SOCPM Newsletter | February 20, 2021

Greetings

Outside of writing the Weekly Note for February 25th, I'm trying to stay ahead; this week was pretty much a ho-hum week 🥱, prison ministry and personal wise. There is some exciting news regarding my son, Cameron; see below. But the only other exciting personal news was I sold Michelle's reMarkable on eBay, my first time selling anything on eBay, and I got new shoes! I know all 🥱 🥱


It is helpful for me to put the Weekly Note together in advance for a couple of weeks if I'm unable to for some reason. But with my short-circuited brain is easy to comment on the wrong Weekly Note in the newsletter, which I did last week. I should have shared in last week's SOCPM newsletter the Weekly Note study sent February 11th was on Psalm 2:1-3, and this week's Weekly Note sent February 18th was on Psalm 2:4-6. 🤪 I apologize for the confusion and will be more aware of what I'm sending. 

I asked Sue, SOCPM's one pen pal, to share her thoughts for the first couple of months being a pen pal with Jesse.

In the midst of this difficult year, I have been truly blessed by becoming a Prison Pen Pal. My pen pal, Jesse, and I have been writing back and forth for a few months. He is very thankful to have a new friend, and so am I. Jesse is a Jesus follower, and so it is easy for us to share about the Lord in our lives. I've enjoyed getting to know him and praying about the things that concern him. This week I wrote to him about what I'm learning as I meditate on the book of Mark. I'm a grandma, and Jesse is 48 years old, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. It's been difficult to hear how the inmates have been on lockdown because of Covid. This has caused Jesse to feel very out of touch with what is happening in our world and even more isolated. However, I've been able to send him some reading materials, for which he is very grateful. And SOCPM purchased a subscription to USA Today for him! This is truly life-changing for someone who is so alone. I would highly recommend signing up with Christian Pen Pals – cppministry@gmail.com. Jesse and Beth Michael lead this ministry, and they make it easy to sign up. They have been very supportive and responsive to all my questions. I try to write back to my pen pal, Jesse, within a couple of days of receiving his letters. He often tells me how incredible it is when they say his name for mail call. It reminds me of how our precious Savior Jesus calls our name, and we feel cared for and remembered. SOCPM has been a huge support and encouragement to me, and I am very blessed to have Jesse as my pen pal. 

Pen Pal Sue

Thanks, Sue, not only for your sharing but for being a pen pal to Jesse. If you feel led to be a pen pal, contact via their website Christian Pen Pal Ministry, the e-mail Sue gave cppministry@gmail.com, or SOCPM by reply to this newsletter. However, you chose to make contact, I do ask to let SOCPM know. I'd like to have a record and offer support.

Many of my son Cameron's phone calls have been stressful over the past month, but a couple of calls this past week were a refreshing change. We talked about God's wrath, sin, and salvation. I'm praying that those calls and bits of other recent calls are evidence God is working in Cameron's life. It is still probably a long road to saving salvation, but praise God we are traveling the road in the right direction. Please pray our calls can be stress-free, and we keep traveling in the right direction on the road to salvation. There are several more prayer requests related to Cameron SOCPM's Ministry Prayer Requests.

Psalm 24:17 reminds me,

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

 Stay warm 🥶, drink coffee ☕️! 🤓

To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Week 49 of the lockdown 😞.  

COVID-19 cases as of 02/05/21, Dixon: staff confirmed 253, staff recovered staff 251, staff current 2, staff tests 5,738; offender confirmed 579, offenders recovered 578, offender current 1, offenders test 22,225 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 124, staff recovered 120; staff current 4, staff tests 4.562; offenders confirmed 399, offenders recovered 373, offenders current 26, offender tests 13,871 | IDOC: staff confirmed 4,074, staff recovered 3,994 staff current 80, staff tests 95,588; offenders confirmed 10,560, offenders recovered 10,434, offenders current 126, offender tests 300,999. 

Comparing the numbers for all of IDOC, Week 42 January 9, 2021, the offenders current count was 2,166 to Week 49, February 19, 2021, offenders current count is 126. On Week 41, December 25, 2020, staff current count was 412. Week 49, February 19, 2021, staff current count is 80.

I've not heard anything from the chaplains of volunteers returning, and IDOC's 'Visitation and Rules & Information page stills states all visitations are still under suspension. My hope and prayer are the numbers of current for both drops to a number where IDOC lifts the suspension on visitations, and the return of volunteer comes shortly after.

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