March 4, 2002
KATIE AND ED WILSON stand outside the new East Texas Hospitality House in Tennessee Colony. Several Baptist associations and about 170 churches have banded together to launch the ministry with families of prisoners. The Wilsons are Mission Service Corps volunteers who will be directors of the ministry. They are members of Lone Pine Baptist Church in Palestine.
East Texas Baptists will assist inmates' families
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___TENNESSEE COLONY--The word "free" appears in all capital letters on a printed card describing the ministries of East Texas Hospitality House. Lodging, meals and encouragement are available at no charge.
___"Free" takes on special meaning to the families of prisoners in five nearby units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
___The hospitality house opens this week to minister to those families, who may not have the financial resources to pay for hotels, if they can find one, or the emotional resources to face their problems alone.
___Five Baptist associations and about 170 churches, as well as some businesses, have supported the effort, said Fred Grice, a member of First Baptist Church in Corsicana and one of the leaders of East Texas Baptist Prison Ministries Foundation.
DANNY WALLS holds nails in his mouth as he builds a small shelf for East Texas Hospitality House. Walls also is a member of Lone Pine Baptist Church and became a Baptist only one week before volunteering to help prepare the Hospitality House for opening in March.
___The five prisons near Tennessee Colony house 14,000 inmates, the second-largest concentration of prisoners in the state, trailing only Huntsville, Grice said. But when their families come to visit on weekends, the nearest hotels are 20 miles away in Palestine.
___"The people who come, ... normally it takes just about every cent they have to get there," Grice said. "They've been known to sleep in their cars." The hospitality house will be a "big ministry" to them and will provide an opportunity to spread the gospel, he said.
___Area churches have been involved in prison ministry for years, said Mike Smith, director of missions for Dogwood Trails Baptist Area. Then about six years ago, the Hospitality House project began to take shape. It started over coffee, and that led to more meetings and eventually creation of the foundation.
___"Statistics confirmed there was a need," Smith said. Prison wardens said about 800 visitors come to the prisons every weekend, and they talked of people driving 200 to 400 miles for a "couple-hour visit."
___The foundation had difficulty finding land on which to build a house, but a member of one of the area Baptist churches sold them five acres at a reduced price, Smith said.
___Churches in Bi-Stone, Cherokee, Corsicana, Henderson and Saline associations began to contribute. Neches River Association also was involved early in the process. The Baptist General Convention of Texas gave $10,000 for the project, and a foundation put up $70,000.
___When $170,000 had been raised, "we decided we had enough to start," Smith said.
___Construction has been done almost entirely by Baptist volunteers from the area. A group of Hispanic Baptists from Athens were paid to do the foundation, Smith said, but they are using that money to start construction of their own church building.
___The finished building has 7,200 square feet of space, Grice said. There is a family room, dining area, kitchen, large restrooms with showers and 20 bedrooms, which have been"sponsored" by churches, WMU groups, individuals and businesses.
HELEN WARDELL stocks the kitchen at East Texas Hospitality House in Tennessee Colony. Food will be provided free to families who use the facility. Wardell is a member of Bois D'Arc Baptist Church near Palestine.
___Smith estimated an annual budget of $50,000 to $60,000 will be required to operate the facility. The foundation's monthly income now stands at more than $3,000.
___Mission Service Corps volunteers Ed and Katie Wilson, who are members of Lone Pine Baptist Church in Palestine, will staff the Hospitality House while it is open each weekend from Friday through Sunday.
___"We love people," Mrs. Wilson said. "My heart was here 15 years ago when they built the first (prison) unit."
___Her husband said he likes to build relationships with kids, and most of the people who stay at the facility will be women and children. "I want to build that relationship that a lot of kids don't have with a man, ... someone they can trust."
___The Wilsons will not "babysit" children, they said. A parent must be present. But they will be able to spend time with the children, and they hope to instill positive values and a love for Christ.
___An apartment for the house directors was included on one side of the building, and another one on the other side will be for relief workers.
___Visitors will prepare their own meals with food donated to the facility.
___A large family room features couches and chairs, and in one corner stands a wooden rocking toy made for young children. One of the prisoners made it and is planning to make some more, Wilson said.
____
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
