In 2014, Gene, our founder and president at the time, moved to Tennessee with his son and family. In this modern age of technology it was possible for him to stay connected with New Creations via phone and email. The hardest thing was for him to stop going into the prisons for Bridge Builders meetings and One-on-One visits. It wasn’t too long before he began going into the Northwest Correctional Facility in Tiptonville, TN. The next thing we knew, he started handing out lessons for our correspondence courses and our Tennessee ministry began. Around January 2017 Jack H. began going on visits with Gene and things were on track to begin setting up a Bridge Builders program there as well. In January, 2018, a new weekly Bible study program was launched at the Day Reporting Center (DRC) in Jackson, TN, with the potential of expanding to several other locations as TDOC began opening more Day Reporting Centers across the state.
In February, 2018, Jack had to stop going on One-on-One visits due to his health, and Gene began to have health problems as well. Shortly thereafter, Gene was diagnosed with Parkinson ’s disease and had to step down from ministry entirely. We have been able to continue sending correspondence courses to the inmates in Tennessee who had already started, but with no one to go into the NW facility or the DRC, the only way the new inmates are reached there is by the referral of our current students.
Would you please join us in prayer for the ministry in TN? That God would raise up the right people or group to reach inmates there and that avenues would be opened for us to continue to grow there. We know that God cares for those men and women even more than we do and that he will create a way for them to hear his word. One thing we know for sure, God is still working, even if we aren’t there to see it!