Criminal Justice Ministry

Criminal Justice Ministry

La. State Penitentiary at Angola, Hunt Correctional Institute, and La. Correctional Institute for Women

Sponsored by The Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge

The Criminal Justice Ministry is still the largest mission effort of Discipleship Training.  This year volunteers led three, thirteen-week semesters at La. State Penitentiary at Angola, Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility (St. Gabriel) and La. Correctional Institute for Women (St. Gabriel). We maintained a semester average of 255 to 300 this year (plus 120 Seminary Extension at Angola). The three ministries are greatly strengthening the Body-of-Christ, which is empowering the inmates to more effectively share the gospel with lost men and women in the various camps.

Please pray over the incredible expansion of this ministry in all the area prisons. The open doors call for at least 40 new people to be a part of this ministry this year.  God is opening doors faster than we have spiritual soldiers to invest.  The advancement will need new vision, soldiers and financing.  God is at work in Criminal Justice Reform.  We must join Him there. 

Angola Mission Target:        5000 + Men
Hunt Mission Target:          3000 + Men
LCIW Mission Target:          900 + Women         

All 8,900 need to need to be saved and discipled to rebuild their lives and families.

Strategy:

Prayer:
Bring light into a dark place.

Grow the Body-of-Christ in prisons around LA:
Lost people see Jesus when the Body-of-Christ lives out of His love and truth.

Do Sequential Discipleship:
We still need men to facilitate these courses in the prison.  We place one free person with ten prisoners for each semester, so you can see how great our manpower needs are.  Do three, thirteen-week semesters per year.

After Care:   
To recruit churches and mentors for continued discipleship and training for the men and women who have been released.

What Can Your Church Do To Help?

PRAY  for inmates and ministry opportunities to witness and disciple each in our Louisiana prisons.

DISCIPLE  your men and women in the basic discipling units.

ENLIST trained men, women and churches to teach and mentor.  Call someone who has served at one of the prisons to give a personal testimony about the experience to your congregation and train in discipleship.

Enlistment Contact:
If you are interested in volunteering, please call the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge Office at 296-3943 and talk with Jan Terral.  The Department of Corrections requires a security check on all volunteers entering the prison system, so be prepared to give the following information:  name, social security number, date of birth and driver’s license number.

Praise Report:
The La. Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel has nine women being trained to lead out in reaching the inmate population through Master Life.

God is at work in our prisons!

This year has allowed us to see God’s hand moving directly to strengthen and expand ministry in the prisons of the Baton Rouge area. We have actively been working on revivals in local prisons, as well as expanding and strengthening our Discipleship Ministry in Angola, Hunt Correctional, L.C.I.W., and D.C.I. Hunt Correctional has fully implemented our diploma program with men being able to earn diplomas for completing eight to ten courses in their given diploma program. Some of the courses are six-week units for younger believers and thirteen-week courses in the stronger diplomas, as their quiet times and spiritual disciplines develop. They are facilitated with one freeman to 10 inmates for thirteen-week semesters. If the inmates are in six-week courses, they take a pair of six-week courses in the thirteen-week semester.

Southern Baptists need to rejoice in the miracles occurring as a result of the Louisiana State Penitentiary ministry at Angola. In May we graduated 41 men from our Associates Ministry Degree. These men are being sent out as missionaries to other Louisiana prisons. They minister as peer-ministers under the guidance of the Senior Chaplain. We presently have 15 men placed as missionaries in the Louisiana Corrections System. Pray hard as we seek to follow God’s hand. Men who feel called of God to ministry and who accomplish a few diplomas at Hunt can now be transferred to Angola to attend the Bible College.

Another miracle that has occurred is that Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida have also come to Angola researching why our incident rates have dropped so much. They have studied what has been done here and have gone back and worked with N.O.B.T.S to open Bible colleges in their prisons. Right now other states, such as Tennessee, are coming down to find out what is happening in Angola. It is simply the hand-of-God. This alone reveals why we need the prayer teams in your churches actively praying for the ministry.

God has also opened the door for a more active tier-visitation ministry in Angola and Hunt. This has strengthened our witness to Jesus in these facilities. This ministry also requires a strong prayer ministry. The BAGBR prayer team will do a prayer walk in Hunt Correctional just prior to the October Crusade.

The St. Gabriel Prison for Women (L.C.I.W.) ministry has also expanded this year thanks to God actively calling out more women and some men to do discipleship within the prison. We are working with the Senior Chaplain to put the diploma system into place there as well. This would give the women personal spiritual goals to work toward. Soon the L.C.I.W. Ministry will need a new influx of women who are called of God to disciple women prisoners. They will need to facilitate such courses as Survival Kit for New Christians, When God Speaks, My Identity in Christ, Masterlife, etc.

D.C.I. now has the Faith based dorms opened. The ministry right now is scattered at D.C.I. BAGBR has teams ministering there, but at present we do not have a coordinated ministry. Pray for God to open the door to ministry at D.C.I. so a consistent and coordinated ministry can be sustained.

The Association’s Task Force on Criminal Justice is extraordinarily grateful that our Association is on the front lines of Restorative Justice Ministry. God has brought us a long way on God’s vision for this ministry. That vision looking ahead includes evangelism and discipleship teams at all the correctional facilities in our area. The great need right now is for an open door at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison plus the man-power for it 

God is doing wondrous things in prison ministry since the first group of 50 men in 1994. Please pray for Him to continue to give the vision, the servants, and the resources to continue to walk through open doors.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE MINISTRY
2006-2007 Annual Report
Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, St. Gabriel
Joan Allred, BAGBR Representative

The ministry at LCIW (Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women) at St. Gabriel has been very successful since we started in 2000. This is a very special calling from God and those of us who serve Him at this facility are so blessed to share God’s Word with the inmates.

All leaders and classes are approved by Chaplain Gary Sumrall. Our Association conducts classes four days a week with classes lasting 1-1/2 hours. We thank God for this time because time for special classes is limited, as well as space to meet. We purchase and give workbooks to all the ladies in our classes, and they are grateful for our gifts to them. The classes cover all areas of Christian life, such as discipleship, growing in intimacy with our Heavenly Father, and having a heart like His.

An update on the new chapel at LCIW is exciting to share. It is costing much more than expected but as usual God is faithful. In August 2007 a single donation of $270,000 was given to complete the chapel. Now we are trusting God for money to purchase chairs and other furniture. We are looking forward to the completion of the chapel because many more will be able to attend services, volunteers we will have much more space for classes, and we will have access to some private rooms.

Every year BAGBR has a three-day revival at the prison the first weekend in October. Many inmates make decisions to follow Christ and seeds of the Word are planted in many hearts. If you would like to go in for the revival next year just put the first weekend in October on your calendar and at least a month before that date call the Association office to make arrangements to attend. You most certainly will be blessed.

September 25, 2007, the LBC and Louisiana WMU ladies had a great weekend for the ladies at LCIW. Ditty bags were furnished for each lady in the prison. Dick DeBusk put up the big tent and services were held on Sunday with good preaching and singing. There was also lots of good food on Saturday.

Please pray as volunteers witness at LCIW because these ladies desperately need our prayer support and the love of God’s people to tell them about the unconditional love of Jesus.