RELIGION : Bakker Writes of His Loneliness

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  Evangelist Jim Bakker said in a letter today that his time in federal prison has left him a brokenhearted, lonely man, and being behind bars at Christmas was “almost more than I could bear.”

Bakker’s four-page, handwritten letter to his followers in Charlotte was different from other mass mailings he has done in recent years--it never once asked for money.

Instead, Bakker admitted he is a sinner and said God has forgiven his sins. He insisted, however, he is not guilty of the con artist charges that landed him a 45-year prison term last October.

Bakker said spending Christmas behind bars was the saddest experience of his life.

“As my son (14-year-old Jamie Charles) hugged and said goodby to me on Christmas day, he started to sob,” Bakker wrote. “Then his sister, Tammy Sue, started to cry.

“Tammy Faye, with tears streaming down her face, put her arms around us all and, right here in the federal prison with other prisoners looking on, our family had perhaps its saddest experience,” he said.

After his family left that day, “I never felt so all alone in all my life, as I stood staring out the window,” Bakker said. “The pain was almost more than I could bear.”