We arrived safely in McKinney and are making progress unpacking and getting connected. The last several weeks have been beyond disorienting, but we are happy and thankful for His grace. Cathy’s mom had a health crisis, we packed to leave the home and church where we raised our boys, leaving to start a new ministry after 27 years. We were thrown a curve when our plans for Cathy to stay at World Impact did not come to fruition. But as God always does, He has provided wisdom and clarity for a better plan.
As I considered Cathy's unique gifting and her national network of relationship with prison ministries, it seemed logical to ask Cathy to expand the role she had a TUMI with leadership training and move toward helping TUMI-trained leaders get plugged into their Kingdom calling. Having received affirmation from our Board, I am delighted to announce that Cathy Allsman has accepted our offer to serve as Vice President of Prison Ministry Mobilization.
I know that some people view Cathy as simply an assistant to me, an extension of my ministry. But anyone who has worked closely with her knows that she has a powerful ministry in her own right and will do a fantastic job in this role, just as she expanded TUMI in prisons from 7 to 70 locations in just 6 years.
There are many exciting events ahead of us. August 4 we pilot test a prisoner re-entry workshop we co-authored called The Onesimus Project Workshop. August 7 we visit prisoners at Denver Women's prison. August 8 we meet with two colleagues in Colorado who are doing pioneer innovation in the area of mobilizing former prisoners to ministry. In September we attend a world missions conference called Missio Nexus. In October I am joining the board of the Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association and we attend a conference in Waco for churches to mobilize around becoming Great Commission churches. November we go the Christian Community Development Association gathering in Chicago and December is the Finishing the Task Summit at Saddleback. In between, I have a follow-up list of hundreds of leads to pursue.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support. If you have given to Completion Global we are expecting a report on the gifts received over the last month. I'll update you on our progress next time.
We are excited about the future. This is happening!