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UPDATE FROM
THE HEART OF TEXAS FOUNDATION
To Supporters, Donors and Friends 
July 4, 2014
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. I am writing to give you an update of some of the activities of The Heart of Texas Foundation. We are so deeply grateful for the encouragement we have received from you. Thank you! The doors continue to open for this historic work, and we are deeply grateful to all of you for your prayers, phone calls, encouragement, financial support, and friendship.
But first of all, we give all credit to the Lord Jesus Christ for allowing us to join Him in this great calling to which we have been called. As ordinary men and women, we have found ourselves in the midst of work that is historic not only for Texas, but some are saying for the United States-- and perhaps the world-- as well. Regardless of how far-reaching the impact will be, we are simply grateful for His unexpected Grace, His surprises, His way of doing things above and beyond what we could ask or imagine.
Next, I'd like to give you a short prayer list for your devotional time, when the Spirit calls us and our work to your heart.
Prayer Requests from Us
●Please pray that we will "stay in our lane," and remain totally focused on the work He has called us for, and that we will not stray from that calling. Our focus is narrow and deep, and we pray that He helps us avoid the "ministry spread" as I call it, where too much is undertaken by too few!
●Please pray for every supporter, donor, and volunteer, that each of them will be visited by the Holy Spirit and be given the mind of Christ and the heart to follow him completely. Pray that these people will each be given more of the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself, that they will find themselves in a closer walk and relationship with Him as a result of their involvement with us.
●Please pray for our Board of Directors, that the Lord will continue to guide them and give them a portion of His wisdom as they encourage and direct the Foundation.
●Please pray for our Radio Ministry, "Deep in the Heart," that many will be called out to a relationship with Jesus Christ, and they will learn and grow in Him, and be drawn to Him, as a result of the radio program.
●Please pray for the faculty and students in the historic Darrington Seminary in the Darrington Penitentiary south of Houston.
●Please pray that the Lord Jesus will guide and bless each of our activities within the work of the Foundation, that all will be according to His will, His way, in His timing.
●Please pray for the Capital Campaign for the Building Renovation Project at Darrington, that God's people and businesses will be moved to completely fund the renovation so that we will be able to move the entire Darrington Seminary into the building in early 2015. We must raise 2.1-2.5 million to accomplish this effort.
●Please pray for me, that I will be enabled spiritually and physically to continue the work, to remain healthy in Him, and to have a deeper and more abundant prayer life, and be more receptive to His direction of my steps.
Details of Current Activities
Here follows a few details of some current activities. I will try to be concise and to the point as I outline a few of the initiatives we are being allowed to pursue here in Texas. These are in no particular order; however, all of our activities are intensely focused on our mission of bringing new levels of safety, forgiveness, and reconciliation to our Texas prisons.
●Providing Continuous Financial Support to the growing Darrington Seminary. We continue to financially provide for the operational needs of Darrington Seminary. Our supporters and donors (including you) provide for the administrative needs (computers, furniture, etc.) and financial needs (salaries, textbooks, supplies) of the Seminary's operation. We have been able to meet our modest budget each year for the past 3 years, and pray that it is the will of our God for us to continue in this role. Again, thank you for making it all possible!
The Culture Change is the First Step. A TDCJ official told me recently that an inmate in another Texas prison said, "Chaplain, three years ago I wanted to apply to the Seminary, but when I heard that it was at Darrington, I changed my mind. You know how bad Darrington was. But now, I hear things are a lot better at Darrington since the Seminary started, and I'm going to apply to get in." And yes, the inmate is correct. Darrington violence rates are going down and its reputation among the other prisons has changed--- for the better!
 ●The Building Renovation Project, 2014-2015. As you will recall, it is our intent to have a fully functioning "Bible College" with four completely autonomous cohorts of students in school, five days a week, just like any other college. We now have one class each of Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and (rising) Seniors. Our student body has grown to nearly our goal-- of 200 men in Bible College at Darrington. We are out of room in the current "Seminary Wing" we have used since the Seminary began. We must move to larger quarters, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has given us the use of an older, virtually abandoned, clear-span gymnasium. With the direction of our Board of Directors, a contractor has been chosen, a design and buildout-budget have been created, and a Capital Campaign is now being started to raise about 2.1 million dollars to completely renovate the old gymnasium and turn it into a fully functioning, stand-alone College within the men's maximum security prison at Darrington. Volunteers have stepped up to lead the fundraising, which began officially On June 28, 2014. We believe when this renovation is completed and the Seminary is moved into the new building, there will be nothing like it anywhere in the United States, perhaps the world.
Here's our Architect's rendering of the Floor Plan:
●The Field Ministry Program for Graduates of the Darrington Seminary.
Our first graduation at Darrington Seminary is scheduled for May 9, 2015. Most of the Graduates will then enter into the newly developed "Field Ministry Program," which The Heart of Texas has begun in conjunction with TDCJ and SWBTS. The "Field Ministers" will be systematically transported to other Texas state prisons, where they will begin their work with the Chaplains of those prisons. And after that, every 52 weeks, we will be graduating approximately 40-50 men and sending them out as Field Ministers. Remember, our graduates are inmates who have been sentenced to "life in prison" and to extremely long sentences otherwise. Thus, we will have their highly-motivated hearts, and their services, for a long time in the system. They will be allowed to do things that, historically, inmates have not been officially allowed to do as they support the work of the prison Chaplains. The Heart of Texas Foundation developed and wrote the seminal "Texas Field Ministry Manual" for the TDCJ and SWBTS to use as a guide as we develop the structure and function of this program. Other states will use this Texas manual as they begin their own Prison Seminaries.
 ●Bringing "Malachi Dads" Fatherhood Bible Studies to Texas Prisons. It is well known that 70-80% of all children, whose fathers or mothers are incarcerated, will literally follow those parents into prison. It is a most alarming situation, and is often called, "The Family Incarceration Cycle." As an outgrowth of the Seminary at Angola's Louisiana State Penitentiary, and to help prevent their own children from becoming additional victims of their fathers' crimes, the Malachi Dads inmate movement began. This idea was fostered by graduates and students of the Angola Seminary (and their inmate friends) to help inmate men learn how to become fathers to their children, even while incarcerated for life behind the Angola fences. AWANA, the international children's ministry, was asked to help the prison men develop a curriculum and structure for a year-long regimen of Bible Studies. The program was named "Malachi Dads," with the goal of focusing on evangelization and discipling of the men to become fathers of influence on their children, through Christ and the Gospel. The program became an immediate success, and has continued for some years, even being adopted in other states by individual prisons here and there.
○The Heart of Texas Foundation has been given permission to begin the systematic deployment of Malachi Dads chapters into all of the Texas Prisons, beginning with the Coffield men's maximum-security unit, and the Darrington Unit. Our Foundation will help organize and train local volunteers and support-churches near each prison, to fund, facilitate, mentor, and support the Malachi Dads chapters in their weekly meetings. A one-year curriculum is planned, using primarily AWANA Malachi Dads materials, and Lifeway curriculum. It is our intent that the Seminary Graduates "Field Ministers", as they are deployed into the Texas prisons, will be able to facilitate and counsel with the men who join the Malachi Dads chapters in their prisons. The Darrington Unit will have its own Malachi Dads chapter where the Seminary students will be exposed to the curriculum and trained "in-house" before being sent out. This will be yet another use of our Seminary Graduates after they are sent to their remote prison assignments as Field Ministers.
○AWANA has partnered with The Heart of Texas Foundation to execute this new approach to helping fathers in prison reconcile with their children.
 ●Day With Dad at Darrington, 2014. For the last few years, The Heart of Texas, along with our partner churches including your own church, has sponsored a "Day with Dad at Darrington." We are actively planning another such event for November 8-9, 2014, at Darrington penitentiary, where men in both the Seminary program and in the general prison population have the opportunity to apply to their Warden for permission to have their children brought to the prison to spend the day with their Dads in a festive, teaching, bonding atmosphere. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of this event, because it is through the person and work of Jesus Christ that a man can see what man should look like to his children, family, and friends. The Heart of Texas volunteers and churches host this 2-day event, and you may see a 6 minute clip of this event. We are seeing profoundly moving instances of reconciliation between inmate fathers and their children who are in many cases totally estranged and without meaningful relationships. This is one of the most popular annual events at Darrington.
 ● Radio Program, "Deep in the Heart". We are in our third year of broadcasting our weekly devotional "for the incarcerated men, women, and teenagers" in our listening areas. We air on Sunday nights in Houston on KKHT FM, on WSKY AM in Asheville, NC, and WYYC AM in York PA, reaching hundreds of prisons and thousands of inmates with a devotional designed for the prisoner who is seeking hope, reconciliation, and forgiveness. We share the gospel of Jesus Christ, along with His words and works. Our sponsors are three small businesses and a retired couple. With additional weekly sponsors, we could reach many more states in the Wilkins Radio Network of Christian Radio Stations. You may hear the program live from anywhere in the world on Sunday nights at 8pm CST by going to kkht.com and clicking on " Live." Would you like to sponsor a broadcast in another state? It's just not expensive-- about $60 per month at our current offer from Wilkins Radio Network.
 ●Speaking Opportunities. As CEO and Founder, I have the inexpressible privilege of being invited to churches of all sizes as well as secular audiences. Folks hear about the great work being done by a small group of people (YOU), and they want to hear the incredible story. I tell them of The Heart of Texas, the Darrington Seminary, and all that our God has done with a small group of ordinary "nobodies"-- our donors and volunteers simply saw where God was working and desperately requested that He allow us to join Him. I regularly travel around Texas and occasionally to other states, telling the remarkable story of how the Darrington Seminary was started, and I share our ultimate mission and ultimate purpose. As a Christian layman, it gives me special joy to share what the grace of the God of the Bible looks like in my own life and in the lives of prison inmates all over our state. This often results in a church coming alongside us to become a "covenant partner" and place us on their missions budget. "Telling The Heart of Texas Story" with no strings attached helps us reach many of our goals. I'd like to come to your church and share the story, too. Email me at grove@heartoftexasfoundation.org.
 ●The Darrington Seminary Theological Library. No Seminary Bible College can function without a Theological Library, and so The Heart of Texas Foundation made an early commitment to building such a library, and we continue to do so. Our Theological Library began in a totally empty room, with not one book on the shelf. Today, some three years later, we have nearly 5,000 volumes on the shelves, and another 10,000 that are in local Houston storage being processed for delivery to Darrington Seminary. We believe we will one day have one of the two largest Theological Libraries in a prison, anywhere in the world, second only to Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana, where our sister Seminary is. We continue to have volunteers travel to retrieve donated libraries from families of deceased pastors and teachers, some books having come from as far away as Tennessee. Of course, we must purchase Theological Library books as well, and The Heart of Texas Foundation regularly does that as requested by the students and faculty.
 ●The Field Ministry & Remote Prison Theological Libraries. When a Seminary student graduates from Darrington, he will have had the luxury of using a world-class prison Theological Library for four full years. Yet when that same graduate is transferred as a new "Field Minister" to a remote prison to begin serving the Chaplain there, he will find-- at present-- no theological library. He will not have the kinds of books he will need to fully utilize the training and skills he has acquired in Seminary: lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, studies, articles, journals, word studies. He will need resource books on Biblical counseling, grief counseling, Bible teaching. To fill this need, The Heart of Texas has embarked on a mission to systematically provide a "starter kit" to each Field Ministry's prison, and then to link local churches to learn about this need at their prison and to begin to help their Field Ministers grow the library. It will take deliberate action by The Heart of Texas Foundation to insure that this happens, and we have begun the first steps of setting a process in place to help palletize the first "Field Ministry Libraries" for shipment to the first Field Ministry prisons. Volunteers and donors are assisting us in this effort.
 ●The Heart of Texas Bible Correspondence Course. Originally begun by our Teaching Assistant, Brandon Warren (an MDIV student at SWBTS), this program was taken over by The Heart of Texas when its growth became such that additional help would be needed to sustain its effectiveness. We have currently enrolled on a voluntary basis nearly 600 inmates from multiple states, in about 38 different prisons. We provide them the luxury of sending them free books as they go through the study curriculum, so they are able to underline and make notes in the books without having to return them. This, for a prisoner, is a great blessing. We require the to read deeper books covering theology, systematic theology, church history, and so forth. Our goal is to take them from the milk of the word to some of the meat. ○An interesting note is that we have a Darrington Seminary student who originally enrolled in our Bible Correspondence Course in another Texas prison, and then heard about The Darrington Seminary program, applied for it, and was accepted.
 ●Helping Other States Create Prison Seminaries. West Virginia will be the next state to follow our Texas-Angola Model! Increasing opportunities are emerging for The Heart of Texas Foundation to assist other states in developing their own prison Seminaries. We tell them, "we can't do it for you, but we can help you as Angola helped us." And so we provide guidance, consultation, materials, and process help to them. We take their interested lay leaders and prison officials to Angola Penitentiary with us on our monthly Texas trips to Angola. Right now, our first state to use the Texas Model comes online in the fall of 2014, as West Virginia plans to open their Seminary in the Mount Olive Maximum Security men's prison outside Charleston, WV. We have been closely involved with them from the very beginning of their interest, and their various prison officials and their Appalachian Bible College's President have made a total of 3 trips to Angola with me. We are currently talking at various stages with interested leaders from Colorado, California, North Carolina, New Mexico, Washington State and Missouri.
 ●Feeling Drawn to Help Us in Some Way? If you are a leader in your church or community, and feel led to learn more about our work in the spirit of helping us in some way, I'd like to invite you to join me for one of my monthly "prison seminary orientation trips" to Angola, LA, or to simply let me schedule a visit for you to Darrington Seminary, south of Houston. Nearly every month, I take 10-12 people from Texas (and other states when they request it) to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, LA. The purpose of the trip is to see the far-reaching effects their prison Seminary has made on what was formerly known as "the bloodies prison in America." With Warden Burl Cain's special offer of hospitality to The Heart of Texas Foundation, my guests are able to see and experience the graduates of the Seminary and to observe what their influence has caused over the last 19 years of the Seminary's operation. My remaining 2014 schedule for the Angola trips is as follows:
●July 23-25 ●August 20-22 ●September 24-26 ●October -- no trip ●November 19-21 ●December --- no trip
I will need the following from each person: Name as it appears on Driver's License, Driver's License Number, your cell phone, your email address, your mailing address and your Date of Birth.
The Angola Seminary Orientation Trip is not a "tourist" trip. I am calling for only those of you who have serious inquiries about our work and how you might join with us in some way-- sorry, but this trip is not a trip for "tourists" or for someone who has "always wanted to see Angola." I know you understand, with accommodations being limited! Thank you. Just email us at Info@heartoftexasfoundation.org and we'll get in touch to give you more details!
On behalf of everyone at The Heart of Texas Foundation, I want to thank you again for your friendship, your encouragement, your prayer support, and your financial gifts. Without all of those, we could not respond to the calling our God has placed on all of us! Thank you, thank you, from our deepest hearts. We need you-- please stay with us!
In Christ, and looking for Him today,
Grove
Grove Norwood, CEO The Heart of Texas Foundation |
