An ex-bank robber sat and prayed with the FBI agent who arrested him over a decade ago. At the White House last Thursday, Jon Ponder and retired agent Richard Beasley were President Donald Trump's guests during the commemoration of the National Day of Prayer.
The President honored and acknowledged Ponder, 52, during the special event. The former inmate established the non-profit group Hope for Prisoners, after serving time and going in and out of prison from the age of 12.
Hope for Prisoners helps in the rehabilitation of thousands of inmates. The ex-bank robber works alongside different faith-based groups and law enforcement agencies to prepare the inmates for their second chance in life outside the prison walls.
"Your story reminds us that prayer changes hearts and transforms lives," Trump said about Ponder. "It uplifts the soul, inspires action, and unites us all as one nation under God."
Ponder had a miserable childhood as he grew up without a father and got involved with street gangs. In 2004, Beasley arrested Ponder for bank robbery.
As an inmate at a maximum security facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, Ponder found God while in solitary confinement. He started reading the Bible and listening to Christian radio programs using a transistor radio that laid the path to his transformation.
Upon Ponder's release from prison, Beasley was there to welcome him. The former agent told the ex-bank robber that he had been praying for him since he was sent to jail. Today, Ponder and Beasley are close friends and they share a devotion to Christ.
Ponder previously said in an interview in 2016 that inmates need programs like Hope for Prisoners because those who desire to change their ways often don't know where to start.
"When a person gets out of prison, he or she wants to change, but many don't know how to change," Ponder told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It's our job to help the ex-offenders become a valuable part of society."
