Seven Years in Texas

This year will be our seventh year in Texas! Jean and I continue to minister in prisonsand at Celebrate Recovery at Temple Bible Church. Jake is finishing his Associates Degree at Temple College.

The summers are dry and hot and we live in a wooded area. Because of the drought and warm weather there are more bugs and snakes this summer. We recently saw two rattlesnakes. One was on our back porch. Jake was bite by a scorpion our first year in Morgans Point. Does this qualify us as true missionaries?

Woodman State Jail has been our main focus the past two years, and it is an incredible place! It is the intake facility for all the women coming into Gatesville. Every Wednesday night, 130 women pack the largest room available in the jail for our study.

We just finished the book of Ruth: "The Rescue." Dee Brestin does a fantastic teaching relating Ruth to the women in white; DU filmed it at Woodman, and now it is available to other ministries. The room is too crowded for the small group, but the large group sharing is amazing. The women pray for each other, encourage each other and care for each other.

This month was the graduation for the women at the First Faith Based Dorm - Woodman State Jail. Fifty women went through the program and will go out into population. Jean and I participated in their celebration.

Recently DU received a letter from the inmate Chaplain's assistant. It contained four letters of thanks. One was to you are faithful supporters.

To those who donate:

I am currently living in the Faith Based Dorm at Woodman State Jail in Gatesville, TX. I never would have dreamed how enriched my life would be through the programs offered here. Even before I moved into the dorm Linda, Terry and Jean were familiar faces. They often did church services and sponsored the Celebrate Recovery program.

Discipleship Unlimited blessed us with gifts of music, books and other resources to enrich our lives. DU sponsors frequent crusades with amazing speakers all who care about us and overlook the fact that we are in white. They don't judge us for our past and they see what we are becoming.

Discipleship Unlimited brings us hope and joy during this desperate time in our lives.

Please allow me to say thank you for your donations. You are helping us better our lives.

Sincerely,

Janell

We as a staff and team of volunteers also thank you for your prayers and support. Your gifts make it possible for us to equip those who are being trained as inmate leaders. This is a sweeping move of God.

Terry's Corner - July 2011

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Celebrate Recovery, Temple Bible Church Tuesday Night, 6-8:30 p.m.

I am amazed each week at the work God is doing in the lives of his people! I have an integrated worship team of very diverse people and we have so much fun. Worship starts with receptive hearts and hearts are healed as we worship together.

At a recent CR meeting, one of our women from the Lane Murray Unit told of her journey to recovery. Her life had been painful and her future looked hopeless. While in prison she was separated from her children. Fast forward to today. She is home and serving the Lord by working at a homeless shelter in a small town near Temple. She has been restored to her children and is now a leader in CR on the outside.

A team from DU served dinner at CR last Tuesday. The VETS loved it. They did all the set up and clean up. It was a dinner Jesus style. Leftovers were sent home with single parent moms. What an honor to serve people both physically and spiritually.

Woodman State Jail

Jean and I are at Woodman State Jail on Wednesday nights teaching CR. These women are being set free from so much stuff. Many of them have children at home that they pray for daily. There is laughter and tears. Our hope is that one day they will join CR on the outside!

Prayer Request

This Sunday we have services at the six Gatesville Units plus two closed custody areas. Jean and I will conduct three services while Terry and Annette Cagle do the other three. Mom and Jake will go into closed custody and Jake will play guitar. The Closed custody ladies are locked up most of the time.

Thank you for all your kind words on Facebook and the DU blog. I am truly blessed to have you guys {U all} in my life!

Terry's Corner - May 2011

TerryS_Red

Resurrection Sunday was a day of celebration for our family, as we traveled to the Woodman State Jail. Permission had been granted to hold open air services, so any inmate who wanted to worship could attend. Women in white quietly lined up waiting for freedom to move into our area. Razor wire framed the perimeter. Seven chairs were put in place by the young women who assist the Chaplain. The chairs were for us.

There were no pews or chairs for the inmates. Instead, they sat on the ground on concrete slabs for several hours. They were not allowed to stand. Not even for worship. But that did not hinder their passion and praise.

As I lead, “Lord I lift your name on high!” I felt the presence of the Lord. Everyone in that large jail could surely hear our worship. Correctional officers joined in singing Amazing Grace! It was a day for joy!

Terry's Corner - March 2011

TerryS_Red

My son Jake is in his second year at Temple College and will be 19 years old in May. What a man! When he was three I wrote a song entitled Jacob’s Song (that seems like such a short time ago).  As I thought about my hopes for Jake, I had written, “I pray the blessings given to me will rain down upon his shoulders and he’ll serve you.” God has answered that prayer. Recently, Jake ministered with our team in Woodman State Jail, Mountain View, Hilltop, and Death Row. This dad’s heart overflowed! Walking back into the chapel from Death Row he commented, “This is the happiest, sad place I have ever been.”  Jake’s words nailed the joy and challenge of ministering in prison.

Jake_Guitar

Jake and a gifted team of volunteers joined us for several outreaches that were off the chart! Bev DeSalvo shared her story of healing from abuse, bringing great comfort to the women.

Charla Pereau spoke six times to overflow crowds. Charla founded “Foundation for His Ministry” in Mexico’s Baja 44 years ago to provide a place of love and care for orphans. The ministry now includes an orphanage, medical center, church, feeding station for the poor and a fire department in the Baja location—and three other major works. To echo Jake’s words of this miracle ministry, “This is rad. Charla doesn’t just have an orphanage; she has a whole city.”

Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered twelve-step program, continues strong in Woodman. Last week my precious wife Jean shared her story. Many women were in tears, as God used Jean’s past to help the women with their future. This week I will teach and wrap-up the current twelve-week session. It’s a privilege to see God working in all of our lives as we draw close to Him.