God brought us from the worst teaching environment to the best over the past ten years! When we started at Westville, they gave us a time slot and location that made for very unstable teaching conditions. Often classes had to be cancelled due to lack of staff or lockdowns in the housing units where our students lived. Today, we teach in the most stable environment at Westville. They even ask for our preferred hours so that they can work their schedule around ours.
Since Westville is a medium security prison, we offer a shorter program to accommodate their shorter stay. Logistically, it is efficient for just one of our professors to manage this program and I have been tasked with it.
Over a 12-month period I teach eight courses – two per quarter. Four of those courses show the storyline of the Bible. The Old Testament events introduce the good Creator, the horror of sin, and God’s unfolding promises. The book of Luke introduces the amazing life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wrap up the storyline with the life-changing spread of the gospel in the book of Acts. The remainder of the classes include the basics teachings of the Christian faith (Heidelberg Catechism), Uprooting Anger, Resolving Everyday Conflict, and Relational Wisdom 360. We offer these classes as electives inside the state of Indiana’s premier rehabilitation program. It is a self-contained unit which accounts for a stable environment. Pray that one day we will have a whole housing unit to run our own program.
God continues to give us a growing favor with the administration which has opened even more doors of opportunity. Last year I started teaching single classes in another self-contained unit. In one of the rougher areas of the prison I now lead a Bible study once a week. That has led to a recent invitation for a Bible study on the SNAP dorm. SNAP stands for Special Needs Acclamation Program. It is designed for men with physical and learning disabilities, mental illnesses and other debilitating conditions that make them especially vulnerable to the harsh realities of life in prison.
Opportunities continue to open up. Just this past week the chaplain was looking to start a Christian worship service in a neglected area of the prison, but my schedule is already packed. Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send forth reapers. There is a desperate hunger and need for God’s Word.