The following is a Christian Work Project sponsored in part by a grant from the Boston Baptist Social Union.
Tremont Temple Baptist Church supports the concept of The Prison Ministry by supporting two of its members: Victor Rosario currently incarcerated at MCI-Norfolk and his wife, Beverly Rosario. Together, this couple receives $1,200 annually in support of their work as missionaries from Tremont Temple Baptist Church whose mission field is the prison system. The purpose of The Prison Ministry is to support and prepare incarcerated men and women with systematic evangelical teaching of the Scripture and current life topics using the Evangelical Training Association (ETA) material and to help provide items and support for re-entry into the community, once released under parole, sentence completion or while participating in a required program, such as involvement in a sober house or halfway house to re-entry.
We would like to expand our ability to offer classes, using the ETA materials to additional men and women confined in prison. Currently, four men and one woman are participating in either traditional classes or via correspondence. We would like to expand the program and be able to offer ten individuals the opportunity to study eight different courses in a traditional class setting. We are able to do this in English and in Spanish to accomodate both language groups.
The time frame for this component would be approximately 48 weeks. Two classes per 12 week cycle. Record keeping and certificate requests would be ongoing.
We recognize that as believers we have a responsibility to assist in the material needs of thos around us and we have endeavored to do so with the annual support of Tremont Temple Baptist Church. Recently, we have been offered 300 pairs of men and women's jeans at cost, by Living in Light, Inc., a for-profit company based in Columbia, SC, that has a heart and a will to support prison ministry. We would like to expand our current ability to help provide in one area by purchasing these pants, at cost, and then donating them to area programs that support the re-entry efforts of released men and women.
The time frame for this component would be approximately 20 weeks in which we would establish contact with re-entry programs and complete the donation distribution.