February 16, 2000

Tulia couple leave stamp on inmates
___By Toby Druin
___Regional Correspondent
___TULIA--H.L. Rowell and his wife, Jean, probably wouldn't agree that his heart attack in 1985 was the best thing that ever happened to him. But more than 1,500 inmates who have gone through the Tulia unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in the Texas Panhandle certainly would rate it high on their list.
___Because of the heart attack, the Rowells, Mission Service Corps volunteers, have spent the last eight years cultivating the hearts of inmates for Christ instead of cultivating farmland and fifth-graders.
___Before l985, except for a stint in the U.S. Army in the early 1950s, Rowell had spent a lifetime in agriculture, most of it in the Tulia area. Mrs. Rowell, whom he met and married

H.L. & JEAN ROWELL

in nearby Happy 50 years ago, had taught fifth grade in public school for 27 years.
___When the heart attack came, Rowell gave up farming and put his land in the government crop reduction program. Mrs. Rowell quit teaching to care for him.
___The Rowells are longtime members of First Baptist Church in Tulia, and while the heart attack ended their professional careers, it set the stage for ministry.
___When the Tulia corrections unit opened in 1992, Rowell was invited by the chaplain to lead an "Experiencing God" class among the inmates. It went so well that the chaplain asked Rowell to set up a ministry program. When the chaplain became the warden, Rowell took over the chaplaincy program as a Mission Service Corps volunteer.
___Under his leadership, religious services are held daily at the unit, which houses about 600 inmates. First Baptist Church of Tulia sponsors services at the unit on Monday nights, and Pastor Charles Davenport leads a Bible study for the inmates every Sunday morning. Other ministers and churches lead services the rest of the week.
___Although he relinquished the chaplaincy title when the state assigned professional chaplains to the unit, Rowell continues to coordinate the services there, and Mrs. Rowell often accompanies the First Baptist Church volunteers on Monday nights.
___Over the last eight years, they have seen more than 1,260 inmates make professions of faith in Christ and be baptized in a portable baptistry--a galvanized horse trough.
___Rowell was honored at the fourth annual Texas Criminal Justice Ministries Conference in Houston last April, where he received the Governor's Award for Religious Service.
___Mrs. Rowell's awards come in the form of letters she receives from inmates and former inmates of the unit.
___Since 1994, she has sent birthday messages and many other letters to every man in the unit, and when they leave she writes follow-up letters to them at other prison units or after they are released. She maintains card files on each of the men--more than 1,550--including what she writes.
___The cards include words of encouragement and a Bible verse. A typical birthday message includes the inmate's name and birthdate, a personal message and a Bible verse.
___Many of the inmates have written to her after their releases, thanking her for caring enough about them to write. Many include pictures of their families. One said her eight letters were the only pieces of mail he received during more than six years in prison.
___Her letters are meant to instill hope and self-worth and to point them to Christ, she said. Often she includes the verse from Jeremiah 29:11,13: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ... plans to give you hope and a future. ... You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
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