Jailed for Manslaughter in Alaska

Tony Pouesi finds God in jail and now leads a street ministry in Anchorage.

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

A 2 a.m. bar brawl in the U.S. state of Alaska turned violent when 28-year-old Tony Pouesi struck a man with a single punch.

The man fell and hit his head on the ground. He died the next day.

Tony was charged with felony manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

“I was devastated,” Tony said. “I was scared. My whole life flashed before my eyes.”

From his jail cell, Tony remembered his upbringing in faraway Shelton, a small town in Washington state. His family had never read the Bible or attended church. He had used alcohol and illegal drugs as a teen, and quit high school before completing 11^th grade. As an adult, he had moved to Alaska to work as a commercial fisherman.

Little did he know that he would be leading a Seventh-day Adventist street ministry in Anchorage two years later.

In jail, Tony began to pray desperately.

“I said, ‘If there is a God, I want to know that He is real,” Tony, now 30, said in an interview. “I was crying on my knees for hours a day for help.”

Tony borrowed a Bible from the jail library and, to his astonishment, felt an overwhelming sense of peace and joy as he read. He found special hope in Deuteronomy 31:6, one of the first Bible verses that he memorized. It reads, “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (NKJV).

“As I prayed and read the Bible, God did miracles in my life,” Tony said.

Good News

After some time, Tony’s publicly appointed lawyer announced that she had good news: the potential prison sentence had been reduced to two to four years. Then the sentence was cut to one to three years on a reduced charge of negligent homicide.

One day Tony found a small card on a bookshelf in the jail library: an invitation for Discover Bible lessons from the Voice of Prophecy, an Adventist ministry. He sent away for the lessons and eagerly studied them.

“What’s amazing is that I drank, I did drugs, and I didn’t graduate from high school, but I understood the Bible,” he said. “That’s amazing, right? You don’t have to be a scholar to understand the Bible.”

Shortly after completing the Bible studies, Tony’s case came up in court. He said he had two options: plead guilty and face one to three years in prison, or fight the charge and risk 10 years if convicted. Friends said he had a good argument for self-defense. But Tony felt uncomfortable taking that route.

“I understood that I had hit the man and that he had died at my hand,” he said.

In court, the prosecutor and defense lawyer presented the evidence. Then, Tony said, God worked a miracle. The judge handed down a three-year suspended sentence. Tony was free.

“God delivered me from jail,” Tony said. “The whole time I was in there was nine months.”

Tony began a closer walk with God following his surprise release from jail.

With nowhere to go, he moved into a Seventh-day Adventist home for former inmates, the Greater Works Christian Living Center, in Anchorage. He began to have morning devotions. He attended prayer meetings on Wednesday and Friday evenings. He kept the Sabbath.

“It was the first time that I got to experience a real Christian family,” he said.

Desire for Ministry

A desire swelled in his heart to share his newfound love for Jesus, and he decided to establish Alaska Street Ministry. Five days a week he distributes GLOW tracts, Bible promise books, food, and clothing. He prays with strangers and talks about Jesus.

Tony has found that wearing a custom-made hat or shirt stamped with the words, “Trust Jesus,” is an excellent conversation-starter.

“It is a great tool for witnessing,” he said. “A lot of people come up to me and just start talking about God.”

Other people simply remark, “Nice hat.”

Tony then asks, “Do you believe in God?” or “Are you a Christian?”

“No matter whether they say yes or no — as long as they are responsive — I tell them how God changed my life,” he said.

Tony has given Bible studies to people whom he has met on the street.

Tony’s biggest burden, however, is his own family. He called his single mother in Shelton, Washington, shortly after being freed from jail.

“There is only one thing in this world that I will ask of you,” he told her. “I want you to do these Discover Bible studies.”

As a result of the Voice of Prophecy studies, his mother has quit smoking and lost 30 pounds (14 kilograms). She keeps the Sabbath.

“I knew that she would never be the same after the Bible studies,” Tony said. “This is the power of God.”

Tony is now looking for new ways to share Jesus. One Sabbath as he left church, he encountered a man carrying a large white cross. The man explained that he had been carrying the cross around the world for six years and, after hearing Tony’s story, presented it to him.

It took Tony some time to gather the courage to drag the cross around the city block. But when he did, the reaction was astounding.

“People were honking their horns, and waving, and saying, ‘Praise the Lord!’” Tony said. “It was awesome.”

Tony isn’t convinced that the cross is the best way to witness. But he is confident that his “Trust Jesus” clothing is effective. He is looking to support his street ministry by selling the hats and shirts online.

“God gave me this fire to spread the gospel, and I still have that fire,” he said.