RPJM Newsletters
Dear Friends in ministry,In my last newsletter, I asked for anyone who was not a regular contributor to please let me know whether or not they would like to remain on our mailing list. Out of 542 possible responses, I received 16 replies. This has caused us to drastically reduce our mailing list.
You may know the story of how God reduced Gideon's army from 30,000 to 3,000 volunteers. I say volunteers because the Lord gave the opportunity to Gideon's army to leave if they had other priorities to attend to. Those who stayed with Gideon were the ones who had the vision to see the will of God fulfilled in the service that he placed Gideon in. Likewise, the Lord has given vision to you to help our ministry fulfill His purpose to those incarcerated and recently released. For this help, we are most thankful.
Also, because our mailing list has been reduced, I will be discontinuing the business reply mail beginning in October. However, we would like you to use the business reply envelope we have included with this newsletter by September 10th. After September 15th, we will send out self-addressed envelopes with our newsletters. I am in the process of compiling an e-mail list for those who would like to get updates online. Please let me know if you would like to be on that list.
We are in the process of deciding whether to do further outreach through All Care Prison Network. We have now been reaching out to the community of San Diego for the last four years by hosting quarterly luncheons in order to network aftercare ministries. We will be discontinuing these luncheons for a season, but want to continue to stay in touch with the ministries who have attended. Please pray that the Lord will lead us in the best possible way to do this.
So far this year, we have assisted over 100 inmates with aftercare resources. We get an average of 2-4 pieces of correspondence a week from facilities across the country. Many of these inmates ask for the resources directly. Due to costs, we cannot provide each inmate with a resource directory. We direct them to our web site, www.reentry.org, to find the resources for free. The only limitations concerning this is not every facility has Internet access available to inmates, and not every inmate is willing to work with their chaplain or counselor to find these resources online. Please pray that chaplains and counselors at every facility would have access to our directory, and especially that every inmate that contacts us takes the initiative to work with their chaplain or counselor.
We currently have two inmates that are set to be released in San Diego in the coming months, and we are waiting on a few more to confirm that they will parole here. When an inmate tells us he will parole to San Diego, we send out a Pre-Release Form for him to fill out and send back to us. This provides the information that we'll need in order to effectively place him when he is finally out. Here is a letter from one of our Pre-Release clients:
"Dear Chaplain Lyons: Thank you for sending me the application. I will be released November 4th, 2004. I have nowhere to go, except bad places. I really need help with living accommodations, work, clothes, etc. I am working harder daily to improve myself, and be a better Christian. God bless."
Another inmate, Mark, asks for prayer regarding employment upon release. He's looking to be paroled in 2007 and has not had any disciplinary reports now for the nearly 13 years he's been locked up. His work detail in prison is in the fire department. He is certified by the state of Georgia as a firefighter and is hoping that he can get a job as a firefighter after he's out. We are going to try and help him find a place and residence in San Diego if he is paroled here. Please pray that we are able to meet the needs of inmates that write to us or are referred to us by their chaplains or counselors.
Once again, we thank you for your faithful support.
God bless you!Chaplain Art Lyons
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