Prison Report  

The Park Prison Ministry 

Update for November 15, 2021, We have made a lot of progress in the last few months. 

• We have over 700 students, and over 600 are active.  We keep those released in our database so we can know if they return, only one student has returned. 
• In the month of October, we mailed out 440 lessons, a new record.  Now this means, 440 lessons had to be graded, 440 new Course had to be sent, and 440 had to be prepared for sending… this amounts to very large amount of work…
• Our volunteer home graders are doing a fantastic job, with Jake S being our grader of the month, as he grades many lessons for us and is always uplifting to our students.  However, all of our volunteer graders were a close 2nd. We also were blessed to add Fran and Rochelle to our list of volunteers!  Praise God! 
• We are adding new students weekly, with a new record set.  Two of our ladies at Mabel Bassett CC sent us 37 referrals for new students in less than one week!   
• In the past we have mailed out only ½ a course per month which resulted in a high drop-off rate, so in January we began returning lessons as quickly as possible which resulted in fewer dropouts, a higher number of referrals, and of course, higher costs. 
• In March Jody decided to start challenging the students for referrals with a great success rate. 
• Jody also developed two new courses for correspondence and has had great success with them. We have revived many inactive students with these courses and received numerous letters from inmates telling her how much they loved the courses, and how it has helped and inspired them. 
  • Forgiveness 
  • How well do you know God? 
• The problem with higher success rates, means higher postage cost. So, in October we decided instead of just ½ a course we would mail complete courses. This will save on postage and increase participation.  One reason we think this may happen is due to the work of the men at DCCC.  One inmate Andrew W (who has earned 2 Doctorate degrees in Bible Studies while incarcerated) handles the NLB for us with a group of men at DCCC who all want complete courses and they have been successful in completing these courses in a timely manner. 
• In October, 2 more men at DCCC received their bachelor’s degrees in Bible Studies: Dewey  K  and Gary C. 
• Andrew W has been a great help to me at DCCC, and I am sure will become a great Christian leader when released. 
• All of the chapel workers have received their bachelor’s degrees and Reggie W, whom The Park sponsored for obtaining his masters degree, is about to complete his studies and should graduate in the next few months.  I will keep you posted on that. 
• I still teach 3 Christian Apologetic Courses at DCCC on Mondays and Wednesdays. This week on Wed afternoons I will be teaching a class on the minimum side, which will be 4 classes taught each week, for a total of 20 Bible classes a month. 
• I also preach one sermon a month on Sunday morning on the medium side.  Jim Pinkston and I each preach two sermons a month on Tuesday and Sunday nights, for a total of 5 sermons a month. 
• Ray V also works with the Sheriffs dept as a volunteer Chaplain and performs death notices, crime scene management, rides alongside with the deputies (Which they minister to as much if not more than the inmates, and special assignments, working 8 hour shifts during the Tulsa Fair. 

Jail visitation is still locked down. The Jail volunteers were allowed back in for only about 4 weeks this spring. 

•  I have reached out to Danielle S concerning The Angel Tree Project for the children of inmates and she is making progress in that area.  I also mentioned to her the need to teach Christian Apologetic lessons to the children, starting at an early age so they are well equipped to defend their faith on the school yard and classroom.  She informed me she was already looking into that.  We are blessed to have her looking over the education of our children. 
• I talked to Kevin P and Tim M concerning a Prison Outreach program to help us have contact with the prisoners’ families who live in the Tulsa area.  If we can take care of the families, showing love to them, the prisoners will respond in a positive way.  My hope is we can get the families to study the same New Life Behavior courses with their spouses who are incarcerated. Kevin is working on this, attempting to find someone who can oversee the project.  I am not allowed to have contact with the families of inmates because I go inside, one of the rules for volunteers. 
• I also talked to Ken and Kevin about having a couple of our young preachers obtain a badge for prison visitation, hoping we could encourage them to start preaching on the inside.  I feel this would give them an opportunity to use their preaching skills more often, and help us bring young people into the ministry to follow up behind us for when the time comes, we must step down. 
• Our overall goal is to turn the prisons into Christian Centers rather than Correctional Centers…

   

My Testimony

My Attitude: Has changed in ways that others comment (for the good)

My Behavior: Has changed in so many new ways

My Goals: to continue doing Bible Studies

My relationship with God: Has gotten even closer

Other Changes in my Life: Been able to use the Bible studies to change things in my life

My Testimony

My Attitude: My attitude has changed towards others and I have learned to consider their perspective and no be so condemning.

My Behavior: I have learned to take the time needed to control my behavior. Walk away when all else fails.

My Goals: My Goals are obtainable with Christ and they include family. I look forward to the future!

My relationship with God: Has been strengthened by learning more through Park Prison Ministry.

Other Changes in my Life: I want to live my life in a way where others can look at me and know I am a Christian. I believe your Bible Studies have helped me achieve that goal

My Testimony

My Attitude: Has Changed

My Behavior: Is getting better.

My Goals: Is to be a better person.

My relationship with God: Has grown better, and stronger

My Testimony

My Attitude: I have learned to be more patient and understanding with those around me and to those that I feel deserted and abandoned me when I needed them the most, that is mostly my family

My Behavior: From who I was in life I have turned completely around. I no longer concern myself with the needs and desires of my earthly self. My only main concern is making sure of my spiritual well being.

My Goals I wish to finish my sentence here and get back out in the world and find a good home church that I can do what God has set out for me to do. And to find someone worth sharing my life with.

My relationship with God: I started trying to re-establish myself with the Lord about 1 1/2 years before I was incarcerated. I asked Him to se me aside so I could get myself right with Him. I may not have meant prison, but this has been His will for me to not be who I was.

Other Changes in my Life: I am almost 6 years sober. I have regained my sense of self-worth and a real desire to leave this world a better place than I found it.

Comments: You have my permission to share this.. Robert S

We appreciate all our graders who have helped us so much over the years. However, at this time, due to the Covid-19 re-outbreak, we are suspending group grading and relying solely on home grading.

If any of you are interested in helping us with home grading, just let us know and we will supply you with a grading key, and lessons to be graded.

Jim Pinkston has retired January 1, 2021 from the prison ministry after 30+ years of ministering  to the most forgotten of our society.

But not to worry, Jim will still be active in the ministry as time allows. When the lock down is over, Jim will continue to preach at Dick Conner’s Correctional Center in Hominy Ok on the 1st and 3rd Sundays on the medium side, and the 4th Sunday on the minimum side, with Jim C filling in on the 1st Sunday on the Minimum side, and any other time Jim Pinkston can’t be there.

Apparently Jim has found a need to slow down a bit, spend more time with grandchildren, and travel with his wife Jean.

Let’s take another look at the impossibility of evolution through the perfect language of mathematics.
We have already covered a number of mathematical facts that dispute evolution, but let’s really attack it today, by using simple math.
This is going to sound rude, often the plain truth, offered directly without apology is rude sounding in this society where political correctness is the order of the day regardless of the truth.
I would like to remind you these lessons are for you… the Christian, and possibly the agnostic, and on extremely rare occasions the atheist who might have an open mind and be willing to consider the truth of creation. The fact is the atheist has a closed mind, they will offer up any argument they can, regardless of truth or reason. The very fact they claim to be an atheist is proof of this, remember what scripture says; anyone who says “there is no God is a fool’ We also see it demonstrated by practicing atheist who claims a Christian background. By “practicing” I mean those who support any law that goes above “Gods Law” such as condoning sexual deviation claiming it to be natural, something a person is born with, or the murder of the most innocent lives… the unborn child.
Enough of that, you get the point. Now for a second point, I once worked for a sales manager who likes to compare sales tools as bullets in his gun belt. Each point that refutes evolution is like another bullet in our gun belt of Christian defenses… the more we know from various sources and avenues, the stronger our belief becomes.
The goal is simple, to know the word of God, knowing we live by every word that proceeds from His mouth, not by any extra words we choose to add, or by any we decide doesn’t count, or has a different meaning. To know the true word of God is found in the Holy Scriptures we refer to as the “Bible”, not any other so-called “Holy Book”. And to know beyond a shadow of a doubt through Christian Apologetics that it is all true, and the “outside” evidence supporting the truth of the Biblical teachings, and claims is true beyond a shadow of a doubt.

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The Cosmos… Does it prove the universe just happened by a big explosion billions of years ago, where one single cell or molecule exploded and miraculously created the entire cosmos? Does that make any kind of logical sense to you? Or more like non-sense? It reminds me of the old joke that someone blew up a salvage yard and when the dust cleared a Boeing 727 had been created… perfect, and ready to board for a flight. Well, regardless of what you think, or feel modern science  expects us to honor and believe anything they might offer, regardless of how little  sense it makes… we are to believe whatever we might say. In this lesson we are going to look at “other” facts… facts that may not support their version of creation… well, I guess they don’t believe in creation but just a good roll of the dice.

Go to the complete Study on the Cosmos by Clicking here