38th National Prison Ministry Workshop

Several years ago, some of us from Pleasant Valley were able to attend a National Prison Ministry Workshop. It was held in Searcy at the Harding Campus, if memory serves. Since then it has been held in Michigan, Alaska, California, and other faraway states. Certainly not as close as Searcy.

Even though I have only attended one national workshop, it left a lasting impression on me. For one thing I recall us, the jail ministry, traveling as a group sharing the fellowship of those who work for a common cause. An unintentional mini meeting, if you will, in a van driving the 60 miles back and forth from Searcy to Little Rock. Our gatherings together are scarce as a ministry and it was just joyful being together.

Meeting so many other brothers and sisters from all across the United States who were engaged in jail/prison ministries caused me to appreciate the magnitutde of the numbers God had called to work in his jail/prison fields. Up to that point in my jail ministry experience, it seemed to me that so few had a heart for this ministry based on what I knew from PV. I was shown otherwise.

There is nothing like listening to other workers 'war stories' and learning from their experiences. Or just being regaled by some of the strange and, yes, funny things that can happen in the course of jail ministry. Those stories lighten what can be an emotionally heavy ministry on some days. Or to hear the stories of success....the ex-inmate living a changed life, the ones who overcome their addictions, the ones reunited with their families and now engaged members of a congregation and on and on. These stories showed me the hand of God in people's lives.

Lots of information, lessons, and encouragement to be gleaned before I even attended my first breakout session. Lots of tools for us workers; tools I still use today.

This year's workshop is going to be held in Louisville, Kentucky sponsored by the Midwest Church of Christ. The registration form is below.

(Click on image to enlarge and print)

Prayer Requests 2-13-2011

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rom 12:12

Prayers requested for their children & to be reunited with their families: TaShauna, LaQualla, Kristina, Mandy, Brittany, Contina, Tabatha, Tiffany, Patricia, Natasha

Prayers for the court's mercy: Patricia, Karen, Nannette, Natasha, Vivian, Stacey, LaQualla, Contina, Nancy, Cheryl

Prayers for physical healing: Brittany, Tabatha, Tiffany

Prayers for spiritual growth: Natasha, Carrie, Michelle

Prayers for Carrie & Michelle who have professed their faith that Jesus is our Savior and have requested to be baptized.

Please take a moment to pray for them as requested.

Lesson - Faith

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15 KJV

Often times we are asked, "What do you teach in the jail"? Or, "Do you have written lessons/lesson plans"? The answer to the first question is we share lessons from the Bible. Could be about God's love for us, his plan for our lives, or how we come into fellowship with Him. Any subject you have heard from the pulpit or through Bible studies one of us have used as a study/lesson in the jail over the years. The answer to the second question is yes and no. Yes, we do have written teaching material that each of us have developed over the years, but no, not the same material that we all use or share or are even aware of.

This sometimes, the lack of written teaching material, is a stumbling block to people who might otherwise be interested in becoming involved with the jail ministry. Some people would prefer to have lessons readily available for them to use. That's understandable.

So to that end, every month or so we will post a lesson one of us has used so that it will give you an idea of what we teach. And, hopefully, encourage you if you are interested in jail ministry to know that you are not alone; we will come along side you to assist you in any way that will help you grow in this ministry.

And here is an opportunity to serve with the jail ministry without ever hearing a heavy steel door clanging shut behind you. If you have a gift for writing Bible lessons, write us a few. All of us would appreciate it.

Lessons from the Bible are infinite. This posting is just one example.

(Click on pages to enlarge & print)

Hawkins Prison Worship

"It's where they belong". "They got what they deserve." "If you commit the crime, you've got to do the time". And so the comments go when it pertains to the justifiably incarcerated.

However, Jesus shared these words with us: "I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me" Mt 25:36

Pleasant Valley congregation has a unique opportunity to serve by invitation of the Arkansas Department of Correction at the Hawkins Unit for Women (part of the Wrightsville Prison complex) in 2011. We have been asked to hold worship services for the women every 3rd Sunday of the month in the evening. We have accepted the invitation. On Sunday, February 20th, Stuart Cash and twenty four others from among us will be praising our God in worship with the women of Hawkins. You could be one of them.

Hawkins is a minimum security prison facility. The 200 women are housed in 4-50 women units. They come from the four corners of Arkansas; some from other states. They represent many belief systems including, but not limited to, Jewish, Muslin, Jehovah Witness, and Mormons. Some are self-admitted atheists, some are seeking, and many are Bible-believing Christians like you and me.

The women inmates at Hawkins come from varied family backgrounds. Sadly, they haven't always experienced a loving family background. Sometimes it's just the opposite. For some , prison may be the first place they have received loving care. It's not any different than us when we find the love we had been missing in our lives when we become a part of the body of Christ. This will be a slow-growing, patient ministry, offering the ladies hope of a different life when they are released.

We at Pleasant Valley have 12 opportunites this year to Share the Love of Christ by worshipping with these ladies and begin to build relationships with them. Like all Believers they crave fellowship with their God and their brothers and sisters in Christ. They want to hear the Word preached, receive communion, and raise their voices in praise.

So how can you participate? You can pray that as a congregation we rise to this occasion to serve as the ambassadors and sweet aroma of Christ. You can preach, lead songs or read scriptures if these are one of your gifts at one of the worship services. You can attend one of the worship services during the year. We are allowed to have 25 members from PV attend at any given service. Sometimes it takes a whole village; this time it takes a whole congregation.

Society has deemed them unworthy, unloveable, unreachable; we as the Body of Christ should deem them as worthy because He made each of us worthy of His love. Lets' reach out from our comfort zones and put His Living Word into action.

Prayer Requests 2-6-2011

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rom 12:12

Prayers requested for their children & to reunite with their families soon: Andrea, Karen, Natasha, Ilene, Cheryl, Angela, Carrie, LaQualla, Tabatha, Kim, Megan

Prayers for a closer walk with God, for strength & wisdom, for peace: Angela, Donna, Michelle, Natalie, Natasha, Ilene, Karen

Prayers for physical healing: Brittany

Prayers for court dates (for mercy & acceptance of the outcome): Maudy, Mona, Cheryl

Prayers for Megan who has made the decision to put on Christ in baptism.

Please take a moment to pray for their requests during the week.

News From the Front -January 2011

Heard from Kristi who was in H unit in January. She wanted to pass along the names of a couple of women that I should be looking for in H unit when I begin my month tomorrow. Always nice to hear what the person before you was teaching/sharing. Kristi was studying with the ladies from Genesis. She asked if they had a preference of what they might want to study in February. She said they just want to study the Word. I plan to teach from James.

Louene said the last week of her study with the ladies she told them about her upcoming trip to Jerusalem. And if this isn't too awesome, Louene asked them to write out their prayer request that she plans on placing for them in the Wailing Wall. Sure they were only too thrilled to give her their prayer requests.

One of the newest members of the Jail Ministry is Laura. As luck would have it, on her first trip to the jail by herself she went to her asssigned unit only to find out that it was full of men. She was redirected to the new unit for women, K. So she learned the one truth about jail.... that it is ever changing. She survived her first month with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Donna, Sue and Susan will follow in their footsteps in February. Praying for a blessed month.

Hidden Creek Apartments

What can happen when a parole reenters society with no where to go? Often times he/she returns to his/her old surroundings, "their hood". Back to the place with the old friends and associations that lead them to be incarcerated in the first place.

Under Grace Ministries whose executive director is Dale Sharp purchased Hidden Creek as a place to offer paroles who meet certain criteria a place to begin their reentry into the free world. Open to both men and women, they will be required to find employment, advance their education, attend AA or NA meetings.

Hidden Creek is located next to Shotgun Dan's on Markham off of Shackelford. As might be expected, the facility was met with opposition from both commercial businesses and private citizens. No one wanted them, "in their backyard". The leadership went through many months of meeting at City Hall to have the usage of the property rezoned. It was unanimously approved in the Fall of 2010. As a matter of interest to us who attend PV, our Michael Keck supported and voted in favor of Hidden Creek.

Once approved, an open house was held in October. Individual rooms that would house the women and men were made available for adoption. PV Women's Jail Ministry adopted a 2 women room to furnish. The response for donations was encouraging. We collected enough money for twin beds & mattresses, a dinette set, linens, towels and more. Additionally, people donated a bookcase, beautiful loveseat, and decorative items to make the small apartment look like home.

The photo above shows Steve Burton, Executive Director Dale Sharp, Louene Lipsmeyer and her husband Michael as they set about putting everything together in anticipation of the first occupant. Louene and I just supervised; Steve and Mike WORKED. Many thanks to them.

The first woman is scheduled to start her transition from incarceration to freedom in early January. We wish her and all the other women (and men) who will call this place their home, God's blessing to rise to the challenge of reentering society.

This is a good overview article about Hidden Creek.

2011 Women's Schedule

Everything flows, nothing stands still. Plato in Cratylus

In other words, there is nothing as constant as change, especially at the jail. For those of you who are scheduled to go into F Unit, it is now a men's unit. So instead of F you will be going into K Unit.

There are more legible copies of the schedule in the church office next to Deb's desk in the top drawer of the filing cabinet under Women's Schedule. Or you can print a copy by clicking on the image below (it will enlarge).

Socks & T-Shirts

Lead by Dr. Laura Dove one of the newest members of the jail ministry, we collected socks & t-shirts for the women at McPherson Prison located in Newport, Arkansas. The items were used as Christmas presents for the women who dearly love to receive them.

Dr. Dove is a dentist working part time at McPherson. In her short time there, she has become aware of the dental needs of the women. She has sought to go beyond just pulling teeth as a last resort. She seeks to help the women save their teeth by education and preventative dentistry. While working at McPherson she learned of the Socks & T-Shirts drive spearheaded by Stacey Smith, an ex-inmate, now a chaplain at McPherson, and a friend to PV's jail ministry.

We were pleased to respond. Pleasant Valley was only one of many churches participating in the collection for the 900 plus women. We hope the 250 pairs of socks and 200 t-shirts sent to McPherson blessed the women of McPherson. We felt blessed to give.