If Nothing Else, Take this Bible...

People give back to their communities in many ways. Some volunteer at their local homeless shelter, many sign up for community service projects, and some people even help run different charity events. Most of the time, individuals sign up to give back to their community in ways that they are passionate about. Clyde Reasner is a great example of this. When he heard of Welcome to a New Life (WNL), he was excited to get involved. WNL is a ministry that seeks to provide mentorship for people who are involved in the Hancock County Criminal Justice System to live crime-free, drug-free, and productive lives. Each mentee is paired with two volunteers to support them. The mentee is asked to sign a statement of agreement as to the terms of his/her relationship with the WNL.

As Clyde began meeting with his first mentee, he learned very quickly that this individual was not taking the relationship seriously as he was using WNL as a “get out of jail free card.” Even in that, Clyde met with him, did community service, and even prayed with him, but admittedly, he didn’t take intentional time to talk to him about his faith like he wanted. After that first opportunity faded, Clyde was given another mentee who represented different challenges. He had difficulties following through with recommendations that could help. To make matters worse, this happened at the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, he relapsed and had his parole revoked.

After these experiences, Clyde decided that he would take a little different approach. “I decided I had to be more intentional about sharing my faith,” he said as he began mentoring the third mentee. Clyde’s new mindset heading into this relationship was, “You’re trying to get clean and put your life back together. I believe the only way you can truly do that is by putting your faith in Jesus.” In his first meeting with this new mentee, Clyde made it clear that this is hard enough with a solid faith but next to impossible without it. The young man’s response to Clyde was “like a deer in headlights,” but he was listening. After meeting a couple of times, Clyde began trying different ways to reach this young man. He offered Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter, but he wasn’t much of a reader. He even suggested he watch some clips from the TV series, The Chosen, but he just couldn’t get into it because he had no idea who this Jesus guy was. Ultimately, Clyde walked him through the “Romans Road” of salvation and taught him about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. He shared Romans 10:9-10 with him and said, “If nothing else, take this Bible and read these verses every day.” What came next not only surprised Clyde, but brought excitement. When they met the following week, the young man had MEMORIZED Romans 10:9-10.

Clyde continues to meet with his mentee and hold him accountable, teaching him about general life knowledge and sharing his faith often. Clyde’s experience is one that he wishes many others could share. If this type of ministry interests you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, Clyde, or call the church office so that we can get you in contact with the right person. This is an awesome opportunity to give back to the community by helping people get their lives back on track and share the Gospel with those who need to hear it. Breaking free from a lifestyle of addiction and “run ins” with the justice system is such a difficult thing to accomplish, but having a mentor who can walk alongside you, pointing you to Christ makes a huge difference.