Hi to all reading this! I want to start this off by thanking you for taking the time to read this. Let me tell you my story. My name is Alvin Richardson Jr. I am a 36-year-old man, a banker, and a follower of Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and Savior. However, this is actually not about me. Instead, this is for my father, Alvin Richardson Sr. My dad has been in prison since I was in my mom's womb. 36 years is a very long time to be in prison, as you can imagine. My dad was falsely accused, set up, and left without a way to defend himself because he did not have the means and resources. With him being imprisoned, it complicated our lives beyond measure. My father is a good man. Let me tell you who my father is. In the Christian faith, Jesus says you will know people by their fruit. My father decided to divorce my mother because he did not know how long he was going to be in prison for. He wanted my mother to live a life of joy and peace. He chose her happiness over his own. He does all he can to keep in touch with me, my brother, and my sister to this day. I should mention that I am his only son from my mother, but he treated my siblings as his own. He makes sure his family has everything they need to the best of his ability. Not only for his family, but the same for his friends and their families. Family is super important to my father. He's a man of deep faith in Jesus Christ. There was a season in my life where I stopped interacting with my dad because I could not see past my own pain. It crushed my father. But the love of God, his Holy Spirit kept my father in comfort. My father prayed relentlessly for me for years. The last time I talked to my father, I was around 13 years old and he told me that he would never take my name off his visiting list. Fast forward 23 years, I had a strong urge to have a relationship with him. Well, God did a miracle and brought us back together! I decided to go see him. My father was well-kept, in good health, and he was beaming! He was more in shape than I was, haha! Ever since that visit, we have reconnected and are now building a relationship that's so loving, forgiving, and spiritual. As I said, there was a season where I chose to drop contact with him, so guilt and shame were on my heart. My dad made sure to instill in me that he does not condemn me, that he is just joyful that God kept me in good health and that we are connecting again. This is my father, this is his character, his fruit. He has been fighting to get out of prison ever since he's been in there at the age of 19 years old. By Yeshua's grace, an opportunity has been put before us. A lawyer is willing to help him fight this and bring the truth to his story in court. As we all know, legal matters are costly. This leaves us to asking for help, and why I have made this GoFundMe. We need your help to raise the funds to pay my father's lawyer. If you're reading this and feel led to support us, please do! The Bible says in Matthew 25:40, "And the King will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" Thank you for reading, for giving, for sharing, and for your prayers. As you can see, prayer is what brought me and my father back together. There is a power in prayer that the world keeps us from seeing and acknowledging. Thank you once again! God bless you all!