FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH THANKS ALL OF THE HARD WORKING MEN AND WOMEN OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE FOR MAKING HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE!

Listed below are some of the Restorative Justice Ministries that you will find First Baptist Church involved in. Come and journey with us as the Lord works through us to make a difference!

MINISTRY TO THE STAFF OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

First Baptist Church has pioneered a new path in ministering to TDCJ Correctional Officers, staff, and their families. Every week, volunteer teams minister to nearly 1,200 Correctional Officers and TDCJ staff at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit, Goree Unit, Holliday Unit, Byrd Unit, and Wynne Unit by giving free soft-drinks, bottled-water and snacks to these public servants who do so much for our great city. Why are we doing this? Because we love people and we want to make a difference in their lives.   Join us in impacting the lives of Correctional Officers and other TDCJ staff every week as we share Jesus and minister in His name through these kind acts. First Baptist Church has been called upon and stays prepared to minister to Correctional Officers, staff, and their families in times of crisis.Come and be part of a ministry that is bigger than First Baptist Church as other TDCJ Units call upon our sister churches across Texas for ministry to their staff.

FIRST CONTACT FAMILY MINISTRY

Each day, Monday through Friday, up to 150 men are released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. These former offenders (from the other units across the state) are released at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit, which is located next door to First Baptist Church. Each weekday anywhere from one dozen to several dozen families gather at the Main Gate waiting for their loved one to be released.With the help and permission of TDCJ, we have teams of volunteers from First Baptist Church who go next door every morning and share information about the times that their loved one will be released and to pass out free bottled-water and snacks to waiting families and their children. During this time of ministry, the First Contact Teams gather information from the families to forward to churches and to after-care ministries in the communities they are returning to. Our desire is to see these restored families to be cared for and supported by a loving church. It is estimated that about 5 of the 150 inmates that are released each day are connected to a church. Come and join us in ministering to the 30,000+ men who have freedom from jail, but need freedom in Christ. If you want to do missions, the mission field is next door to First Baptist Church.

THE WELCOME BACK PROGRAM

The Welcome Back Program is a special program geared at assisting the ex-offender at the time of his release in connecting with a community of faith (a church or small group) in the community that he is returning to. Every night, a team comprised of volunteers from First Baptist Church and from other communities of faith in the Huntsville area, goes inside the Huntsville "Walls" Unit to meet with the men that will be released the following day.Through this non-religious program, we are able to collect information about the ex-offender and his family and forward it to a community of faith that desires to minister to him and his family. The goal is to have a support base in place for the ex-offender when he returns home so that he and his family can overcome the obstacles that usually cause an ex-offender to become a repeat offender.  The Welcome Back Program is also implemented in Gatesville, Texas and is connecting the female ex-offenders that are being released to a local community of faith in the community that they are returning to.  The Welcome Back Program is also implemented on a weekly basis in most State Jails.  In 2006, of the nearly 70,000 men and women released from TDCJ, roughly 55,000 men and women were impacted by The Welcome Back Program.  This ministry is now a resource in helping all male and female ex-offenders being released from the Correctional Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice be connected with a local faith community.  Please pray that the Lord would provide the workers and mentors in the local churches to connect with and to minister to the thousands of ex-offenders that are released from TDCJ every month.