SOCPM Newsletter | March 26, 2022

Greetings,

SOCPM Inside the Prison Gate: Dixon is rolling along with some well-received teachings

SOCPM Outside the Prison Gate: Strides forward in Church Connect, Clothes Closet and house for Apio

On the Home Front: Pursuing a healthier lifestyle

On the Prayer Front - All things family and SOCPM

These are the topics for this week's SOCPM Newsletter. I hope you enjoy it, despite my lack of an editor. Michelle would like to edit my newsletters (I think she has a deep-seated desire to be an English teacher with a red pencil in hand), but her work voids the time.

To Him be the glory in ALL things and Him alone,

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

SOCPM Inside the Prison Gate

Classes in Dixon are moving along! The number of students is down, but as expected, since it was open only to students enrolled in the previous two classes.

In Discipleship, I decided to suspend 'What Does Revelation Teach? Part 1' and will restart it from lesson one, on April 6th start. The April 6th start is pending that Sheridan finally reopens on Friday, April 8th.

In its place, I'm teaching a SOCPM Discipleship favorite, 'How to Study the Bible,' with David Platt. The course is four 1-hour sessions, but it covers a lot of guidelines to use when doing personal Bible study. Each student gets a 75-page workbook that has a lot of fill-in-the-blanks. However, David Platt talks fast, and unless students listen 100%, they will often miss several blanks. So, the following week, I'll print a couple of printouts that have all the answers. I do not give them a copy before the lesson is taught to avoid it being an incentive not to listen. After the teaching, we have a classroom discussion on how o apply the techniques without becoming overwhelmed.

In Christian Living, Malachi Dads was also suspended. Another SOCPM favorite, Voddie Baucham's Love and Marriage, is in its place. It too is four one hour sessions followed by classroom discussion. Voddie is very big on family. He has a delivery that has humor and quite a few times the students will have a good laugh.

As of my writing, the SOCPM newsletter, Sheridan is still on for an April 8th return, but would you please pray it to become a reality and not another postponement.


And then there was one. Only one Sheridan student remains out of the 119 enrolled on March 13th, 2020. Shawn went home yesterday, March 25th, no doubt a happy moment for Shaw, who has been a SOCPM student since May 2019. Shawn was not only a neat guy, but he was helpful when I needed some printing done. Brandon is the last SOCPM student pre-Covid, and he leaves on April 14th. But quite often, a week or two before their parole, students have a lot going on and can't make it to class. I'm praying Sheridan doesn't postpone the return of volunteers yet again and Brandon shows up. It will be a blessing to say goodbye to at least one of the 119.

Sheridan Correctional Center Lockdown 105 weeks;

Outside the Prison Gate

I completed the first draft of the Church Connect guidelines for potential Church Connect partners. I explained the overall process. SOCPM is implementing a Church Connect Student Covenant. The student will have to read and sign an agreement he is willing to follow specific rules. 

SOCPM also encourages potential Church Churches to recruit a mentor willing to write and or visit the student before his release. SOCPM also included a link to Prison Fellowship's mentoring resources.

I've forwarded the draft to a Redeemer Fellowship member to act as an editor.

I've made some progress on implementing SOCPM's presence at Redeemer Fellowships Clothes Closet. I've put together a few documents that detail SOCPM's purpose at Clothes Closet for those visiting Clothes closet. I will be meeting another Redeemer Fellowship member, possibly Monday, to see if he'd be willing to translate SOCPM resources from English to Spanish

There is a praise follow-up to the last SOCPM Newsletter, Apio, who was without a home after twenty years of incarceration. SOCPM ministry friend David in Uganda, through his limited resources, was able to have a house built for Apio.

Apio, giving praise to God for her new home.

Apio’s new home

David is still in need of a printer to print Metanoia Ministries' Bible lessons. Would you please continue in prayer that God will bless David with a printer?

On the Home Front

There were other things, but after my medical issue last December, all that health stuff is finally being received more seriously, followed by more disciplines.

I'm reasonably disciplined in doing my vestibular therapy exercises twice daily. It started with only five, but I have about ten now. I see the therapists twice a week. As for the exercises, some are easy, like the neck stretching stuff. Those that I don't enjoy doing involve building those muscles that improve my equilibrium. They include standing on one foot for 30 seconds, standing heel to toe while turning my head back and forth, up and down, and similar types of exercise. If for some strange reason, I'm ever pulled over while driving and asked to do the sobriety exercises of standing on one foot and walking heel to toe, I'm in trouble.

I saw both my general physician and new cardiologist this past week.

My blood work was not too bad; I still can improve the AC1, but overcoming my addiction to sugar will be one of those last horizons. However, getting veggie and fruit stuff in my blood is improving. I've never said yuck to fruits but vegetables, 😝. My smoothies with dark berries and spinach were a good start. My goal is a smoothie with spinach daily. I'm up to an average of having a smoothie five times a week. Those missed days are I simply forget.
Nonetheless, please forward a healthy smoothie recipe to me if you have a healthy smoothie recipe. My GP has put an order for me to see a dietician. I hope she or he can give me a diet plan that isn't an overwhelming change to my current diet but one I can work towards at a decent rate.

I can I was very pleased after I visited my new cardiologist. Unfortunately, my and Michelle moving put a great distance between our new home and my previous cardiologist of twelve years. So, I searched and sought endorsements. After making my first appointment almost six months ago, I finally had my appointment. He ordered a stress test for more precautionary reasons than a must. He also said my target three times a week on the treadmill was good. I'm at two currently. So, as planned, I hope to try three times a week, starting Monday.

On the Prayer Front

Cameron -  I've had a couple of phone calls with Cameron, but they were calls of his feeling stress, frustration, and bitterness towards God. From his view of things, God is not showing love towards him but is constantly making everything difficult. I could give a lot of detail, but his biggest frustration is not finding an apartment. His lack of an apartment is why he needs to work at the motel, double shifts the restaurant in short work a thousand hours every week. He isn't finding an apartment because he has an eviction. Would you please pray God will first and foremost draw Cameron to who Himself and find salvation? Also, pray for Cameron's permanent sobriety, less stress, and healthy community. I forwarded him the information of five churches within five miles of the hotel where he is living. Would you please pray he reaches out to those churches and finds refuge in not just help but rest in Christ?

Michelle (aka my lovely bride) - Continued diligence in working a full and productive week, staying with the exercise program she recently enrolled in.

Self - My prayer list is always long, but pray for matters related to my health for this go around. I've started vestibular therapy. Would you pray I do the exercises? I'm trying to eat healthy and have had three consecutive days of a smoothie with spinach. Not close to any actual change, but it is a start. Would you please pray I can discipline myself to have a smoothie with spinach once a day? Sugar is still my biggest culprit when it comes to my health. Would you please pray I reach for nuts and fruit more consistently and not sweets? I'm making it to the clubhouse exercise room once a week, but I need to increase the number of days. I will have the excuse of being too busy now that I'm back in the prisons, but would you pray I don't use that as an excuse and increase the number of days first to two, then three, etc.?.

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