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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 | | Joy to the world, the Lord Jesus Christ has indeed come! Merry Christmas! Come again today, Lord Jesus! |
Dear Friend,
It's hard to believe: 2014 is our fourth year of prison service to Texas children, families, inmates, and victims.
People tell me only God could make so much happen in such a short time. And new surprises show up almost daily. Please take a few moments to read the following short articles about what's happening with HOTF, and call me (Grove) at 281-850-8103 if you'd like to talk. I pray that YOU will be led to become more involved with us than ever before. We need your help. While our God is helping us, He does seem to require that we have to work, work, work--- for every square foot of ground He gives us. What a blessing!! And there is so much more afoot than I can put into this brief update.
Thank you for subscribing to our Newsletter, for your encouragement, support, AND FOR PRAYING FOR US IN OUR WORK. And thanks to the prayer groups that have continued to lift our work up to God. If you'd like to receive a complimentary copy of any of our resources , click here.
Will you become a "contributor" in 2015? One who gives regularly to our work, no matter how small the gift? As the size of the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington penitentiary has grown to its full size, our financial needs have grown as well. We will never need millions to operate, but we do need to be able to meet the monthly bills to operate the Darrington Seminary, and as you know The Heart of Texas IS the source of the "private funding" that keeps our Seminary's supplies, bills and professors' salaries paid. We now have four full classes of students in school together, but in separate classrooms, just like any other college: we have a full class of Freshmen, one of Sophomores, another of Juniors, and one of Seniors who will graduate in May, 2015. It's just too spectacular to believe. There is no doubt but that we're the largest school of our kind anywhere in the world.
In the love of Christ,
Grove Norwood, Founder & CEO The Heart of Texas Foundation
Our CPA reminds us that any donation made for a 2014 gift must be POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 31, 2014. Thank you in advance for your end of year giving! |
NEWS
Success! Our 4th Annual Banquet & Fundraiser
October 3, 2014, 6:00 - 9:00 PM, at Sugar Creek Baptist Church
Over 300 guests came, an increase in attendance by 33%, with increased giving, participation, and an amazing "silent auction"! Don't miss Banquet 2015, date yet to be set!!
SUGAR LAND, TX -- Grove encouraged all attendees to consider becoming not only donors (one-time or intermittent givers, which we need), but also to become regular givers, or "regular contributors," as famed consultant Peter Drucker urged all people of charity to become.
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Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice delivered a message of encouragement and support to all those in the audience.
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Dr. Byron Johnson, of Baylor University, reports to the banquet guests about the 5-year study of the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington penitentiary. Dr. Johnson is the author of the acclaimed book, More God Less Crime, which we highly recommend.
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Marie Whitson, Mother of Seminary Student Jason McMahon, keynote speaker at the banquet
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Dr. John Robson, Director of the prison seminary at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, LA, now in its 19th year and our partner in this movement!
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Dr. Ben Phillips, Director of the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington penitentiary shared exciting updates with us on the progress of our students, now in four full classes... freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors!
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Edd Hendee, Master of Ceremonies at Banquet 2014. Thank you, Edd!
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Our "Silent Auction" was a huge success. Many hand-made items from inmates at Darrington and Angola Penitentiaries.
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Independence Coffee Company produced a special blend for the Banquet, named after our weekly radio show, "Deep in the Heart"! Bags and special Mugs were available for a small donation.
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NEWS
Another Hit! November 7-8, 2014 -- Our Third Year to Produce
"A Day with Dad" for Children of Imprisoned Fathers at the Darrington Penitentiary in Rosharon, Texas.
ROSHARON, TEXAS. The Heart of Texas Foundation sponsored its third year of " A Day with Dad at Darrington" at the Darrington Prison on November 7-8, 2014. It was a GREAT event!
Pastors and nearly 200 volunteers from many churches in the "Darrington Corridor" south of Houston: Sienna Ranch Baptist Church, Sugar Creek Sienna, Sugar Creek Baptist Church, The Freedom Center Church, Simonton Community Church, and others.
 Selected inmates and free-world mentors spent the first day together in a special conference designed to prepare the inmate fathers for fresh interaction with their children. The inmate fathers are given a review of the biblical principles of forgiveness and reconciliation, and they are encouraged to forgive the past and to assume a Godly role in the rearing of their children. Many of the inmates were surprised to learn that they can still be "fathers" to their children even from behind bars. On the second day, Saturday, the children arrived for an entire day of games, quiet time, educational activities, and just plain fun with their dads. In the meantime, the children's care-givers (the grandparents and relatives who are raising the children) were hosted across town, by many volunteers and churches (The Freedom Center, Sienna Ranch Baptist Church, etc.) The Caregivers were given honor and a day of special treatment, gifts, and encouragement.
The date for the next Day with Dad event has been set: November 6-7, 2015. To get your name on the volunteer list, for 2015, email Stephanie@heartoftexasfoundation.org
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Malachi Dads Comes to Coffield and Darrington Penitentiaries! Sponsored by The Heart of Texas Foundation. A new Fatherhood Program for prisoner-dads
Palestine, Texas; Rosharon Texas -- Coffield and Darrington Penitentiaries. In another historic first for Texas, The Heart of Texas Foundation has been given permission by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to systematically introduce the powerful "Malachi Dads" movement to the Texas men's prisons. Malachi Dads began in the Coffield unit, our largest Texas men's prisons, in June of this year. Malachi Dads begins in Darrington on January 6, 2015. Local Houston Pastors and volunteers are helping with Malachi in Texas: Pastor Tracy Baskin of the Freedom Center, Pastor Gary Hill of Sugar Creek Baptist Church, and other local men within The Heart of Texas Family of volunteers. Visit our Web Site for more about Malachi Dads.
BEGINNINGS AT ANGOLA SEMINARY. Malachi Dads was birthed in 2005 by a number of Angola Seminary students and graduates in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, with on-site assistance provided by the international children's ministry, AWANA, Inc. These men were responding to the heart cry of incarcerated fathers who, embracing their identity under God as the spiritual leaders of their families, sought to become equipped to reach and to disciple their children under the protective care of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With the support and guidance from the Senior Warden, from faculty at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and from the world-wide children's ministry, AWANA.org, all of whom came alongside the men in the Angola penitentiary to help create the Malachi Dads program.
TEXAS AND MALACHI DADS. The Heart of Texas Foundation, in a new partnership with the international children's ministry, AWANA, Inc., will assist the Darrington Seminary Field Ministers and Chaplains to systematically bring the Malachi Dads program to all Texas men's prisons. Application for approval as an Approved TDCJ Program will be made for Malachi Dads. This will allow all Chaplains who have Field Ministers to use their Field Ministers, The Heart of Texas Foundation, AWANA, and local churches to help establish a Malachi Dads program in a prison. The Heart of Texas Foundation will identify, recruit, and train local volunteers from area churches to facilitate and support the modest expenses of curriculum materials for each group of Malachi Dads. The remote prison's team of Field Ministers will be on hand to help organize, recruit members, and facilitate the Malachi Dads meetings within their prison. From the Angola experience, we have learned that the Chaplain will see a remarkable change in the men who go through the program, due in large measure to the fact that the Field Ministers, most of whom are doing life sentences, will have a large impact on their lives as a result of the FM's seminary training.
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NEWS
New "Motherhood Ministry" Coming to Texas Women's Prisons: "Hannah's Gift" Sponsored by The Heart of Texas Foundation
FULSHEAR, TEXAS-- The idea for a ministry for incarcerated mothers that paralleled the "Malachi Dads" fatherhood program for incarcerated men was born in Warden Burl Cain's heart last year. He immediately called Dr. Kristi Miller, Chaplain at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, and enlisted her help, along with AWANA's. Once the Hanna's Gift program was born in Louisiana, we at The Heart of Texas Foundation made formal application with Texas Department of Criminal Justice to bring Hannah's Gift into all the women's prisons in Texas. We were approved, and we then sought the partnership of the experienced women's prison ministry in the Gatesville, TX area, Discipleship Unlimited. Their Founder, Ms. Linda Strom, and her top volunteer leaders then went with Brenna and Grove to Angola, to visit the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, and to learn how we together might begin Hannah's Gift in all the women's prisons in Texas. We are currently working with AWANA's Executive Director, Mike Broyles, and Ms. Linda Strom, to begin the process of beginning our first local chapter of Hanna's Gift, in a women's prison in the Gatesville area. Systematically, Discipleship Unlimited will help us begin Hannah's Gift in all of our Texas women's prisons. Visit DiscipleshipUnlimited.org--They will be working with us to become the facilitators of this new women's ministry. To volunteer, email them at their web site.
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NEWS
New Prison Seminary Opens in West Virginia! Based on The Heart of Texas - Angola Model. Heart of Texas hosted to Angola many West Virginia delegates, businessmen, and Senior Prison Officials, who made numerous trips to Angola with Grove to gain the vision.
Heart of Texas Foundation consults with West Virginia for nearly a year, providing guidance and help.
Mount Olive Penitentiary, West Virginia -- West Virginia inmates can now pursue a four-year college degree through a program launched in September of this year at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex, a maximum-security penitentiary for men. The new Moral Rehabilitation program aims to provide just that, Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein said. "I believe we have the opportunity to make some truly positive changes not only within our Corrections system but that our efforts can be far reaching throughout the state," said Rubenstein, who is also a deputy secretary of the W.Va. Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
Graduates will receive a bachelor of arts in Bible and Theology through Appalachian Bible College, located in Raleigh County. The Mount Olive Correctional Complex is located in Fayette County and has a current capacity of 1,030 inmates.
Nearly 30 Mount Olive inmates successfully applied to form the program's inaugural class, which meets Monday through Thursday with independent study sessions on Fridays. (wva.com)
West Virginia's equivalent non-profit (like The Heart of Texas Foundation) is "Catalyst Ministries", founded by our friend Calvin Sutphin, former businessman and now a force for penal reform in West Virginia! Catalyst Ministries provides all the private funding to keep their Mount Olive Bible College open. In the same way, The Heart of Texas provides all the private funding to keep the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington penitentiary open!
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NEWS
Colorado Men Come with Heart of Texas To Angola
Three Denver, CO men flew to meet Grove and join The Heart of Texas in one of its monthly trips to Angola. These men are inspired to begin the work of starting a prison seminary in Colorado, using the Heart of Texas model at Southwestern Seminary at Darrington.
ANGOLA PENITENTIARY, LA -- Shown here with Angola's Warden Burl Cain, our new friends are Denver businessman Mr. Jerry Middel, Denver Seminary executive Dr. Doug Fombelle, and New York Times Best-Selling Author Mr. Tommy Spaulding, all joined Grove for 2.5 days recently to explore with us how Colorado might go about beginning a prison Seminary in that state. More folks from Colorado are expected to join Grove at Angola in the January 2015 trip, which is in the planning stages now. Tommy Spaulding has gone so far as to fly to Houston and visit Darrington Seminary with Grove a few months ago. They are even talking now about "The Heart of Colorado"!
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NEWS
Grove & Brenna Travel to North Carolina to Share the Vision of the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington, and the Concept of Allowing Inmate-Graduates to Serve in State Prisons as "Field Ministers"
CHARLOTTE, NC -- In the birthplace of Evangelist Billy Graham's ministry, meetings were held recently where Grove was able to speak to many Charlotte citizens about the vision of the Darrington Seminary, its Field Ministry program, Malachi Dads, and Hannah's Gift. Brenna helped represent The Heart of Texas at the meetings, and answered some of the many questions about our work and methods. A number of influential businessmen and women, including pastors of large churches, where in attendance. The meetings were organized and hosted by Charlotte businessman Phil Sherrill, who last year traveled to Angola with Grove and caught the vision. North Carolina's largest seminary is now in touch with Grove, and we are in much prayer about the direction of this movement.
Grove told the attendees, "We can't start your prison seminary for you, but we will show you how we did it." One attendee said, "Grove, this is the kind of thing that Chuck Colson dreamed about all his life. He would LOVE this!" Yes, we agree, Chuck would love the idea of a prison sending out lifers who are Seminary Graduates-- equipped with the Gospel and a message of spiritual transformation, which leads to moral rehabilitation, reconciliation, and forgiveness--- and then transferring those same me into prisons all over the state, to serve out their life sentences in service...from the inside! Pray for Colorado and North Carolina, which might be the next two states to follow the Angola-Texas model!
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NEWS
Fox 26 News Travels to Angola with The Heart of Texas
Local Fox News Affiliate, Channel 26, and Greg Groogan travel with Grove to document some of the culture change which resulted from the impact of the graduates of Angola's Seminary. Six other Fox News Affiliates picked up this story and aired it on other stations.
Greg Groogan, the Award-Winning Special Projects reporter for the well-known Fox News Affiliate, Channel 26 in Houston, traveled to Angola with The Heart of Texas Foundation recently, to document more of the work of The Heart of Texas, and to film some of the evident culture change which exists at Angola. He interviewed Warden Burl Cain, Dr. John Robson (Director of the Angola Seminary), and numerous inmates who are "Peer Ministers" and "Inmate Pastors."
To see some of the results of Greg's visit to Angola, watch these special news reports which aired on Fox 26 News in Houston:
Greg Groogan, Part 2 of the Angola Visit: "Savings Souls on the Inside Saves Lives on the Outside"
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NEWS
Coming to a Prison Near You: A "Field Minister" From Southwestern Seminary at Darrington, Beginning with Graduation May 9, 2015
Leaders from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Southwestern Seminary at Darrington faculty, and The Heart of Texas Foundation meet to forge new policies to manage the deployment of the Field Ministers who graduate from the Darrington Seminary. Creating the "Field Ministry Advisory Council" to set Field Ministry Policy and Strategy
We have been meeting regularly in 2014 to write policies and procedures that have never existed in Texas. These policies must answer the following kinds of questions:
How do we send our new Seminary graduates into other prisons to serve as Field Ministers To which prisons should they go and in what order? How do we prepare the warden and chaplains to receive their team of Field Ministers? How many should we send to each prison? What will their new duties be, and how can they best assist the Chaplains and Wardens of those prisons? How can The Heart of Texas generate local church support for those ministry activities in each prison where Field Ministers serve?
These and a host of other issues have been the subject of our meetings in 2014, and will continue in 2015. With our first graduating class scheduled to "walk" the Darrington Chapel's stage on May 9, 2015, we will be ready to begin transferring the graduates, on a voluntary basis, to other prisons in Texas to begin serving the Chaplains in their ministries. A new TDCJ Policy has been drafted, to provide details on what these new graduates will be allowed to do to help bring new levels of safety, forgiveness, and reconciliation to our Texas prisons--- just as the Angola Seminary graduates have done in Louisiana prisons for nearly 20 years now.
Beginning shortly after May 9, 2015, key Seminary graduates will be transferred in "teams" to other Texas Prisons as "Field Ministers". Imagine that. Men serving life sentences going out with Seminary Degrees, into other Texas Prisons, to join the Prison Chaplains in their ministries. Beginning in 2015, our graduates will have Bachelor of Science degrees in Biblical Studies. They will have taken courses in Counseling, Hermeneutics, Exegetical Bible Exposition, Teaching. They will know how to counsel, comfort, and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to hurting men in Texas prisons. Their goal is to help foster new levels of spiritual transformation within the hearts of inmates in Texas, and thus lead to new levels of moral rehabilitation within our inmates. Safer prisons will result. Fewer Victims will be hurt. Families on the outside will see new levels of reconciliation. Field Ministers will help us begin Malachi Dads chapters in every prison to which they go.
The very first year of Angola's Bible Seminary (Angola, Louisiana), the violence rate in the prison began to shrink. Today some 19 years later, Angola's violence rate has plummeted more to nearly 80% of what it was when Warden Cain first went to Angola. And now, Angola is known as "America's Safest Prison." Louisiana has 8 prisons. Texas has over 112 prisons. Texas needs a large prison seminary sending men out into our huge prison system, to help reduce violence, reduce victims, teach moral change, help lead men to a new life of Spiritual Transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Men serving life sentences will be around a long time to help influence the new culture. The longer we wait, the more victims. Help us provide the long range funding to keep pumping out our graduates into the huge populations within our Texas prisons.
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NEWS
NEW SEMINARY "Old Gym Renovation Project"-- Needed: $2.5 Million
Texas Now Has the Largest Prison Seminary: And we're out of space! $2.5 Million Needed for more space, for our own stand-alone building. Think of it! We need your help.
ROSHARON, TEXAS. We are out of space for the growing Darrington Seminary! We now have nearly 150 long-term and full-time student inmates, and we plan to bring in another 40 in 2015. We have been given an historic approval to remodel the virtually unused "old gym" at Darrington prison, and turn it into a two-story fully equipped, 4-year Seminary building! We plan to have a new space for the Theological Library, a special chapel for the men to practice their sermons and studies, computer labs, conference rooms and classrooms. With our Building Committee consulting on the project, and with our God's blessing, it will be an amazing thing to watch happen. We hope most of the planning phase will be completed by the end of August. We have opened a special account for the DARRINGTON SEMINARY OLD GYM RENOVATION PROJECT, AND INVITE YOU TO email me at grove@heartoftexasfoundation.org. We have a capital campaign committee, and for more information on how to give, please contact Pat King, at pkingtexas@gmail.com. The building fund has approximately $500,00 in cash, with additional pledges. But Texas state rules require that we must have it all raised before we may begin construction.
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NEWS
"DEEP IN THE HEART" Radio Show Soon to Begin Its Third Year of Broadcasting-- Now Syndicated in 3 States
SHILOH FARM, TEXAS -- The remote radio studio is nestled in Grove's home-office at "Shiloh Farm," where Brenna and Grove moved after their devastating house fire in January. The Heart of Texas Foundation records its weekly radio show from Shiloh, in a special studio Brenna constructed in the study above the workshop. A few individual supporters provide the funding for three radio stations to air our weekly radio program entitled, "Deep in the Heart." The program is an evening "devotional," and is targeted at the incarcerated man, woman, or teenager in prison. Grove presents the devotional each week. His primary message is one of hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the evidence of the truly changed life, which shows the transformative power of that Gospel.
The show is sponsored by MTFequipment.com, Ralph & Mary Clinard, Papa Murphy's Pizza in Sugarland, Dave & Carol Hanna, and Mrs. Saundra Montgomery. We are heard in at least 5 states, and dozens of prisons, where men, women, and teens, and folks in at least 8 countries, are listening to our broadcasts. You can hear all of them, or any one of them, at www.heartoftexasfoundation.org/radio. They are all archived in our web site for your listening convenience. You can listen to Deep in the Heart at any time even by using your earbuds with your cell phone! Just use your cell phone's browser and dial up "heartoftexasfoundation.org" and click on "Radio" on the menu. |
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NEWS
Rotary Clubs in Houston Area Embrace HOTF
Many Rotary Clubs in the Houston Area have embraced the work we are doing at The Heart of Texas Foundation. We are grateful that many of their leaders have undertaken to write grants, and raise funds, to help us renovate the "Old Gym" at Darrington Penitentiary, where our Southwestern Seminary extension campus is located, funded by The Heart of Texas and its contributors.
We are grateful for our friends in Rotary--- thank you for coming alongside us, for traveling to see the famed Angola, Louisiana penitentiary with us, for coming to visit the Southwestern Seminary at Darrington Penitentiary; for allowing us to speak at so many of your Rotary Club luncheons, and for your personal contributions and encouragement. Thank you to the past District Governor Bob Gebhard, and to the new District Governor, Lisa Faith Massey!
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NEWS
Why Have a Prison Seminary for Men Serving Life Sentences?
To help create a new culture of safety forgiveness, and reconciliation... from the inside out.
Men serving life sentences are the best ones to teach other inmates about living a moral life in prison. Free-world volunteers do not have the credibility among prisoners that their own kind has-- and they don't live with the inmates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, with no privacy to be had anywhere. Thus, the imprisoned men who are spiritually transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ are lights on a hill-- pearls of great price. And when they are given 4 years of advanced training in the content and application of the Bible, and then sent out to other prisons, they become a formidable force for the transformation of a prison system. In that one statement is the power that will transform a prison system's culture.
Our Seminary graduates will be transferred into other Texas Prisons as "Field Ministers". Imagine that. Men serving life sentences going out with Seminary Degrees, into other Texas Prisons, to join the Prison Chaplains in their ministries. Beginning in 2015, our graduates will have Bachelor of Science degrees in Biblical Studies. They will have taken courses in Counseling, Hermeneutics, Exegetical Bible Exposition, Teaching. They will know how to counsel, comfort, and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to hurting men in Texas prisons.
The very first year of Angola's Bible Seminary (Angola, Louisiana), the violence rate in the prison began to shrink. Today 19 years later, Angola's violence rate has plummeted almost 80%, and now it is known as "America's Safest Prison." Louisiana has 8 prisons. Texas currently has 109 state prisons. Therefore, Texas needs a large prison seminary regularly sending seminary graduates out as Field Ministers, into our huge prison system. Working as Field Ministers, the graduates will help reduce violence, reduce victims, teach moral change, help lead men to a new life of Spiritual Transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as the graduates have at Angola penitentiary, for nearly 20 years. Men serving life sentences will be around a long time to help influence the new culture. The longer we wait, the more victims. Help us provide the long range funding to keep pumping out our graduates into the huge populations within our Texas prisons.
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NEWS
Heart of Texas "Seminary Orientation and Vision" Penitentiary Trips 2015. We go to Angola Penitentiary in Louisiana each month.
ANGOLA, LA-- LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY. Our goal is to help Texas see the vision of what will happen in Texas' penal system as a result of a faithful implementation of the Angola Model, which we are pioneering. If you are a Christian pastor, lay-leader, or a business person who has a heart for reforming the prison system, I personally invite you to join me on one of my trips to Angola Penitentiary, where we enjoy the hospitality of the State of Louisiana and the Senior Warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, LA.
- If you have any special guests who could help us in our work if they knew the big picture, please feel free to contact us about them. The door continues to remain open for us to receive favored hospitality from the State of Louisiana and Warden Burl Cain, as they support our efforts.
- For more details, contact Grove at info@heartoftexasfoundation.org
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NEWS
Texas Now Has What is Probably the Largest Prison Seminary in the World. And YOU have funded it! Help us sustain ourselves on into the future, for the sake of reducing victims in Texas. We can only use private funding. That means US
We continue taking Texans each month to Angola, Louisiana. They want to see how the Angola Seminary has caused "Bloody Angola" to become "America's Safest Prison."
We can continue to grow if the private funding continues to grow. If you are a person who could help Texas continue to fund the work of The Heart of Texas Foundation, a major part of which includes funding the Darrington Penitentiary Seminary, please contact us! We need your help to bring in another 40 inmates in 2015; and to renovate the "Old Gym" into a "New Seminary" building that will house the large student body of nearly 160 students; and then to furnish the new building. Would you, your firm or your Foundation like to talk with us about building the building that will help change the penal system in America? Email us at info@heartoftexasfoundation.org.
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A Word From The Founder
Dear Friend of THE HEART OF TEXAS FOUNDATION,
It is truly amazing to be a part of something that began as, and still is, a "grass-roots" effort. Words can't convey what we all see happening. I know many of you feel exactly the same way. It began on a country road in a little cow-town, with a 4-year old girl named Joy... and today, we're seeing a movement of God unlike we Texans have ever seen. To help encourage us with our work, we are actively working with supporters and encouragers like Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, one of the "founders" of the Prison Seminary Movement in Texas; our new Governor Greg Abbott, former Governor Rick Perry, Senator John Whitmire, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Angola State Penitentiary, Southwestern Seminary, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Focus on the Family, Prison Fellowship, Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion, AWANA, Radio stations KKHT FM Houston; WSKY AM Asheville,NC; WYYC AM in York PA (all of whom carry our weekly radio show, "Deep in the Heart."
And the momentum continues to grow! All in four years! Would that not stop anyone in their tracks? And would they not say, "Only God could do this!"
Our Seminary will grow to about 200 men. That is our goal. Then, we can graduate about 50 men every 52 weeks, and send them out to other Texas prisons as "Field Ministers." We will not need tons of money as Seminaries in the free-world do, but we will need to pay the bills inside the prison on into the future, if this movement in Texas is to sustain itself to bring short-and-long term prison reform to our precious state.
That's why we need you to become a CONTRIBUTOR. We love and appreciate our donors, and will always need them, but it is the "contributor," the regular giver, that will sustain us, according to Peter Drucker. Drucker, who was until his death one of the world's leading business consultants, said that it must be the goal of every non-profit organization to turn "donors" into "regular contributors." We believe this is sound advice. You can help us do that. We need you to become a contributor this year, for no matter how much an amount. Just help us regularly. Everything we do in the prison system must be privately funded by God's people.
You can help us today by simply forwarding this newsletter to a friend-- we need your help in letting Texas and other states know what we're doing. Can you come alongside us and help us? Will your church consider putting us in your missions budget so that our work can continue to have impact in Texas? We believe other states are beginning to see what we are doing, and want to know more. This is not just about Texas, this is about all of America's penal systems--- they need spiritual transformation from the inside out, and the bottom up. We believe there is no more effective way to add to the work of volunteers, Kairos, and other efforts, than to add an accredited Prison Seminary in every state in America, and enroll only lifers and inmates with very long sentences. We focus on TEXAS, but we are ready to be a good neighbor to any other state who wants to do what we are doing! We really do need your help.
- Pray for The Heart of Texas Foundation, its volunteers, supporters, and donors, their families, their businesses
- Pray for our work, and all of our events--- speaking engagements, Day With Dad event in November 2013
- Provide funding for me to hire an hourly webmaster to work on our website-- I do all of it myself and need to be freed up
- Form a "Friends of Darrington Theological Library" group in your church-- we'll give you a tour of the Library
- Form a "Friends of Darrington Seminary" group in your church-- we'll give you a tour of the Seminary
- Put The Heart of Texas Foundation into your church's missions budget each month
- Consider a bequest to the Foundation, that will insure we will continue to graduate inmate ministers
- Pray God will bring the funds to hire a full-time Operations Manager to help Grove Norwood & The Heart of Texas Foundation
- We're still growing and out of room! Help us raise 2.5 million to renovate and upgrade the Old Gym, and turn it into a "New Seminary"
- Pastors and Church Leaders: you are invited to join me for a trip to Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, LA this year. The dates for my orientation trips ("How a Prison Seminary Changes Prisons") are posted above in this NewsLetter. Just email us at info@heartoftexasfoundation.org indicating your interest.
- Let us come to your church, association, prayer group, Sunday School, or university-- and let us tell our story.
"And now, you see, I am going to Jerusalem, bound by the Holy Spirit and obligated and compelled by the convictions of my own spirit, not knowing what will befall me there--
except that the Holy Spirit clearly and emphatically affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me. But none of these things move me;
neither do I esteem my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from and which was entrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, faithfully to attest to the good news, the Gospel, of God's grace-- His unmerited favor, spiritual blessing, and mercy. " -- the Apostle Paul
Acts 20:22-25 (Amplified)
How You Can Help...
- Write a check for $25, $50, $200, $500 or more, payable to
"Heart of Texas Foundation," and mail to: HOTF, POB 991, Fulshear, Texas 77441
- Please become a regular contributor! Donate Using Paypal. You do NOT need a PayPal Account to do this.
Click here to contribute by using Paypal.
- Use a Credit Card to donate over the phone. Just call Stephanie at 832-600-4263.
- If you wish to be a major donor, please allow us to properly recognize and direct your gift by calling Grove Norwood at 281-850-8103, or David Hanna, Chairman of the Board, at (713) 594-2858.
Standing alongside you under the waterfall of God's grace, with thanksgiving for you, 
The Heart of Texas Foundation, Inc.
Connally Dads
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The Heart of Texas Foundation is a public charitable, educational, and religious tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is qualified to receive tax deductible contributions. Financial information may be obtained by request, and our IRS Tax exempt number EIN is 20-4007150 and as such may receive tax deductible contributions under Section 170 of the Code. We are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, and transfers of gifts under Sections 2055, 2106, and 2522 of the Internal Revenue Service Tax Code. Our Annual IRS Tax Return Form 990 is available upon request. Our CPA Firm is Keller & Denman, of Katy, Texas. Our mailing address is The Heart of Texas Foundation, POB 991, Fulshear, Texas 77441. Our phone is 281-850-8103, and FAX is 281-346-8902..
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