June 26, 2009
Dear Friends,
Since I wrote in April, there have been a number of changes—both OK and not—at the Brig. These changes will give you an idea of the kind of administrative “unrest” that I and other volunteers deal with.
For example, the men’s Bible study that I lead had met on Wednesdays for more than 11 years, and in March we moved to Mondays. As of this week, we’ve moved to Thursdays. We’re still studying the book of Daniel, and attendance on Mondays has been close to 20 men almost every week. Last night, our first Thursday, however, we had only 8 men (perhaps because the word had not yet gotten around), and Bible study is cancelled next week because of the holiday on Saturday.
The response to the study in Daniel has been quite encouraging. Last week, the men dove into the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with me. What a glorious story of salvation this is—an egotistical and angry king shows himself to be no match for the living God, the giver and sustainer of life.
In my April letter, I wrote that the chaplain had given me the OK to visit inmates during visitation times on weekends—an answer to many years of prayer. I was able to visit Mike, whom I wrote about, once before I was told it was not OK to visit on weekends. Mike has since been released and is home on parole in West Virginia.
In the “better news” department, a ministry called “Rock of Ages” conducted a good old-fashioned “Revival” at the brig last week (Tuesday through Thursday), which was well-attended and positively received. This group has come every few years, but the current chaplain has invited them to come twice a year during his tenure. I was able to attend each night of the program, and got a chance to spend a little extra time with a few of the men before and after the services.
Pray for Eric’s family (Eric is a regular at the brig Bible study), who are in Florida and homeless. Norm (released in December 2008) is hoping to help them, but needs to get them to Texas first. Also pray for Dan who was released yesterday and is back with his family in Colorado.
As always, thanks for your prayers for this ministry and for your donations.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
Dear Friends,
Since I wrote in April, there have been a number of changes—both OK and not—at the Brig. These changes will give you an idea of the kind of administrative “unrest” that I and other volunteers deal with.
For example, the men’s Bible study that I lead had met on Wednesdays for more than 11 years, and in March we moved to Mondays. As of this week, we’ve moved to Thursdays. We’re still studying the book of Daniel, and attendance on Mondays has been close to 20 men almost every week. Last night, our first Thursday, however, we had only 8 men (perhaps because the word had not yet gotten around), and Bible study is cancelled next week because of the holiday on Saturday.
The response to the study in Daniel has been quite encouraging. Last week, the men dove into the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with me. What a glorious story of salvation this is—an egotistical and angry king shows himself to be no match for the living God, the giver and sustainer of life.
In my April letter, I wrote that the chaplain had given me the OK to visit inmates during visitation times on weekends—an answer to many years of prayer. I was able to visit Mike, whom I wrote about, once before I was told it was not OK to visit on weekends. Mike has since been released and is home on parole in West Virginia.
In the “better news” department, a ministry called “Rock of Ages” conducted a good old-fashioned “Revival” at the brig last week (Tuesday through Thursday), which was well-attended and positively received. This group has come every few years, but the current chaplain has invited them to come twice a year during his tenure. I was able to attend each night of the program, and got a chance to spend a little extra time with a few of the men before and after the services.
Pray for Eric’s family (Eric is a regular at the brig Bible study), who are in Florida and homeless. Norm (released in December 2008) is hoping to help them, but needs to get them to Texas first. Also pray for Dan who was released yesterday and is back with his family in Colorado.
As always, thanks for your prayers for this ministry and for your donations.
Sincerely in Christ,
Ben Conarroe
