Celebrate Recovery Stories

We've got mail!

 Jennifer

“As one of the girls in the faith based dorms it is easy to say that the Strom family and the love of Jesus that shines through them not only made my time meaningful but changed my life. My family is whole again and I am still drug free. I have been home 18 months. Tell Jake that what he is doing is more powerful then any of us can imagine.”

Caleigh

"I did 8 months at Woodman and have been home two years now. I was desperate to get to Terry to ask him where I could go for help. He gave me information and now I am in a great church and God is the biggest part of my life. I have full custody of both my children. Terry and Jean helped me get started and stay with God. Thank you so much for what you do.”

What an inspiration these women of faith are! Thank you ministry partners for standing with us. Your prayers and support enable us watch God bring beauty out of ashes.

Where Are They Now - Lori Riggs

Meet Lori Riggs, graduate of the Hobby Faith-Based Dorm!

Accountant, Toyota dealership East Texas Volunteer for Texas Department of Criminal Justice Volunteer Grace House of Cedar Creek Lake

Lori was rescued from darkness into a new life in Christ Jesus. She spent five years in prison where she was set free. She was a leader in our faith dorm at Hobby. She has a passion for telling others of the amazing work the Lord has done. Her story is now published in a book along with seven of her friends.

Lori

She has shared at the Henderson County Jail and is a leader in Celebrate Recovery. Her desire to help others has spilled over to her career choice. She will graduate in May as a Phi Theta Kappa honor student and begin an internship for Addiction Counseling.

“Everything that the enemy used to try to kill me has become my strength. My life no longer belongs to me. It is His.”

Lori spoke at our Reignite Reunion. Her life scripture is one of the many verses that she held on to while in prison.

Heb. 10:23 Hold fast, without wavering the confession of our hope. For He who promised is faithful.

Seven Years in Texas

This year will be our seventh year in Texas! Jean and I continue to minister in prisonsand at Celebrate Recovery at Temple Bible Church. Jake is finishing his Associates Degree at Temple College.

The summers are dry and hot and we live in a wooded area. Because of the drought and warm weather there are more bugs and snakes this summer. We recently saw two rattlesnakes. One was on our back porch. Jake was bite by a scorpion our first year in Morgans Point. Does this qualify us as true missionaries?

Woodman State Jail has been our main focus the past two years, and it is an incredible place! It is the intake facility for all the women coming into Gatesville. Every Wednesday night, 130 women pack the largest room available in the jail for our study.

We just finished the book of Ruth: "The Rescue." Dee Brestin does a fantastic teaching relating Ruth to the women in white; DU filmed it at Woodman, and now it is available to other ministries. The room is too crowded for the small group, but the large group sharing is amazing. The women pray for each other, encourage each other and care for each other.

This month was the graduation for the women at the First Faith Based Dorm - Woodman State Jail. Fifty women went through the program and will go out into population. Jean and I participated in their celebration.

Recently DU received a letter from the inmate Chaplain's assistant. It contained four letters of thanks. One was to you are faithful supporters.

To those who donate:

I am currently living in the Faith Based Dorm at Woodman State Jail in Gatesville, TX. I never would have dreamed how enriched my life would be through the programs offered here. Even before I moved into the dorm Linda, Terry and Jean were familiar faces. They often did church services and sponsored the Celebrate Recovery program.

Discipleship Unlimited blessed us with gifts of music, books and other resources to enrich our lives. DU sponsors frequent crusades with amazing speakers all who care about us and overlook the fact that we are in white. They don't judge us for our past and they see what we are becoming.

Discipleship Unlimited brings us hope and joy during this desperate time in our lives.

Please allow me to say thank you for your donations. You are helping us better our lives.

Sincerely,

Janell

We as a staff and team of volunteers also thank you for your prayers and support. Your gifts make it possible for us to equip those who are being trained as inmate leaders. This is a sweeping move of God.

Terry's Corner - March 2011

TerryS_Red

My son Jake is in his second year at Temple College and will be 19 years old in May. What a man! When he was three I wrote a song entitled Jacob’s Song (that seems like such a short time ago).  As I thought about my hopes for Jake, I had written, “I pray the blessings given to me will rain down upon his shoulders and he’ll serve you.” God has answered that prayer. Recently, Jake ministered with our team in Woodman State Jail, Mountain View, Hilltop, and Death Row. This dad’s heart overflowed! Walking back into the chapel from Death Row he commented, “This is the happiest, sad place I have ever been.”  Jake’s words nailed the joy and challenge of ministering in prison.

Jake_Guitar

Jake and a gifted team of volunteers joined us for several outreaches that were off the chart! Bev DeSalvo shared her story of healing from abuse, bringing great comfort to the women.

Charla Pereau spoke six times to overflow crowds. Charla founded “Foundation for His Ministry” in Mexico’s Baja 44 years ago to provide a place of love and care for orphans. The ministry now includes an orphanage, medical center, church, feeding station for the poor and a fire department in the Baja location—and three other major works. To echo Jake’s words of this miracle ministry, “This is rad. Charla doesn’t just have an orphanage; she has a whole city.”

Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered twelve-step program, continues strong in Woodman. Last week my precious wife Jean shared her story. Many women were in tears, as God used Jean’s past to help the women with their future. This week I will teach and wrap-up the current twelve-week session. It’s a privilege to see God working in all of our lives as we draw close to Him.