Eric was a little boy who did not have much going for him.
His older brother was in prison, and he had never known his
father. He had never been to church in his life.
According to the experts and the statistics, Eric was headed
straight for a life of crime. But last year Eric got a break. He
lives in Pennsylvania, where, some 40 years ago, a group of
Christians began a Released Time Bible Program in the public
schools.
Pennsylvania has a generous released time law, and Eric’s
mother gave permission for her son to take part. Volunteers take
Eric and his classmates out of school once a week and walk them
to a nearby church. There, they enjoy singing, Bible study,
prayer, and Scripture memorization. Eric has become close to one
of the adults who teaches his class and has had dinner with his
family several times. And last summer, Eric earned enough points
from Scripture memory to cover the cost of a week of Christian
camp. He cannot wait to get back there this summer.
Nancy Derrick, one of this year’s class of Centurions--the
year-long worldview training program that we run--is a regional
coordinator for Joy El Ministries’ Released Time Bible Program
in Pennsylvania. She says that fully half the kids who take part
in Released Time programs are un-churched.
Clearly, even parents who do not attend church themselves
recognize that Bible lessons are good for their kids. This is
tremendously important because those who study crime tell us
that criminal behavior is a result of a lack of moral training
in the morally formative years. Well, moral training is a big
part of Pennsylvania’s Released Time Bible Program; volunteers
both model and teach godly character.
Kids who participate in Released Time often have chaotic home
lives and lack meaningful relationships with adults. It is not
unusual for these kids to form strong relationships with
Released Time volunteers. This means kids from broken homes have
a chance to see firsthand what healthy family relationships look
like. Far better to have crime-prone kids bonding with Christian
families instead of the gangs.
Through Joy El Ministries’ program alone, some 3,000 kids
from 25 school districts in Pennsylvania are reached every week
with God’s Word--and the program just keeps growing.
All too often, public school officials do everything they can to
keep Christian influences out of the classroom because they
consider Christianity a bigoted faith for the foolish. That is
why programs like Released Time classes are so important. Five
years ago, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency studied
Released Time programs and found that kids who take part in
Released Time perform better academically than their peers. It
also found the program reinforced positive moral and character
development in schools where teachers struggle to control
disruptive students.
If one were a cynic, one might say Released Time volunteers
are doing the work of the schools for them--for free!
Is there a Released Time program in your state? If there is
not, why not start one? No special training is needed, and the
courts have upheld challenges to the law. You can find out more
about the Released Time Bible Program by coming to our website.
It is a chance to bring the Gospel into schools--and bring the
crime rate down. That is not bad for a few hours volunteering
each week. How about it?
Source URL:
http://www.informz.net/pfm/archives/archive_577969.html
