Tulsa County Jail. Jim Pinkston, Francisco Davila and Zeth Parkhurst teach the men. Several ladies go to the women’s pods every Thursday and Friday for the last four years, to teach. Zeth is teaching with Jim each Wednesday and teaching the hearing impaired. We have baptized 398 of our students this year.
Back to the ladies: We have ladies teaching in all three ladies pods at Tulsa County Jail each week. They rotate lessons every thirteen weeks. Carol Siling, Elaine Russell, and Theresa Hawkins teach. Jody Gilkey was teaching but her job schedule is preventing her at this time but hopes to return soon. Elaine is the coordinator for the women. Many ladies are being changed by the Gospel because of these ladies.
Dick Connors Correctional Center. Jim Pinkston teaches NLB Lessons and CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse). He also teaches in the faith based unit and preaches there four evenings each month. Jim Carmichael teaches every Monday morning and for the next three months also on Thursdays and preaches one night per month. Elaine Russell, Jim’s wife Jean, Jim & Jody Carmichael, Patrick Murphy, and Beverly Bennett help and Booker leads singing when he can. We go to the Minimum Security unit on the first and forth Sunday nights for services and to the Medium Security (behind the walls) on the first and third Tuesday nights for services.
Correspondence. 40 packages of 6 to 7 lessons mailed to many prisons in Oklahoma. Every two weeks = 260 lessons x 2 = 520 per month or 6,240 per year. Many of these are people we studied with at Tulsa and Creek County Jail and have gone on to prison or were transferred from one prison to another. This is one way we keep up with our students as they are moved from prison to prison. Elaine Russell & Carol Siling sends lessons to ladies who were former students at Tulsa County Jail who have gone to a prison or gone home. On the second and fourth Tuesdays evenings we have a group that meets to grade and get these lessons ready to mail.
John H. Lilly Correctional Center. Bryan Campbell is doing Celebrate Recovery every Saturday.
Creek Co. Jail . David Stikes is preparing to start teaching there again in January.
Re-entry program. (Hope City) It houses five men at this time. Randy Milam is the onsite manager. We have the space for five. Two units are being remodeled to where it can handle seven. We also have a RV that is being plumed at this time to where it can house one, making the total eight. One of these men (Bryan Campbell) has been trained to go into the prisons and be a full time teacher. He leads a C.R. group there each Saturday.
In the last three years over twenty men have been helped and are closer to Jesus because of the Hope City ministry. Two of these men have their own businesses today and employ several ex-offenders.
Advisory Board. The board is made up of eight men: James Ivy,(deacon over ministry) Ken Williams, Steve Stade, Scott Blackwell, Gary Medley, Mark Clayton, Randy Milam and Kevin Neiman. Jim is the recruiter for the applicants. The board decides who is approved to enter the reentry program. They go by a set of guidelines approved by the Elders. The board also oversees the operation of the program.
Rogers County Jail Mike Hawkins started a great jail ministry a few months ago and has been very successful teaching there. God just keeps growing this ministry along with the others.
Future Plans. To continue with the programs that are now successful and just see where God leads us in 2016.
This ministry was started by Terry Finch and James Ivy in 2009, Jim Pinkston came aboard in 2010 part time for 2 years then full time.
Baptisms from this work
2010 94
2011 109
2012 139
2013 259
2014 406
2015 382
2016 398
Total 1787 Since 2010 That we know of.
To put this in perspective, 1787 would more than fill first & second service at Park Central.
Impossible without your support.
“Jesus did it!!!”
Excellent report, Jim. Thank you and thank you all for your outstanding work in the Kingdom. We are blessed to have you and your fellow workers among us.