1	A Prison Ministry West Side, Dardanelle, Dover, Fifth and Greenwich, Ola, and Mill Creek churches of Christ River Valley, Arkansas
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6	Jail--a thing of beauty?
7	Beautiful jails Jails are things of beauty only in that they make people slow, and then stop, and think about the ways that they are traveling through this life.
8	Effects of isolation Jails take away the jam boxes and fancy cars and motorboats and jet skis and fast women and easy liquor and make people think about who they are and what they are doing.
9	What isolation does Isolation helps men to see their own sin. As the Psalmist said, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. “
10	The next realization: “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” --Jeremiah 10: 23
11	The teachable moment: When a person--incarcerated or not--realizes those two things--(1) that he has sinned and (2) that he is helpless to extricate himself--then he is ready to be taught.
12	Jails are beautiful places! Do you supposed we could incarcerate the whole city for about 60 days? A jail term can be the end of a person’s life, in terms of self-respect and meaningfulness, or it can be the beginning of a wonderful and whole new beginning. There are worse things than going to jail. Or than capital punishment, for that matter.
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14	A lesson from those who have been there . . . The inmates who you are about to see were photographed voluntarily. They received no consideration for being photographed They want you to share in their spiritual victories.
15	Purposes of prison ministry To lead souls who are finally at a teachable moment to Jesus Christ To exercise the Great Commission to a “field white unto harvest” that is within hiking distance from our church buildings.
16	What are worship/class sessions like? Very heavy on Biblical content Students spend some time searching the scriptures to see if what is being said is accurate There is little reliance on man-made materials
17	Bibles Over 3000 Bibles have been given away so far. Bible study is helped by having the same version, publisher, and page numbers Spanish Bibles are also given
18	Things We Do in Worship Sing—we enjoy singing! We have a prayer for each inmate, sometimes asking for his requests Short Bible studies, necessitated by time limits related to security
19	Singing The singing is very enthusiastic! You should have heard the singing that first night in about February 2000 when we finally got song books! We usually start with “Amazing Grace”
20	Bible Study Bible study is necessarily at the “milk” level Doctrinal errors are easily dismissed by taking them directly to the word of God
21	Biblical instruction Knowing that many of their problems began with miss-instruction, teaching is done carefully and methodically, taking them directly to the scriptures
22	Respect for the Word of God Because of the way the word of God is handled, inmates acquire a growing respect for the Bible as the inspired word of God. And among their first questions is . . .
23	What must I do to be saved? Inmates are taught to hear God’s word, believe in Jesus Christ as their Creator and Savior, repent of their past sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in order to receive forgiveness of their sins. They are led to Jesus Christ, not just led to baptism. There are immediate changes in their lives.
24	The social life of Christians in jail There is a fellowship, and a unity, here We pray for one another, for one another’s families, and for brethren on the outside such as at West Side, 5^th & Greenwich, Dardanelle, Dover, and Mill Creek
25	Immediate effects of the Gospel The beginning of church signals a calming down of other inmates rather than an agitation Fighting among inmates, once frequent, is now rare. They care about each other and pray for each other.
26	Women’s Prison Ministry Mary Baker, Mary Reid, Vicki Betterton, Joyce Owens, Karen Womack, Kay Smart, Carolyn Davis, Charlene Clark, Ashlee Wilson, Jannie Meyers, Bertha Taylor, Diane Walters, Renee Kirkland, Jerrie Hare, and Stacy Hart have taught classes and led over sixty women to Christ. These and other women bring communion weekly.
27	Harvest of souls As of October 2008, over 650 men and women have been baptized into Christ through this work, and over 900 restored. Their faithfulness, once in the free world, varies, per the Parable of the Sower, just as with a non-inmate population.
28	Changed lives When you work with these people, you see more than inmates coming to class or getting baptized. There are changes in the way they talk, and in what they talk about.
29	Fruits of the Spirit Some inmates have led others to Christ. Those new candidates for baptism were nearly ready for baptism by the time we saw them for the first time. There are now Bible studies--led by inmates--in every cell block There are now prayer groups--led by inmates--in every cell block
30	Men’s Sunday morning communion Communion is served on Sunday mornings by Lynn Donnell, Don Helm, Harley Sisson, James Strother, David Yates, Charlie Richardson, Jimmy Brandon, Thom Robinson, and Lloyd Cawyer.
31	Services for Hispanics Typically about 20 percent of inmates attending are Hispanic. We offer free Spanish Bibles Spanish-speaking inmates are encouraged to translate during services
32	Monday night class Those who teach regularly on Monday nights include Howard Orsburn, Walter Ashenfelter, Sid Womack, Jim Killer, and Carl Hillis. Here Heath Thomas baptizes an inmate on a Monday night
33	Thursday Bible Class Brother Ralph Weinhold from the Dardanelle congregation, along with Tommy Crowe, Jerry Don Woods, Carl Hillis, Brian Baker, Kent Dollar, Keith Millard, Mike Taylor, and Micah Williams and John Meyer of Dover, have continued the teaching of this class since Bro. Paul Harp started it in 2001.
34	We owe a debt . . . We owe a debt to Devin Labay, who originated this work in November 1999. Since its beginning, we have averaged about 60 baptisms and around 90 restorations per year.
35	A big debt of gratitude We owe a big debt of gratitude to Captain Terry Bailey, administrator of the jail, for letting us in. Other prison/jail ministries report much difficulty in getting the access that we could take for granted.
36	Sponsoring congregations West Side church of Christ, P. O. Box 1084, Russellville 72811. Home page is http://www.wscocrsvl.org/ Physical location is 2200 West Main.
37	Dardanelle church of Christ Has provided teachers about six years Provides Bibles and study materials for inmates Bro. Weinhold does spiritual counseling for inmates Dardanelle staffs the Thursday afternoon session
38	Dover church of Christ The Dover congregation has become much more involved in this work in recent years, particularly for the women. Several go to teach classes or do spiritual counseling. http://www.dovercoc.org Highway 164 east in Dover
39	Fifth and Greenwich Church of Christ The Fifth and Greenwich Church of Christ joined the work in 2006. Their website is http://www.5th-greenwich.org/
40	The Ola Church of Christ Bro. Ashenfelter has done extensive follow-up with inmates that have expressed an interest in more teaching leading to becoming Christians. The Ola Church of Christ, under the representation of Brother Walter Ashenfelter, began work with the Prison Ministry in 2006.
41	. . . And the Mill Creek church of Christ Located 1/2 mile off I-40 on Mill Creek Road west of Russellville. http://millcreekcoc.org Physical address is 914 Mill Creek Road Provides and grades World Bible School lessons for men
42	Touch of the Master’s hand . . . All of these efforts are directed at letting each inmate have at least one opportunity to be touched by the Master’s hand. It is He who saves, not us. We covet your prayers as we go about this task.