Two words have come to define much of Danny Duchene's life. One was spoken in degradation. The other came during a 40-day search for meaning in the spring of 2003.

Danny, then 18, will never forget the day in 1982 when, while sitting in a holding cell at the county jail after committing a double murder, a woman walked by and said, "Hey, there is a kid in there."

"That's no kid. That kid is a murderer ," said the guard walking with her.

The words from that guard hit Danny "like a ton of bricks." At that moment Danny realized just how out of control his life had gotten. Drugs, poor choices, and destructive relationships had stolen - or would steal - his self respect, precious years of his life, and his freedom. Now, it seemingly had stolen his identity.

"I didn't know who I was or what I was about anymore," Danny said.

That's when a couple of other inmates in the jail explained to him how to begin a relationship with God. Although Danny had attended church before and heard the Christian Gospel, it was through those two other inmates that he first heard that God wanted to know him personally. His decision to begin this new journey with God changed his life dramatically. Most importantly, this decision gave Danny a whole new identity. Now he was no longer just a murderer .

He was a child of God.

"Sitting in there with the crime I had committed, a new identity sounded like what I needed the most," Danny said.

Twenty years later - with at least 10 more years before parole was possible - Danny's identity was further adjusted during a 40-day journey through Rick Warren's best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life in the spring of 2003 - shepherd .

Danny and a couple of other Christian inmates at the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, Calif. had been studying the Bible together in an accountability group since December 2002. When they were told that they could go through The Purpose Driven Life in a national campaign along with churches around the country, the small group of men decided to do it. By the time the campaign ended, 180 people were participating in the campaign.

And a new church - Sierra Christian Center - was born. In the process, Danny became the unofficial pastor of the young congregation, fulfilling what he believes God wants for his life, to be a shepherd.

"Spending time in prison - on dead time - is probably the worst thing that can happen to a soul, living each day with nothing to live for," Danny said. "People who live like that in prison are getting worse. They are just waiting to get out, waiting to taste something good in life. For me to have a God-given purpose, involved in a kingdom purpose the same way you would be on the outside means I'm not on dead time. It means that the everyday I spend in here has the same eternal value as it would on the outside."

Through the help of generous people like you, thousands of prisoners have been set free from a prison of purposelessness. Purpose Driven Ministries would like to see every prisoner in America find the same hope-sustaining sense of purpose that Danny found. For every $20, 20 prisoners can get a special low-cost copy of The Purpose Driven Life .

If you'd like to help prisoners discover God's purpose for their lives through your donations, click below.

Orders and donations placed in Canada and Australia will be processed in local currency.