Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Mentoring an Offender - Update

Our guest blogger, Joy, is coming to the end of her year on the bracelet with a local county sherriff's department. It has been a struggle for her. She earns $10 per hour and out of that she has had to pay for rent, food, gas to go to work, and $736 per month to the county for the privilege of wearing the bracelet. Of course, those figures do not add up. Each month she has fallen short of her financial needs, but with the help of several ministries, she is going to make it.

Along the way, the sherriff's department threatened to lock her up if she couldn't pay the $736. She was told by the judge that he would not reduce her sentence because, despite her hard work and good record, his intent was to punish her not rehabilitate her. And, this past week, she was denied her one hour trip to the grocery store. The reason given by her supervising officer, "If you can afford to buy groceries, you can afford to pay us first."

Please pray for Joy. Her release date is February 9th. We thank God for providing her with a job and many good ministry friends who have helped her along the way.

Joy tells me God has provided because he has work for her to do!

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For more information about women and the justice system, please read an excerpt of my new book. It's free and easy to download.

The Women Of Block 12: Voices from a Jail Ministry.
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1 comment:

  1. That is completely ridiculous and it just makes me so angry!!

    If you can afford to buy groceries, you can afford to pay us first.

    Merry Christmas Judge! I am glad that Joy remains strong in God's provision!

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