Bheart

Timothy Network will launch “Project Braveheart” on Friday April 20. The goal: To connect prisoners with Christ-centered mentors who will help them back on their feet through longterm discipling and encouragement. The opportunity comes as an exciting next step for our work. Braveheart will pair equipped disciplers with men whose lives have taken a wrong turn. The following update is to provide background on why and how the project came together.

“All men die. Not all men live.”

The quote is from Braveheart, a film starring Mel Gibson in the role of Scottish patriot William Wallace. Whether or not Wallace actually said this, it does ring true. Death comes to all; ironically, most people never really “live” in the first place!

Jesus Christ came to radically change the deadend nature of man’s pursuit of living. He desires that we experience real life, not a cheap imitation. He boldly claimed, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Real living invites losing ourselves in the bigger picture of God’s kingdom. It often means exchanging the safety of the familiar for opportunities that stretch and challenge us. Jesus went out of his way to minister to hurting people with messy lives. He invities us to join him in the adventure of serving in places where pain and despair are commonplace. Braveheart is an effort to answer his call.

A Serendipity

Good things and opportunities often come as a surprise. That’s what happened when I relocated my office last December and became a neighbor with Maridel Williams and “Open Doors of Hope.”

Open Doors is an outreach to women housed at the Rutherford County Correctional Work Center (RCCWC). The ministry engages offenders in weekly life skills classes. They’re simultaneously encouraged by trained “godmothers” on the outside.

Open Doors celebrated its first birthday a few weeks ago. During the first twelve months they shared a better way of living with eighty-seven women. Many of these women remain in discipling relationships with their godmothers after being released from the Work Center. The goal is to raise up godly women through longterm relational discipling.

I hope you’re reading between the lines. Timothy Network and Open Doors of Hope represent kindred visions. God seems to have brought our paths to a crossing point for a reason.

A New Partnership

I recently attended a graduation ceremony for women completing Maridel’s class. What I saw and heard didn’t have markings of an ordinary ministry program; it breathed life. Lives on both sides of the aisle (mentor and mentee) are being enriched and impacted by relational mentoring. Discipleship is happening.

I talked with Superintendent Bernard Salandy that day. He attended the ceremony because of his respect for Maridel’s work. He told me of his dream to see a similar support ministry for men housed at Work Center. While many churches conduct Bible studies at RCCWC, there was no longterm pre/post-release mentoring effort before Open Doors began working there in 2011. Superintendent Salandy believes mentoring is a main key for reducing the return-to-jail rate the penal system often sees. He hopes to see male offenders impacted in the same way Maridel’s team has influenced lives on the women’s side.

Here’s the punch line: Since my conversation with the Work Center’s superintendent, Timothy Network and Open Doors have formed a working partnership. Beginning on Friday, I’ll co-teach a thirteen week life skills class with Timothy Network volunteer, Bruce Hunzicker. Twelve inmates are enrolled, and twelve Braveheart mentors have signed on to work with them pre- and post-release. Our first group of volunteer mentors include:

Tom Beckwith
Ben Bohannon
Kimball Bullington
Rick Chambless
Ryan Florida
John Gardner
Ronnie Henderson
Daniel Pritchett
Milton Stanley
Brent Walker
Joe Wakham
John Williams

Ephesians Chapter 6 shows that disciples of Jesus are engaged in a spiritual battle with the forces of evil. Project Braveheart will put men on the battle lines as they engage the enemy in a battle for the souls of men. Pray and stay tuned!