Binding Up the Brokenhearted
Women’s Jail Ministry Shares God’s Healing Love at the Muscogee County Jail
By Liza Welch
Everyone has a story. No one is immune from hurt, from loss, from suffering. And when God has healed our hearts, it’s so important for us to let his power and compassion flow from us by serving others.
And nowhere is his healing love more necessary than in the lives of women at the Muscogee County Jail.
The Women’s Jail Ministry was born at Christ Community Church seven years ago. Since then, it has grown into a ministry that includes three programs: the Life Recovery Program, the Bible Study Program and the Mobile Library Reading Program.
Several CCC women currently volunteer in this ministry, yet each program is in critical need of additional volunteers. Do you feel God tugging your heart to serve the female inmates at the Muscogee County Jail?
Everyone has a story. No one is immune from hurt, from loss, from suffering. And when God has healed our hearts, it’s so important for us to let his power and compassion flow from us by serving others.
And nowhere is his healing love more necessary than in the lives of women at the Muscogee County Jail.
The Women’s Jail Ministry was born at Christ Community Church seven years ago. Since then, it has grown into a ministry that includes three programs: the Life Recovery Program, the Bible Study Program and the Mobile Library Reading Program.
Several CCC women currently volunteer in this ministry, yet each program is in critical need of additional volunteers. Do you feel God tugging your heart to serve the female inmates at the Muscogee County Jail?
Life Recovery Program
Andrea Shields leads the Life Recovery Program, currently facilitated by a team of three volunteers that meets at the Muscogee County Jail each Wednesday afternoon from 12:30 to 4:30. The Life Recovery Program, a Christian 12-step recovery program similar to Celebrate Recovery, ministers to women in three different dorms at the jail each Wednesday afternoon:
“The Spirit is always there with us,” Andrea shares, “and he helps us build up leaders there in the jail so that the women can continue their daily 12-step studies throughout the week.”
Andrea adds that they’ve seen women at the jail give their lives to Christ, ask to be baptized and participate in communion — that is, when they’re able to serve communion on site.
“Even if the chaplain gives us permission to bring in communion supplies, we still have to get permission from the guards, too,” Andrea says. “And sometimes they say no. Just a couple of weeks ago, the guard at the faith-based dorm told us that we couldn’t do communion. But then another guard walked up and said he didn’t see any problem with it.”
Andrea pauses, smiling. “We just let the two of them talk it out, and then the first guard had a change of heart. Not only that, she actually came into the dorm with us and participated in communion alongside these women in the jail. I have never seen anything like that, and it was truly an awesome experience for us all.”
Andrea notes that if the Life Recovery Program had additional volunteers, she could develop a rotation so that designated volunteers would need to serve only every other Wednesday afternoon or perhaps just once a month.
To serve on the Life Recovery team, volunteers must have already completed a 12-step program themselves (such as Celebrate Recovery or a similar program). If you’re interested in learning more about volunteering, please email Andrea at andreashields@kw.com.
Andrea Shields leads the Life Recovery Program, currently facilitated by a team of three volunteers that meets at the Muscogee County Jail each Wednesday afternoon from 12:30 to 4:30. The Life Recovery Program, a Christian 12-step recovery program similar to Celebrate Recovery, ministers to women in three different dorms at the jail each Wednesday afternoon:
- The faith-based dorm (typically 12-16 women)
- The mental health dorm (usually 6-8 women)
- The maximum security dorm (about 16-24 women)
“The Spirit is always there with us,” Andrea shares, “and he helps us build up leaders there in the jail so that the women can continue their daily 12-step studies throughout the week.”
Andrea adds that they’ve seen women at the jail give their lives to Christ, ask to be baptized and participate in communion — that is, when they’re able to serve communion on site.
“Even if the chaplain gives us permission to bring in communion supplies, we still have to get permission from the guards, too,” Andrea says. “And sometimes they say no. Just a couple of weeks ago, the guard at the faith-based dorm told us that we couldn’t do communion. But then another guard walked up and said he didn’t see any problem with it.”
Andrea pauses, smiling. “We just let the two of them talk it out, and then the first guard had a change of heart. Not only that, she actually came into the dorm with us and participated in communion alongside these women in the jail. I have never seen anything like that, and it was truly an awesome experience for us all.”
Andrea notes that if the Life Recovery Program had additional volunteers, she could develop a rotation so that designated volunteers would need to serve only every other Wednesday afternoon or perhaps just once a month.
To serve on the Life Recovery team, volunteers must have already completed a 12-step program themselves (such as Celebrate Recovery or a similar program). If you’re interested in learning more about volunteering, please email Andrea at andreashields@kw.com.
Bible Study Program
When Susie Cabeceiras (pictured at right) moved to Columbus in the summer of 2013 and began attending Christ Community Church, she never envisioned volunteering for the Women’s Jail Ministry. That type of service simply had never been laid on her heart. An educator for the past 33 years, Susie instead had a passion for serving children.
“But then one Sunday shortly after I moved here, I saw a note in the church bulletin from Andrea Shields, who needed more volunteers in the Women’s Jail Ministry,” Susie remembers. “I felt my heart being tugged, which both surprised me and also scared me a bit, so I contacted Andrea to learn more about volunteering.”
Susie now leads the Bible Study Program, which currently has a team of four volunteers. On Thursday evenings at 6:30, the team meets in Susie’s home to prepare the lesson and pray over the upcoming visit. Then, each Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, at least two members of the Bible Study team go to the Muscogee County Jail to lead the women through that week’s lesson.
“I can’t tell you how much I look forward to each Saturday morning,” Susie says. “It’s a time of healing both for these women and for me too.”
Typically the Bible Study Program revolves around a DVD series with a companion workbook. This allows the women to watch the message on DVD together and then discuss practical application in small groups afterwards. They’ve studied Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler and others.
“Breaking Free by Beth Moore was the first one we did,” Susie recalls, “and that resonated so strongly with the women there. Beth Moore was sharing about areas of brokenness in her own life, and it opened the door for these women to talk about trauma and abuse and pain in their past — things that they’d tried to bury, but things that desperately needed God’s healing.”
If you’d like to serve on the Bible Study team, please contact Susie at susie_okinawa@yahoo.com.
How to Get Involved
Serving with the Women’s Jail Ministry on-site at the Muscogee County Jail involves a screening process, including a background check, fingerprinting and an interview with Chaplain Neil Richardson.
“It’s a pretty rigorous process to get cleared, because you’re actually going into the Muscogee County Jail,” Susie says, “But it’s so rewarding. Since I started serving in the Women’s Jail Ministry, I’ve experienced healing in broken areas of my own life.”
There are other ways to serve in this ministry as well, though, such as contributing funds toward Bible study materials and donating faith-based books for a mobile library. To donate gently used paperback books for this program, please email Muscogee County Jail Chaplain Neil Richardson at NRichardson@columbusga.org.
“This ministry — it’s life-changing,” Andrea adds. “If you step in to serve the women of the Muscogee County Jail, your life will be transformed too."
When Susie Cabeceiras (pictured at right) moved to Columbus in the summer of 2013 and began attending Christ Community Church, she never envisioned volunteering for the Women’s Jail Ministry. That type of service simply had never been laid on her heart. An educator for the past 33 years, Susie instead had a passion for serving children.
“But then one Sunday shortly after I moved here, I saw a note in the church bulletin from Andrea Shields, who needed more volunteers in the Women’s Jail Ministry,” Susie remembers. “I felt my heart being tugged, which both surprised me and also scared me a bit, so I contacted Andrea to learn more about volunteering.”
Susie now leads the Bible Study Program, which currently has a team of four volunteers. On Thursday evenings at 6:30, the team meets in Susie’s home to prepare the lesson and pray over the upcoming visit. Then, each Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon, at least two members of the Bible Study team go to the Muscogee County Jail to lead the women through that week’s lesson.
“I can’t tell you how much I look forward to each Saturday morning,” Susie says. “It’s a time of healing both for these women and for me too.”
Typically the Bible Study Program revolves around a DVD series with a companion workbook. This allows the women to watch the message on DVD together and then discuss practical application in small groups afterwards. They’ve studied Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler and others.
“Breaking Free by Beth Moore was the first one we did,” Susie recalls, “and that resonated so strongly with the women there. Beth Moore was sharing about areas of brokenness in her own life, and it opened the door for these women to talk about trauma and abuse and pain in their past — things that they’d tried to bury, but things that desperately needed God’s healing.”
If you’d like to serve on the Bible Study team, please contact Susie at susie_okinawa@yahoo.com.
How to Get Involved
Serving with the Women’s Jail Ministry on-site at the Muscogee County Jail involves a screening process, including a background check, fingerprinting and an interview with Chaplain Neil Richardson.
“It’s a pretty rigorous process to get cleared, because you’re actually going into the Muscogee County Jail,” Susie says, “But it’s so rewarding. Since I started serving in the Women’s Jail Ministry, I’ve experienced healing in broken areas of my own life.”
There are other ways to serve in this ministry as well, though, such as contributing funds toward Bible study materials and donating faith-based books for a mobile library. To donate gently used paperback books for this program, please email Muscogee County Jail Chaplain Neil Richardson at NRichardson@columbusga.org.
“This ministry — it’s life-changing,” Andrea adds. “If you step in to serve the women of the Muscogee County Jail, your life will be transformed too."