Episode 162
Ready Church, “Life Row” & Global Hunger Sunday
Garrett First Baptist Church participated in a Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief program called Ready Church earlier this year. About 200 of the inmates at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit – a Texas Department of Criminal Justice maximum-security prison near Livingston – are housed on Death Row, where prisoners typically spend 23 hours a day in a small, single-occupancy cell. And, the last few years have witnessed world-changing events that have disrupted supply chains and limited access to food for many people. Southern Baptists will, on Aug. 28, recognize Global Hunger Sunday to raise support for those in need.
Transcript
Garrett First Baptist Church participated in a Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief program called Ready Church earlier this year.
While no one could be completely prepared for the worst flood in Kentucky history, Pastor Blaine Deploy said he was glad the church went through Ready Church.
The idea of Ready Church is to be prepared for what can be done during and after a natural disaster.
Garrett FBC has been the setup location for Samaritan’s Purse as it serves the people in eastern Kentucky following the devastating flood. A chaplain from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association contacted Deploy about using the church as a place to shower, sleep and do laundry on the Sunday after the flooding. The organization brought laundry and shower units that will be there through September, he said.
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About 200 of the inmates at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit – a Texas Department of Criminal Justice maximum-security prison near Livingston – are housed on Death Row, where prisoners typically spend 23 hours a day in a small, single-occupancy cell.
But Terry Joe Solley, an inmate in the general prison population who devotes 12 to 14 hours a day visiting those otherwise-isolated prisoners, is committed to turning Death Row into “Life Row.”
Solley is one of six field ministers at the Polunsky Unit. Field ministers are inmates who have completed a Bachelor of Arts in biblical studies degree program, offered to men at the Darrington Unit in Brazoria County and to women at the Hobby Unit in Falls County. They receive certification as field ministers after receiving specialized training from the Heart of Texas Foundation Field Ministers Academy.
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The last few years have witnessed world-changing events that have disrupted supply chains and limited access to food for many people. Southern Baptists will, on Aug. 28, recognize Global Hunger Sunday to raise support for those in need.
Global Hunger Sunday is an opportunity for churches to promote an offering to support Global Hunger Relief. Send Relief, the compassion ministry arm of Southern Baptists, helps to promote and distribute the offering each year.
Learn more about Global Hunger Relief Sunday at SendRelief.org.
Generosity toward Global Hunger Relief helps respond to crisis by meeting hunger-related needs in various ways. When famine or natural disaster strikes, gifts to Global Hunger Relief provide resources for missionaries and other ministry partners to give food during those times of crisis.
Efforts also include projects with a longer focus to offer sustainable solutions to chronic hunger.
Missionaries and ministry partners will provide job skills training, livestock and seed distribution, clean water, home reconstruction as well as medical care.
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