| Volume 1, Issue 7 |
October 2007 |
Georgia Prison Welcomes DPMN
[Scott DeLoach (plaid shirt) with the Deaf inmates at Men's State
Prison in Georgia.
Mike Gahan (blue shirt) is the Deaf pastor who
regularly visits the Deaf in prison.]
Last month during the Deaf Prison Ministries Network conference in Virginia,
Warden Alexis Chase, who was one of our keynote speakers, invited Scott
DeLoach, our Executive Director, to come and visit her prison. Warden Chase
is in charge of the Men's State Prison in Hardwick, Georgia where all the Deaf
inmates in the State of Georgia are incarcerated.
On October 1, 2007, Scott DeLoach had the opportunity to go
and meet the 12 Deaf men at the Men's State Prison.
The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Deaf Prison Ministries Network
to the Deaf inmates
there and tell them about our aftercare facility, Healing Hands Ranch.
When Scott arrived at the prison Warden Chase had a special treat
for all the Deaf inmates. Food was brought in from outside and a cake was
served. The cake read "God & DPMN Loves you all!"
It was a special time for the Deaf inmates to eat and fellowship.
Scott shared with the Deaf men about the Deaf Prison Ministries Network
and Healing Hands Ranch. The Deaf inmates were very appreciative of Warden
Chase and Deaf Prison Ministries Network for caring about them. Our meeting
ended all too soon when it was time for the Deaf inmates to return to their
cell blocks. It was a moment that the Deaf inmates at the Men's State Prison
will never forget.
Thank you Warden Chase for arranging this special meeting and thank you
Mike Gahan, Nathan Crowe and Ron Lozinski for your
sacrifice of time to regularly meet with the Deaf inmates in Georgia to show
them that God truly does love them!
Prayer Garden at HHR
The back section of Healing Hands Ranch consists of 12 acres of dense woods.
It was one of our visions to some day carve out a portion of the woods and
create a prayer garden. The singles group from First Baptist Church, Houston
stepped up to the challenge when they showed up one Saturday and helped us
clear a small portion of the woods. The group spent 3 hours chopping trees
and brush and created a trail into the woods and a clearing where the prayer
garden will eventually be built.
The singles group had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. Even our
resident, Steven Bullard (front left) joined in. When the prayer garden
is completed, it will have benches and a speaker's platform. It will be
used as an outdoor meeting spot for our residents to gather and have bible
studies, prayer time and fellowship. All of this will be set in the woods
where we can enjoy the beauty of God's creation all around the garden.
A special thank you to the singles group from First Baptist Church, Houston,
Texas for getting this project started. If you would like to help us finish the
prayer garden please contact us
and let us know how you would like to help!
Special Request
We have a special request for two pieces of equipment that we've identified a
need for:
- Closed Captioned Decoder:
Someone donated a large screen TV to Healing Hands Ranch a few months ago.
This TV is in our main lodge and will be used to show Christian movies to
the residents during their free time. The TV is an older model that doesn't
have the closed captioned chip built in like the newer TVs we have today.
If you have a working closed captioned decoder that you no longer
need and are willing to donate it to DPMN, please
contact us.
- TTY with printer:
When Scott was visiting the Men's State Prison earlier this month, he
learned that many prisons and jails do not have TTYs available for their
Deaf inmates. Many prisons are on a very limited budget and it is difficult
for them to get a TTY. As a result, many Deaf people in prison are unable to
make phone calls. Scott had an idea to ask Deaf people to donate their
old TTYs to Deaf Prison Ministries Network and we will distribute them to
prisons who need them. This will help prisons know more about DPMN and
be willing to let DPMN minister to the Deaf at their prisons. If you have
a working TTY with a printer that you no longer need and are
willing to donate it to DPMN, please
contact us.
Your donation of those two pieces of equipment will help us minister to the
Deaf both at HHR and in prisons.
Prayer Needs
- Pray for funds and labor help to finish the shell house for our future main office. We estimate this will cost $50,000 for materials.
- Pray for an increase in our donations to cover our operating expenses.
- Pray for a pick-up truck. We need a pick up truck to be able to transport materials from town to the ranch.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Click here to subscribe to this eNewsletter
Click here to send email to the editor of this eNewsletter