Our Podcast Channel Is Up!

We are so excited to announce that our podcast channel is officially up and running! We’ve loaded the first 3 interviews with brothers behind bars about their ministry, the need for academic biblical studies courses and life as believers. The main focus of the podcast is to help those “outside” to get a more realistic look at what the church is like inside, and promote our efforts to get biblical studies courses to inmates via Edovo.

Please click here to check out the “Eyes Not Lifted” podcast on Spotify, comment on the podcast and share with others. Thank you!

I went to prison, so I taught Greek.

There are a lot of things you probably would not correlate with prison. Greek courses must definitely be up on that list. Nevertheless, when I was invited to teach at my church in prison, the request was specifically for Greek (as well as Hermeneutics). I will admit, at first, I did not think that a Greek class was a great idea. Most people in prison did not finish high school - often not junior high, much less college or grad school where one would normally learn something as difficult as Greek. To lean Greek requires a lot of grammar, memorization, and homework. It is a difficult language even for privileged career students. I feel justified in my original reluctance.

My brothers, however, were insistent. This was a very unique opportunity. One that they had been waiting for a very long time. We had already gone through a sixteen-week course on hermeneutics using Jeanine Brown’s Scripture as Communication so they had a taste of academic biblical studies and they loved it. It was challenging, interesting and fun.

Check out Jeanine’s blog here.

Now, what they wanted was Greek. No matter how difficult, it is something that many believers in prison value and desire. The brothers would not be dissuaded. The most popular resource for teaching biblical Greek is William D. Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek. Mounce has much more than just a textbook. He has cd’s, laminated charts, condensed versions, online courses… everything but the t-shirt (yes I looked). Unfortunately, in prison we don’t have computers, internet or good. We can’t get hardcover books, vocab cards, or CDs. We are limited to 10 books per individual which usually get’s eaten up very quickly (inmates read a lot). We could get the grammar and workbook, but the average inmate makes about 4-16 cents an hour. To buy the texts would require saving up 100% of our income for about a year to get a single pair.

By God’s grace we found friends on the outside who were willing to sponsor and send in the first 5 pairs. This allowed up get up and running - and boy did we run. Most of the brothers took to Greek like fish to water and quickly we were rolling. By the time I left, I was able to identify a brother who was clearly gifted enough to teach Greek and he picked up the mantel. After I left he continued and has taught several rounds of Greek I.

Greek is not for everyone, but so many incarcerated brothers give it a shot that Greek continues to be a popular class. As CDC shifts inmates, this passion has been spread to other yards. Now we’re trying to support classes on multiple yards. Last month we finally submitted online Greek classes to Edovo - an education portal available in select prisons. Our prayers are that the submission goes smoothly so that these classes can be available to inmates with access to Edovo.

Edovo offers inmates religious content which includes mostly sermons and life application content which the brothers absolutely love. What is missing, however, is academic biblical studies content. That’s where we come in. Our goal is to publish classes on

• Greek 1-4

• Hermeneutics

• History, Geography & Archeology

• New Testament

• Old Testament

• Theology

• Ministry

We are just getting started. We have a lot to do. Please pray for the brothers in prison. God will hear your prayers! Thank you. Stay tuned for updates.

Courses Are In Process!

Greek 1 & 2 are in route to Edovo!

When we asked inmates to choose the course they would most like to see offered first, it was unanimous - Greek! Many inmates are interested in learning languages and there are many believers who actively try to learn biblical Greek on their own. We’ve been astounded how many believers do the hard work of learning Greek despite the limited resources.

Over the last few months, we’ve been working on Greek 1 & 2. You can visit our YouTube channel to see samples of the course. Recently both courses were completed and we’ve submitted them to Edovo. Edovo is an education app available to thousands of inmates in hundreds of correctional facilities. We are waiting to complete the process with Edovo and soon have these courses in the app.

We hope that with these Edovo courses we can support the passion and dedication of these believers. We are on the phone regularly with men in institutions around the states who want to read their Bibles in the original languages. We are excited to can come along side these inmates to support their goals! Stay tunned. When we have the courses up, we’ll let you know!

How can you help?

• Would you be interested in sponsoring an inmate by buying their text books? See our blogpost on textbooks!

• We’ll need help getting the word to inmates. Just because it’s available doesn’t mean they’ll know about it.

Greek 1 & 2 Textbooks

These are the books to buy (links included)!

Do you have a loved one learning Greek in prison? So many inmates in prison want to learn Greek, but for the average inmate who makes $0.08 an hour, $80 for text books is very difficult. Most inmates depend on the generosity of people “on the outside”.

Here are the textbooks we use in our course. Even if your loved one doesn’t have access to our courses at their institutions these are the most popular books for Greek at most Christian colleges and universities. These text books are the same for both Greek 1 and Greek 2. Sometimes you can get deals on these, but usually you’re paying about $80 for all three.

This textbook sells for $15 on Amazon. Although there are more updated editions, they sell for more and this third edition is the one we use for our course so you get it for less and it will work best! It is only available in hardcover.

This workbook sells for $15 on Amazon. It is probably the most important book for the course. It is book of homework exercises to apply what the student is learning. If you’re only getting one book, this might be the better option, though you may want to ask your loved one first.

This Greek New Testament usually sells for $40 on Amazon. Not every student will be ready to jump into this Bible right away so if you’re tight on money, maybe this is the last book you buy. It’s recommended because it has vocabulary definitions on every page so it’s perfect for a Greek student just learning the language. It only comes in soft cover.