25 Years in Texas Prisons

Terry Meeuwsen has been my faithful friend and prayer partner for many years. She came to Texas in 1998 while Karla Faye Tucker was preparing for her execution. One evening, after leaving Mountain View, we went up on a hill overlooking the prisons in the area. We prayed for Karla and all those behind the fences. Then Terry suggested that we drive past the prisons and ask the Lord to open prison doors.

Now, 14 years later , Discipleship Unlimited is in every one of those prisons. God has allowed us to be an answer to our prayers!

An Interview with Terry Meeuwsen and Linda Strom

June 1! You are reaching another milestone … 70 years old. How does it feel to turn 70?

Unreal … However, seven is a significant number in the Bible AND I am celebrating 70 years. If seven is a number of completion, I want to press on to complete this great adventure with God. So like Caleb at 80 I am ready to take the land.

What do you see God doing today that energizes you?

I see God changing lives in our prisons like never before. We still do outreaches and weekly studies. These are awesome and exciting, but we also have Faith-Based Dorms where inmates are being trained to be inmate ministers. Wardens and Chaplains partner with us to make these dorms as effective as possible. Senator Whitmire, who heads the Texas Dept of Criminal Justice, has endorsed the dorm concept. The rate of recidivism of graduates has proven the effectiveness of a walk with Jesus. The word of God works! Texas State Senator Dan Patrick says, “Our ultimate goal is to make our communities safer by changing the character of prisoners so, when released, they do not go back to a life of crime.”

What is the process for a Faith-Based Dorm?

Inmates apply for the program. We interview them, and with approval from the chaplain and warden of the unit, we accept those who have a heart for God and a teachable spirit. They live in a separate faith-dorm community. We take 12 to 18 months to prepare them to be “sent out” to other housing units in the prison.

Explain how it works in the dorm.

We have both men and women’s faith-based dorms, which have classes at least three days a week, plus special seminars. They have homework as well as their prison responsibilities. They also have daily devotionals as a dorm and an individual quiet time.

I had a meeting this week with the women in our newest faith dorm at Mountain View. It opened in January. I walked into a prison housing unit filled with joy and women eager for more of Jesus. They are ready to be taught the word. They live in a forced community, so their rough areas are exposed. During our community meetings, they own their issues. Grace is freely given; however, they hold each other accountable.

Some of the praise reports from that night.

I have been in prison for 24 years and this is the first time I’ve had hope. I can see how my life can still have purpose.

We have received prayer requests from other inmates and staff on this unit. We started praying for the women in segregation and the population is dropping.

We have seen over 50 answers to prayer since we started praying two months ago.

And then they graduate? Is it difficult for them to go back into general population?

It is a challenge, but we are preparing them to be missionaries from the beginning. When they graduate, we send them out in twos or threes to the other dorms, much like a church plant. Last week at our graduation in the Hobby Unit, 24 women graduated. Every graduate shared how her life had been changed. Some of these women had never received a diploma before. Graduations are highlights. It’s all about equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. That is the great commission.

Who teaches these classes and studies?

We have over 150 active, local volunteers, and they are committed. One teacher retired early to oversee one of our dorms. We have retired volunteers as well as people in their twenties. They are on mission with God and have joined Him in what He is doing behind the fences.

How do you stay connected with so many volunteers?

I still take an active part in all of the outreaches and have weekly contact with leaders of the studies. We had a volunteer retreat this year where over 100 people attended. Released offenders came to thank the volunteers and give updates of their lives. One of our first graduates is now the Chaplain at Harris County Jail in Houston. People who once were incarcerated are now free and active in local churches and ministry.

Terry and Jean joined you in 2005. That has allowed the ministry to address some key issues in the lives of inmates. Tell me about that.

85% of our inmates have substance abuse issues. Terry and Jean and their team are doing amazing things in the area of recovery. They do recovery work, both inside and outside of prison walls. They welcome those newly released men and women and their families into local Christ-centered recovery programs.

Terry loves leading worship, and Jean has a heart for the women on death row. It is amazing how God fit our staff and team together. Kathy Diaz has been with us for seven years. She keeps us on track with detail. Kathy and Rich Diaz and Terry and Jean are friends who work together. They speak at local churches and impart the vision. Our goal is to train leaders who train leaders. Motto: Always think multiplication.

I know your heart for Africa. Are you planning another trip?

Yes! I can’t wait. I did my first Johannesburg Conference with you in 2001. This year in August will be my seventh trip. I will go to Cape Town and Wellington, South Africa. I stay for a month; I speak at Women’s conferences and church services. I also am involved in prison ministry, and we are developing a similar discipleship program for the prison there. Edrena and Mike Smith plan to come to Wellington for 10 days and we will minister in the prisons together. Edrena is an amazing administrator, and she does our curriculum development.

What is the greatest need for Discipleship Unlimited today?

The doors are open and the volunteers are in place. However, our Chaplains do not have a budget. All equipment and materials must be provided by the ministry. We supply material for hundreds of inmates weekly. We bring in speakers and musicians for the outreaches and have celebrations for graduation. We are very grateful for our faithful financial supporters, however, we continue to need additional ongoing support and gifts in order to expand and deepen our efforts.

We also need prayer. We are establishing communities of light in the heart of medium and maximum- security prisons. This is a great day for the church on the outside to come together with the church on the inside. The Bible instructs the church to go. You can go as a volunteer, a prayer warrior, or a financial supporter. The prison doors are open, and our goal is to disciple men and women who’ve come to faith into wholeness and lives of purpose.

Jean and I are privileged to be part of a team evaluating the Alpha 12-step program. We are implementing it at Woodman State Jail. It is so encouraging to see the results of both Alpha and Celebrate Recovery’s; Jesus is our deliverer and He sets captives free.

One of our participants, Nancy, had been in prison several times because of addiction issues. She was released from Woodman three days before Christmas. Nancy and her father, who is a District Attorney for the State of Texas, drove from Austin to Temple Bible’s Celebrate Recovery to join us in January. She introduced us to her father because he personally wanted to thank us.

Nancy sent the following email:

I’d like to let the women at Woodman know I am still clean and sober. It will give them hope knowing that someone like me can make it! I am also still living for God. I attend CR and a weekly Bible study. God is definitely my deliverer. I am building on a solid foundation. Thank you Terry, Jean and Jake for reaching me. God is working miracles in my life daily.

Opportunity to Make a Difference

God is multiplying our discipleship programs in astonishing proportions! Please pray that He will continue to raise up volunteers and donors to help us meet the needs of these great opportunities.

Thank YOU for Your Support

We couldn’t do what we do without YOU! Thank you for helping us minister to the people Jesus is reaching in the prisons!

January 12-15 was our annual outreach at Carol Young Medical Center. We conduct services nightly and all day Saturday. During the day on Friday we go to the hospital and pray for the sick and dying. Men and women weep with gratitude that people come and pray over them. Many want to hear the claims of Jesus. All want prayer. God gives hope to those who feel hopeless. His power brings healing.

My first visit to Carol Young was in 2002 when we still lived in Wisconsin. Pam Wood, Sister Giselda, and I prayed for a young girl named Toshira confined to a wheelchair. Toshira testified how the power of God came to set her free her from constant pain. She experienced the healing power of Jesus. Today she is not in a wheelchair but is the leader of the prison worship-dance team.

This year my dear friend, Pam, had the joy of leading another young woman to Jesus. As we left prison, Pam said, “Texas City is one of the highlights of my life. I wouldn’t miss this for anything. I see Jesus my Lord doing miracles in this prison.”

Another New Faith Dorm Launched

Fourteen years ago, on Feb 3, Karla Faye Tucker was executed. While visiting shortly before her execution, Karla shared her dream for the women in white. Her vision was to see an area of the prison set aside for her sisters to be equipped to become disciples. Adjoining the old “life row” is a 32-bed dorm. You can imagine my joy on January 23 as our Mountain View Faith Dorm opened—only God! Each time we launch a new dorm, we begin with Experiencing God! It is an amazing invitation for the participants to join God in what He is doing in their lives. I am so glad He invited Discipleship Unlimited to come and see.

Discipleship Unlimited Faith Dorms

Our First Dorm: Murray

We started Murray Faith Based Dorm nearly five years ago. It has been a long and — at times — a painful process. However, the results have been amazing!

• We continue to provide programming, curriculum, and interactive small groups.
• Five of our graduates are now mentors in the faith-based dorm and are modeling discipleship.
• Other graduates are leading studies in the general population.
• Graduates who have been released are staying in touch with us and serving God in the local church and other ministries.
• The success of the faith-dorm graduates is evidence that God’s Word accomplishes His purposes. See a three-minute KSAT ABC news program of the dorm in action.

However, during my childhood days, I had a grandmother who believed God and prayed for me daily. She spoke these words of faith into my broken heart.

One day you will grow up and you will become a missionary. You will travel to Africa and tell people about Jesus.

The miracle is that God brought me out of darkness into His marvelous light. He has also sent me to Africa. The sorrow of my past has become an instrument of healing for others.

We have a Redeemer. Thank you for your prayers. They are a huge support and encouragement to me!

Prayer Requests

• Alpha has asked Terry to test-pilot a new recovery program for them! He is teaching the material on Wednesday nights at Woodman State Jail.
• Woodman Outreach! Four-day outreach at Woodman, November 3-6.
• The worship team.
• Nancy Grisham as she comes to teach.
• Many volunteers who will go out into population to minister to the 800 women housed there.
• Jesus to set the captives free!

Brittany Holberg has been on death row in Mountain View prison for 13 years. I first met her while I still lived in Milwaukee. However, for the last several years I have had the opportunity to be Britt’s spiritual advisor. This summer Britt was sent to the Amarillo county jail to appear before a judge. She came back on fire for God!

Britt’s Story

“I felt overwhelmed with fear at times before I left for the county jail. I prayed for strength and wisdom. From the moment I left my cell I saw answers to my desperate prayer. It has been 13 years since I’d seen the outside world and I was in awe of God’s creation. The officers who drove the state car and escorted me were curious about “life on the row.”

I found myself talking freely about my walk with Jesus. The more I talked about Him the less I thought about my situation. I’d heard and even confessed to letting go and letting God take over. I was put to the test!

On death row we are housed in individual cells, isolated from general population. Not so in the Amarillo jail. I was housed with other women. I recognized the brokenness in the women around me. I could relate to their lostness and the bondage of guilt and shame that is far greater then prison bars. I had a desire to share the love that I have found in Christ with them. I wanted them to see Jesus in me the way I see Jesus in Jean.

I never imagined how powerful my own testimony could be. My purpose now is to share His grace and mercy with as many people as I can.”

I look forward to my twice-monthly visits with Britt. Her courage and faith spur me on!

Blessings to you,

Jean (& Terry too)

Nearly 200 women at the Mt. View Unit participated in our first Ruth DVD Bible Study. With the leadership of Kathy and Rich Diaz, along with their well-trained team of volunteers, the inmates watched the teaching DVD and worked through lesson one of the study book. Our prayer and desire has been that this seven-week study would be relevant and produce disciples. As the women participated in the first discussion, guided by their volunteer leader, it was clear that God is answering our prayers.

Karla Faye Tucker is our example of a contemporary Ruth. She was also housed in the Mt. View unit. Karla was a woman with a painful past who was radically saved and walked with unwavering faith. She pressed through great hardship. In the time leading up to her execution, Karla became a witness to the world. Her powerful testimony continues to multiply as it is shared throughout the Ruth study. We will also use this study guide to follow up with those who read the book Karla Faye Tucker Set Free and ask for study material. Today, more than 250,000 copies are in print, and letters are received daily. Her story of faith and transformation lives on!

Thank you, ministry partners, for your faithful prayers and support for the 120 inmates in our 18-month discipleship course at Murray and Hobby units!

Many graduates are now in the prison’s general population and are holding Bible studies for their fellow inmates. The following letter is from Lori, one of our graduates. This is just one example of how God is changing lives through the Faith Dorms:

Dallas’ legacy will live on through the women in white spreading the gospel of Jesus one to another. None of us will ever be the same. During my time in the faith dorm I have learned what family really means. I’ve learned about extending mercy to myself as well as others. I’ve learned to be accountable and to never accept defeat. You have taught me that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. My goal is to love others the way you do. The entire faith based dorm team is embedded on my heart forever.

Thank you, ministry partners, for your prayers and support for Terry and Jean. We are so grateful for the fruit that Terry and Jean are seeing as God changes lives through their ministry both inside of prison walls and out. They often do Sunday services at the various units as well as orientation for the newly incarcerated women. This has been an amazing year with a packed room every Wednesday for Celebrate Recovery at Woodman State Jail. Thank you for your prayers for them as they lead these vital ministries.

Here is a letter from Tiffany, a former inmate at Woodman, who was one of their participants:

I attended Celebrate Recovery with you. I appreciate how you relate to us and understand about the importance of our children. Now that I am home I am reunited with my son. We both faithfully attend CR twice a week. Thank you!

Through your giving, DU provides books and ministry materials that are so desperately needed by those behind the walls—and God is changing lives. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. It is Jesus’ good, glad, merry news that makes us sing for joy!

I am amazed each week at the work God is doing in the lives of his people! I have an integrated worship team of very diverse people and we have so much fun. Worship starts with receptive hearts and hearts are healed as we worship together.

At a recent CR meeting, one of our women from the Lane Murray Unit told of her journey to recovery. Her life had been painful and her future looked hopeless. While in prison she was separated from her children. Fast forward to today. She is home and serving the Lord by working at a homeless shelter in a small town near Temple. She has been restored to her children and is now a leader in CR on the outside.

A team from DU served dinner at CR last Tuesday. The VETS loved it. They did all the set up and clean up. It was a dinner Jesus style. Leftovers were sent home with single parent moms. What an honor to serve people both physically and spiritually.

Woodman State Jail

Jean and I are at Woodman State Jail on Wednesday nights teaching CR. These women are being set free from so much stuff. Many of them have children at home that they pray for daily. There is laughter and tears. Our hope is that one day they will join CR on the outside!

Prayer Request

This Sunday we have services at the six Gatesville Units plus two closed custody areas. Jean and I will conduct three services while Terry and Annette Cagle do the other three. Mom and Jake will go into closed custody and Jake will play guitar. The Closed custody ladies are locked up most of the time.

Thank you for all your kind words on Facebook and the DU blog. I am truly blessed to have you guys {U all} in my life!

Eight teaching and testimony segments filmed live at the Woodman State Jail in Gatesville, Texas. Dee Brestin, best-selling author and teacher, is a captivating speaker, and her 20-minute teachings offer hope to women in prison longing to be free.

Why Ruth?

The women in prisons and shelters identify with Ruth because:

• Ruth was an outcast with a difficult past.
• Ruth chose to say goodbye to her past and cling to a new family.
• God did a mighty rescue of Ruth and she became part of the lineage of Jesus our Savior.

Karla Faye Tucker provides a contemporary parallel to Ruth, so her testimony is woven into this material. Additionally, there are testimonies by Linda Strom and Terry Strom. A study guide on the book of Ruth is also available.

How can I help?

These materials are made possible through the generous donations of ministry partners. You may request a copy of the DVD for your donation of $30 or more to Discipleship Unlimited. You may also give a gift to help us place study guides and DVDs in women’s prisons across America.

Team ministry is ministry as we go. It takes longer to establish, but you go further and have a longer-lasting ministry. Jesus sent his followers out “two by two”. It has been said He did that because He knew they would not go out one by one.

But I believe it was much more than that. As we minister as a team, we are transformed. Team members see our strengths and our weaknesses. We pray for and support each other through difficulties. We learn to tap into the giftedness of our fellow team members. We become a community of believers on the move … the church without walls.

DU is an exercise machine for the body of Christ. We have nearly 200 active volunteers from various churches in Central Texas. There is a Friday night men’s group that goes to the Hughes Unit. Afterward, on most Friday nights you will find a table of six to nine men at Prima Pasta in Gatesville, breaking bread together and talking about the wonders God is doing through their Experiencing God small group studies in this tough, sweltering-hot prison.

Behind these walls of prison we are seeing scars turned into stars … both inmates and volunteers! Building community both inside and out … only GOD!!! I had a phone call from one of our faithful team members who has been leading Breaking Free in the prison. I loved her words …

God took me to prison as a volunteer teacher and leader to deliver me from bondage I have been walking with all my life.

WOW! No wonder we are commanded to go. Often inmates comment on the love they see between our team members. Jesus said that the world would know us by our love …

Your support enables this work to be multiplied over and over again. We thank you for your partnership with us. You are a vital part of this movement.