Greetings
I'm writing the gist of this week's SOCPM Newsletter on Thursday, December 17th. My wife Michelle is having surgery tomorrow, Friday, December 18th, and my schedule for the next few days is unknown, but I didn't want to miss a week. I realize perhaps some of you look forward to reading of SOCPM Newsletter, thank you, and I did not want to risk there being a delay, causing some of you to become distraught 😫 wondering where was your SOCPM Newsletter.
I do covet your prayers that that not only Michelle's surgery goes well and a quick recovery but also a prayer of praise for the gifted surgeon, doctors, anesthesiologist, nurses, and other medical care that God has provided.
Another prayer of praise is my son Cameron finally has a birth certificate that will allow him to return to work. Getting the birth certificate in his hands was a task that did not go without frustration. I won't bore you with the details other than to say I sent him on USPS Priority 2-day mail on December 3rd, and as I write two weeks later, Cameron still has not arrived. I ordered another birth certificate from Lake County via VitalChek late afternoon on Monday the 14th, and Cameron received it yesterday the 16th, about midday. Enough of the personal snippets.
With Christians being amid Advent, having started November 29th and lasting until Christmas Eve, I found the essay 7 Ways Jesus Fulfilled Prophecy at His Advent by Paul David Tripp for this week's Weekly Notes. I wish I would have thought of searching for essays on Advent before the start of Advent; I'm not gifted in planning, as I found several good ones. Most of them would have been too long for my 1-page limit; one of them was 'What is Advent' by Justin Holcomb, which is one of a five part series. During my research, I learned a couple of interesting tidbits about Advent Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning coming, and the first two Sundays in Advent look forward to Christ's second coming. The last two Sundays look backward to remember Christ's first coming.
I sent last week's SOCPM Newsletter, and after having done so, I realized I did not update the numbers for IDOC and COVID-19, my apologies. I was sure to update them this week; however, with the uncertainty of my weekend schedule, the numbers are from Thursday, December 17th.
I did not receive any updates from either Dixon Chaplain Thomas or Sheridan Chaplain McClimans on volunteers' returning or any potential programming needs. Chaplain McClimans forwarded a survey, asking for feedback from program facilitators and volunteers on Sheridan's overall programming. I'm not over-familiar with most other Sheridan programs other than SOCPM to have given meaningful responses to all the questions. I gave feedback on how the staff has always been very welcoming and polite to my being there, especially when I arrived at the gate at 8:30 AM and left the gate at 7:00 PM on Fridays. It is not uncommon for staff to sometimes negatively view volunteers because it requires them to undertake additional tasks and responsibilities. I'm not familiar with all the programs at Sheridan to give meaningful answers. However, student comments and staff I would talk to sometimes at lunch gave me the impression Sheridan is one of the better IDOC facilities for programs.
I received my Chaplain Outreach material from Ligonier's Ministries, which included several DVDs I referenced in last week's SOCPM Newsletter. The Chaplain Outreach material also several books for my theology library; Desiring God, Getting the Gospel Right, One or Two: Seeing a World of Difference, Reason to Believe, The Gospel of Romans were a few of the books I received. I will use these books and other books from my theology library for personal sanctification, which further equips me to disciple SOCPM students. However, I should have used my book cataloging apps. I have a couple of apps; I use CLZ-Books, to scan the ISBN that catalogs them into a database on the iOS device and syncs it to the desktop app Book Collector. It's quite helpful when buying books to see if I already have them in my library, thus avoiding duplicates. However, one must check the database before acquiring a book for it to serve that purpose. Which I failed to do, so I ended up with a couple of duplicates. I have more duplicates of books in my library that I plan on donating to prison ministry partner Wayside Cross Ministries.
That about does it for this week's SOCPM Newsletter.
To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!
Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries
Week 40 of the lockdown 😞.
COVID-19 cases as of 12/17/20; Dixon: staff confirmed 216, staff recovered staff 196, staff current 20, staff tests 1,143; offender confirmed 530, offenders recovered 475, offender current 55, offenders test 2,725 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 98, staff recovered 83; staff current 15, staff tests 638; offenders confirmed 195, offenders recovered 92, offenders current 103, offender tests 681 | IDOC: staff confirmed 3,036, staff recovered 2,630, staff current 406, staff tests 13,918; offenders confirmed 5,948, offenders recovered 4,721, offenders current 1,227, offender tests 28,628. Continue in payer for safe and full recovery for all.