June 25, 2015
Dear Friends,
We are finishing up a six-month study through 1 Samuel at the Miramar Brig. For the last several weeks, we’ve been looking at Saul and David and their battles with each other. David has two opportunities to eliminate Saul as a competitor, but he refuses. Saul, he says, is the Lord’s anointed, and even though the Lord is no longer with Saul and is with David, David will not take the king’s life.
This provokes confusion with all David’s followers, and with us, too. David is called “a man after God’s own heart,” but how does he discern these actions? Certainly he knows that the ends that God ordains must be met by the means God approves. But how does he know the difference between Providence and temptation? As you can imagine, our discussions have been quite lively.
The PRO Mentors program, in the San Diego County Jails, has recently hit a couple of milestones. The first is that we’ve entered the YouTube world. A local videographer has produced a video, which includes footage from our mentor orientation and training in late May. You can see the video by clicking here.
The second milestone is that one of our PROs, Shannon, has been approved to become a mentor and visit PROs at East Mesa Reentry Facility (EMRF). Shannon is one of our “first six”—that is, he was one of six men in our first PRO Mentors class at EMRF on January 28, 2013. Shannon was released in early June 2013, and has been meeting weekly with Tom (whom you see in the video) ever since. At the two-year mark, we told the Sheriff’s department of his success, and asked for permission for him to visit and get a PRO of his own. We got word last week that the Captain of the facility has approved, and Shannon will be meeting his PRO, Chris (who will be released in August) very soon. Shannon has already been keeping in touch with Chris via email.
The videographer plans to make a video with Shannon and Tom, as well as another PRO/Mentor pair, which we hope to publish in early August.
Although we have a few success stories like Shannon, we also have men who reoffend. The advantage of the PRO Mentors program is that we can continue to follow these men through the system and be ready to mentor them when they make contact. Earlier this month, I visited David, who is now at Calipatria State Prison. I mentored David after his release from EMRF in January 2014, until he stopped conforming to his conditions of probation in June of that year. He was arrested in December and was so glad to be safe, clean, and sober when I saw him in county custody. I also keep in touch with Jeremy, who is in state custody in Chino, California. I’m hoping to be approved to visit him before he is transferred to Northern California. (Calipatria is about 120 miles from San Diego, in the desert; Chino is about 110 miles away, an Eastern suburb of Los Angeles.)
Earlier this week, I visited Sean, who is county custody (he lost contact with his mentor Dillon in January 2014) and Justin, who is in federal custody. Sean, who is now 28, told me he is ready to get serious about following Jesus. That is a big change from where he was before. Justin is 32, and is reading through Leviticus and Acts. He’s trying to share his faith with his bunk mate, who is known as “Bad Luck.”
As you can see, God is building his kingdom through this ministry. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
Dear Friends,
We are finishing up a six-month study through 1 Samuel at the Miramar Brig. For the last several weeks, we’ve been looking at Saul and David and their battles with each other. David has two opportunities to eliminate Saul as a competitor, but he refuses. Saul, he says, is the Lord’s anointed, and even though the Lord is no longer with Saul and is with David, David will not take the king’s life.
This provokes confusion with all David’s followers, and with us, too. David is called “a man after God’s own heart,” but how does he discern these actions? Certainly he knows that the ends that God ordains must be met by the means God approves. But how does he know the difference between Providence and temptation? As you can imagine, our discussions have been quite lively.
The PRO Mentors program, in the San Diego County Jails, has recently hit a couple of milestones. The first is that we’ve entered the YouTube world. A local videographer has produced a video, which includes footage from our mentor orientation and training in late May. You can see the video by clicking here.
The second milestone is that one of our PROs, Shannon, has been approved to become a mentor and visit PROs at East Mesa Reentry Facility (EMRF). Shannon is one of our “first six”—that is, he was one of six men in our first PRO Mentors class at EMRF on January 28, 2013. Shannon was released in early June 2013, and has been meeting weekly with Tom (whom you see in the video) ever since. At the two-year mark, we told the Sheriff’s department of his success, and asked for permission for him to visit and get a PRO of his own. We got word last week that the Captain of the facility has approved, and Shannon will be meeting his PRO, Chris (who will be released in August) very soon. Shannon has already been keeping in touch with Chris via email.
The videographer plans to make a video with Shannon and Tom, as well as another PRO/Mentor pair, which we hope to publish in early August.
Although we have a few success stories like Shannon, we also have men who reoffend. The advantage of the PRO Mentors program is that we can continue to follow these men through the system and be ready to mentor them when they make contact. Earlier this month, I visited David, who is now at Calipatria State Prison. I mentored David after his release from EMRF in January 2014, until he stopped conforming to his conditions of probation in June of that year. He was arrested in December and was so glad to be safe, clean, and sober when I saw him in county custody. I also keep in touch with Jeremy, who is in state custody in Chino, California. I’m hoping to be approved to visit him before he is transferred to Northern California. (Calipatria is about 120 miles from San Diego, in the desert; Chino is about 110 miles away, an Eastern suburb of Los Angeles.)
Earlier this week, I visited Sean, who is county custody (he lost contact with his mentor Dillon in January 2014) and Justin, who is in federal custody. Sean, who is now 28, told me he is ready to get serious about following Jesus. That is a big change from where he was before. Justin is 32, and is reading through Leviticus and Acts. He’s trying to share his faith with his bunk mate, who is known as “Bad Luck.”
As you can see, God is building his kingdom through this ministry. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
