has transformed his life, beginning with the story of Angel Tree.
The impact of Angel Tree
