June 15, 2012
Dear Friends,
It’s summertime. The Gershwins wrote that in summertime, “the livin’ is easy / fish are jumpin’ / and the cotton is high.” Here in San Diego, the cotton is high in that clothing made of cotton is more expensive because it is in more demand. There is lots of water around here with fish, but I haven’t seen any of them jumping—they probably need to stay out of the way of the Navy ships and sailboats that crowd the harbor this time of year. And easy living. How easy things are depends on your perspective, doesn’t it?
For me, my ministry schedule got much busier this week. On Tuesday, I started a lunchtime Bible study group at the Mine Warfare Training Center, which is part of Naval Base Point Loma (one of the three Naval Bases in San Diego). Through my association with The Navigators US Military Ministry, I met Brian, a senior enlisted man who is young in the faith. He expressed a desire to reach out to other Christians he works with. It took over a month to get schedules synced up, but we got going this week. Five men (including Brian) were there for the first study. They all work together (three of them have adjacent desks), and we will start a study in Galatians next week.
On Tuesday evenings, I’ve been participating in a Navigator group that is mainly Navy folks. There are about 20 people who gather together to eat, sing, pray, and study the Bible together each week. The Navy ministry is expanding here, with several new full-time staff scheduled to arrive in the next few months.
On Wednesday afternoons, I started a prayer meeting at the Miramar Brig this week. My hope is that this will expand the time we can spend in Bible study on Thursday nights, as well as expand the number of men who can participate. Two men came to the first meeting that I had never met before. On Thursday nights, there are several things that conflict with Bible study: choir practice, yard call, and gym call are the main competition. On Wednesday afternoons, there should be less activity as inmates return from their work and settle down for the afternoon count before dinner.
Friday nights, I’ve been meeting with Matt and James, both active duty Marines. They have known each other since right after boot camp, and they are both leaving the Marine Corps in early July. James will go home to Texas for a few weeks before going to school in Prescott, Arizona to be a helicopter pilot. Matt will go home to Oregon before returning to San Diego in mid-August to pursue a degree in Engineering at SDSU.
My biggest project for the summer, however, is something new, and a further expansion of the Hebrews 13:3 Project. The Hebrews 13:3 Project has always been about helping inmates re-enter the culture and get involved in the Church, not just having Bible studies in prison. California’s prison system has been overcrowded for a long time, and now prisoners in the state system are being released early and supervised by County Probation Officers. In San Diego there are almost 1500 who have been released early, and the County deems two-thirds of them to be “high risk.”
I am developing a program—which I hope to be implemented in local churches—that will provide Christian mentors, Bible studies, prayer groups, and accountability for Christian offenders who have been released early. These offenders would still be in prison if there were room for them, but there is not. The program is still in its early stages of strategy, so for now I’ll just give you a link that will explain things in more detail for those of you who want to learn more: http://www.hebrews13-3online.com/pro-initiative.html
Expanding the Hebrews 13:3 Project means I’ll be spending more time doing ministry, so I’m planning to add to my support team this summer so I can afford to do that.
The rest of the ministry is not affected much by summertime. Norm reports from Afghanistan that it is now 100 degrees every day. Michael, a guard at the brig, is studying Exodus with me on Thursday afternoons.
I got a letter from Clark, in prison in Arizona, on Wednesday, after not hearing from him for several weeks. He suffered another legal setback (the Arizona Supreme Court refused to review his case), so he has been a bit depressed and busy looking at other legal roads to travel. He has been reading Mere Christianity and enjoying it very much, but mainly the writing, not the arguments. If Clark becomes a Christian, I suspect his conversion will be similar to C.S. Lewis, who came into the Kingdom “kicking and screaming.” Clark promises he will have finished the book by the next time we correspond, so we can begin discussing. Please keep Clark in your prayers.
As always, thank you for your prayers and financial donations.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
Dear Friends,
It’s summertime. The Gershwins wrote that in summertime, “the livin’ is easy / fish are jumpin’ / and the cotton is high.” Here in San Diego, the cotton is high in that clothing made of cotton is more expensive because it is in more demand. There is lots of water around here with fish, but I haven’t seen any of them jumping—they probably need to stay out of the way of the Navy ships and sailboats that crowd the harbor this time of year. And easy living. How easy things are depends on your perspective, doesn’t it?
For me, my ministry schedule got much busier this week. On Tuesday, I started a lunchtime Bible study group at the Mine Warfare Training Center, which is part of Naval Base Point Loma (one of the three Naval Bases in San Diego). Through my association with The Navigators US Military Ministry, I met Brian, a senior enlisted man who is young in the faith. He expressed a desire to reach out to other Christians he works with. It took over a month to get schedules synced up, but we got going this week. Five men (including Brian) were there for the first study. They all work together (three of them have adjacent desks), and we will start a study in Galatians next week.
On Tuesday evenings, I’ve been participating in a Navigator group that is mainly Navy folks. There are about 20 people who gather together to eat, sing, pray, and study the Bible together each week. The Navy ministry is expanding here, with several new full-time staff scheduled to arrive in the next few months.
On Wednesday afternoons, I started a prayer meeting at the Miramar Brig this week. My hope is that this will expand the time we can spend in Bible study on Thursday nights, as well as expand the number of men who can participate. Two men came to the first meeting that I had never met before. On Thursday nights, there are several things that conflict with Bible study: choir practice, yard call, and gym call are the main competition. On Wednesday afternoons, there should be less activity as inmates return from their work and settle down for the afternoon count before dinner.
Friday nights, I’ve been meeting with Matt and James, both active duty Marines. They have known each other since right after boot camp, and they are both leaving the Marine Corps in early July. James will go home to Texas for a few weeks before going to school in Prescott, Arizona to be a helicopter pilot. Matt will go home to Oregon before returning to San Diego in mid-August to pursue a degree in Engineering at SDSU.
My biggest project for the summer, however, is something new, and a further expansion of the Hebrews 13:3 Project. The Hebrews 13:3 Project has always been about helping inmates re-enter the culture and get involved in the Church, not just having Bible studies in prison. California’s prison system has been overcrowded for a long time, and now prisoners in the state system are being released early and supervised by County Probation Officers. In San Diego there are almost 1500 who have been released early, and the County deems two-thirds of them to be “high risk.”
I am developing a program—which I hope to be implemented in local churches—that will provide Christian mentors, Bible studies, prayer groups, and accountability for Christian offenders who have been released early. These offenders would still be in prison if there were room for them, but there is not. The program is still in its early stages of strategy, so for now I’ll just give you a link that will explain things in more detail for those of you who want to learn more: http://www.hebrews13-3online.com/pro-initiative.html
Expanding the Hebrews 13:3 Project means I’ll be spending more time doing ministry, so I’m planning to add to my support team this summer so I can afford to do that.
The rest of the ministry is not affected much by summertime. Norm reports from Afghanistan that it is now 100 degrees every day. Michael, a guard at the brig, is studying Exodus with me on Thursday afternoons.
I got a letter from Clark, in prison in Arizona, on Wednesday, after not hearing from him for several weeks. He suffered another legal setback (the Arizona Supreme Court refused to review his case), so he has been a bit depressed and busy looking at other legal roads to travel. He has been reading Mere Christianity and enjoying it very much, but mainly the writing, not the arguments. If Clark becomes a Christian, I suspect his conversion will be similar to C.S. Lewis, who came into the Kingdom “kicking and screaming.” Clark promises he will have finished the book by the next time we correspond, so we can begin discussing. Please keep Clark in your prayers.
As always, thank you for your prayers and financial donations.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
