Bright Lights & Prison Ministries

This is Amy Thomas from the masculine journey podcast where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man your chosen Truth Network podcast starting in just seconds.

Enjoy share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network suspecting that wonderful voice Robbie deal morbid.

He is down with because it, and a few days ago, he called and said would you be willing build a first step in forming that is been a fun time trying to put together this wonderful show for you this morning. I've got two great gifts and got Mark hugs.

It is the executive director Forsyth jail and prison ministry, which is at unbelievably neat organization in a very unique one for North Carolina and we've got Jessica win, CEO and cofounder of bright light technologies accompany dedicating to protecting people from covert and other diseases. Jessica say good morning good morning everyone will thank you so much for being on your located in Raleigh. Aren't you we are looking at our Raleigh when you never really great love her to buoys Creek. We appreciate you being Mark Sartre, our new director at the Forsyth jail and prison ministry. I've had the pleasure of working with them for at least 15 years and we had a gentleman that was running the place that could keep 12 plates spinning at the same time better than anybody I ever knew, and you broadly Go in and go in and go in the rock somebody in to fill his shoes.

Not sure I think it's going to take about six parachutes to do the job right.

But all of this, everybody I've talked to is just been unbelievably impressed with Mark, Mark, thank you so much for being here. Thank you Bill, I really appreciate the opportunity.

Looking forward to talking to you and good morning to your audience as well. I got got suckered into June and something called the Gideons I was in charge of Christian action for church and they should go to this meet and I'm going why can I just send a check what I get there and it's a new members meeting and I mean I was just fit to be tied at one miracle after another, God made it absolutely clear. I had no choice to join and then they said part of this is going into the jail and doing Bible studies and I said you must check already cleared.

You didn't tell me anything about this before, so my mother worked at Pokey center which is central prison for anybody under 22 and there were these three great big tall fences with great big barrel rolls of razor wire at the top and I never could fathom how in the world she went in there and talk and the idea of going into a jail cell in our detention center in a room and sharing anything was just absolutely beyond that.

So I went in just antsy. As I and by the end of the hour and 1/2. It was just absolute joy.

I knew this was the place I wanted to go and spend time and work with folks at out. We've got a wonderful staff here how many chaplains do we have now we have three chaplains on staff right now and how big a stat that one stay. I know one staff person that is worth at least five people at another staff person that's worth at least for staff people but how many actual belly buttons do we have we have a seven full-time staff and one part-time staff. Yes, that we had broadly used to love to tell a story about they brought in a a gentleman from Texas to run our detention center and Rodney said it take a year to convince that man that we actually had 200 volunteers going into his facility. You got any idea how many Emily volunteers will just for the jail that were on the roles before all this covert stuff. It just for the jail well over 300 and then at the prison. The same amount, well over 300 as well. Network call-in show, and the number is 866-34-TRUTH a 7884 866-34-TRUTH 87884 and you if you've not anybody that's gone through the Forsyth jail and prison ministry is a volunteer or been one of the inmates touched her one of the family members and we you'd like to share a story with love for you to call in but we do a lot for the families you want to share a little bit about what we do with the families. We do our our ministry is obviously were ministering to the inmates and offenders every day. Our chaplains are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week, but we don't stop there. We we minister to their families as well as the need arises. And as the request. The help is requested.

Not only that a bill we we also minister to those officers working at the jail and at the prison as well.

You know this is been a really difficult time.

Covert has been very difficult for for those officers and those staff working at both facilities also in and we found that there's some need for ministry opportunity there. Also, now I've got a dear friend who works over in High Point in the year facility.

She stuck it in an elevator for almost 12 hours that there's not enough hill to rescue somebody at that the facilities are very very shorthanded and I know that's extremely stressful for everybody involved and then on top of that they're doing their very little best so that this mess doesn't get spread around within the facility that's exactly right. Certainly shorthanded, but I will say the staff at the jail, and the staff at the prison.

Their incredible they just do a wonderful job there. Very professional they do their jobs with honor and dignity and I were so proud to work alongside them. But yes, you're right there. They're doing their best to contain covert and make sure it doesn't enter the facilities and they're doing a wonderful job of that as well and taking care of those inmates that are better at the jail and at the prison. People don't realize it, they don't give you a bar soap or deodorant or shampoo or toothpaste when you go to the jail.

If you don't have the money to buy young get it on its you personally if I was a guard there. I might contribute to the fund for the faith-based. There a lot of facilities across the state. I have heard I have heard of chaplains and other counties that had signs on their door and signs in their distance.

I do not embarrass either of us by asking for personal hygiene items. Our county is unique there very very very few counties that have chaplains that are going into the facilities that are not state employees.

We have chaplains that are supported by the churches in our area not only Forsyth County, but all the surrounding counties got an idea how many churches are our helping the over hundred and 2020 230 or so on a great number of churches very very faithful faithful supporting churches and honestly we could not do this ministry without them there just so dedicated and so faithful that just makes a huge difference when, in addition to a Bible and I promise you there's nobody in the facility. If they say I would like to have a a King James Bible were I would like a study Bible, or I would like NIV Bible the Gideons and other organizations. Make sure at least in Forsyth County that that materials they are. We also the Forsyth County. The Forsyth jail and prison ministry did a big book drive and stocked up the different floors with all kinds of reading material which was unusual on them for a long long long time.

There was almost no reading material in there, but the Cova did allow the Forsyth jail and prison ministry to make sure that there was good healthy wonderful stuff that the guys could pick up and read. You might consider sticking a box by your church office and publishing the list in your church newsletter and say toothpaste, toothbrushes, Combs did underarm deodorant. What else are we always looking for socks and other shampoo basic hygiene items as well. We can always use it. We have like I said such a faithful supporting a group of churches, donors, volunteers that help keep a stock so that we can provide not only the reading materials in the Bible's like you mentioned but also just the other personal hygiene items well so it's very important critical that we have and you know you really want to be thought of as she instead one day this like a really big catch the reference. We will be right back right back after this play, remember were call-in show with love for you to call in the encourage member 8664878843363487884 we were talking just a little bit before but what a big change. Covert is made in our jail and in our we had talked about the prison yet, but in the prison and I was excited to have a guest whose career is to help fight this plug in, make our lives safer and I want Jessica wins to talk to us a little bit about her company and how it got started. Your you're not only the CEO you the cofounder. How did that happen. I mean you just walk out of wrongdoer and they said okay while talking a believer, I don't think it ever coincident and I firmly believe that an obedient candidate 3n.you have to be infected needed and when he said something you got it and that my husband and I we have been working you know with government entities and school district parent at her over a decade integrating system technology and study fertility a long time and when the pandemic hit we knew we had an understanding at believe the Lord gave it in fact that this is something that we are going to have to deal with long-term and relying on human effort to clean at a virus that you can't eat. It was after the impossible diet. The Lord really let it look into just the most powerful bio defense technologies in the industry to reduce the threat of having 19 and effects either the whole and we actually specialize in integrating technology into the ready.

Note that technology but is doing the work ongoing in the background taking care of the virus in real time even while people are in the room due to main systems that you utilize one of those two systems that you utilize several different technologies that we integrate into ability. But whenever that powerful at technology that we integrate and act technology called bright light air bright light air is a corona discharge bipolar I and if they can technology. I know that is probably a big mouthful and probably are like white in the world that the nuts and bolts of it is is that you know God treated the way he created air to clean it… In nature, and geothermal energy outdoors there a way to clean up their positive and negatively charged oxygen ions that continually deactivate it didn't mold think of that nature that in the air up there and know what technology is it of the biomimicry technology that take that pain. Natural profit happened beneath her, but now were able to do it indoor and do it faithfully endured that we can produce that same outcome of clean purified air 24 seven ongoing 365 in your home or in your business and you know in it. Like the various different applications.

Use ultraviolet light to we have technology that use ultraviolet light, but that right light air is not at technology. It is a bipolar identity and technology cites the two totally different things. How long have you been doing using these particular tools on the technology that we utilized. They have actually right light air had an impact in 2008 on had had over 100,000 in Philly and facility here in the United eight and we began integrating technology and offering your client for over a year on year and 1/2 now.

So the way I pictured his ear passes through a box and in that box you had an extra electron certain molecules and that overstimulated molecule then encourages the things you want to get out of the ear to the head of the year and they started being attracted to things other than our facemask. So on that dog and integrated into your air conditioning in your existing air handler in your facility or in your home. We install the technology in the air handler directly air earth as it happened through our technology on our technology produces the highest amount of ionic industry.

There are different kind of thinking technologies out there are predicted 1000 times more I understand the technology that it is out there that we are our technology 1 trillion ions per second and the ions as they go through your air handler ductwork. Everything went there in your home. We produce the highest ion concentration in real-world environment. Though ions are speaking and destroying pathogen continually and may provide an active layer of defendant while me and you are in the rim.

If someone it actively, telling her that there is something mitigating that risk in real time and that is something that happens technology by Acculturation or even UV lighting and air handler.

They cannot do that at active cleaning in real time to understand your near Campbell University and you set up some some programs for the college students you got a campus ministry that you know I'm here your your ministry outreach understand that right here together.

The Lord really began praying with believers in the area he got transform and bring revival. You are reading and we are a mile away from a college campus that we began praying for that college campus.

But you know how the Lord is when you get in the place of prayer, and he began to hear his heart or a people that you're praying for it immediately. Something can also happen is when he said now you go be the answer to the prayer and that we open up our home to disciple in a college student. We wanted to disciple them at the wholehearted love and obedience to the Lord and I community has grown in to about 75 college didn't that comes our home every Tuesday night and we do Bible study and and and and our goal is to disciple in the wholehearted love and obedience to that we get to have them for four years and then send them off in the marketplace are then an option for the mission field, and it didn't encourage and equip you to be salt and light everywhere they go. You got a great passion for both you student ministry in the work is just wonderful to hear us sit there thinking about not sure Mark I want Mark to hear this, but my mother always told me go get a really good job pays well and do your ministry on the side to be able to do a whole lot more fun things but it just wonderful that we've got people that are willing to go into ministry and make that their career and be dedicated to what they did got an organization in town called city with dwellings with this the most wonderful staff I've ever saying that work with our homeless and a lot of the homeless.

Yet we we've got this Beltway in our area that is a lot of areas got somebody with a little bit of mental illness and they spent some time in the jail in the Tillett cementless been a little bit of time in the hospital. They spent a little bit of time in the mental health facility. The spent a little bit back in the jail is in there in the homeless and they just run that carousel round and round and round we got so many wonderful volunteers in our community. Working trying to make that a smaller problem and amazes me how many folks we've got to pitch in and he'll go to classes, do it. They got to do to be allowed to go into the jail to be allowed to go into the prison, especially when would gotta worry about the possibility of getting sick. I know the last time that we had a training set up because this new, very it popped up. We had to cancel the training that the Cove, it is just a pain in the you tell us about the training and what we write what we got to do what, what's a volunteer got today to be able to get involved. Sure so we do have typically a non-covert year will have four separate trainings at various local churches for our jail volunteers and and like you mentioned we were supposed to have a training this this past Sunday and covert and the weather we count, caused us to what to postpone that we will have future trainings going forward.

Assuming everything works out with with covert so anybody that wants to volunteer at the jail, can can reach out to our office.

You can call our office or reach us by email info it for site GPM.org and if you want to volunteer at the at the prison.

Of course we have a process for that as well.

Some paperwork and in different things we need to do to make sure that the staff at the prison authorizes volunteer community volunteers to come and help us with the prison.

Now let me mention out like you said Bill out right now we can't have unfortunately any volunteers come to either facility just because of covert and it's been that way since March 2020 when all of this kinda kicked up so we are prayerfully looking forward to the day when when our volunteers can come back. I know they miss it. The inmates at both facilities miss being with those volunteers.

The ministry that they provide is second to none and can't wait until the day when that happens, once again I will say ministry is happening every day, even without our volunteers.

It's too it'll just be a great day when our volunteers can return as our chaplains refill and then for those 300 volunteers. We had going into the jail and all the volunteers we had going into the prison. A lot of those programs are up and running, but the running with folks that are burning the candle on Vici and right right yes or chaplains. Of course work very hard, like a said 24 hours a day seven days a week. A chaplain is on call there there full time throughout the week. There doing worship services at the prison on Sundays were thankful for technology that has allowed us to do some zoom classes at the prison as part of our transition to work program. We actually have two weekly Bible studies going on right now through resume as well so technology has allowed us to continue to increase our ministry through the use of volunteers working remotely so that's been a real blessing in real wonderful thing. The one thing I want you to take from this is on your prayer list on your daily prayer list.

I want you to have the foresight jail and prison ministry and the chaplains on that list. These are folks that are really doing exactly what God calls us to sometimes. Sometimes they need a lot of extra prayer and now's the time will be back in just a minute. Thank you that Jessica there other point. She wanted to make sure we understood. Can you help us understand what are some of the different installations you put in what what size business should consider your services and yet you do you have a model for homes or primarily working in commercial application commercial application rating from health department pick up a hospital health clinic, protecting public school system University corporate building on that. A lot of people in Congress thinking I would tell them that we have powerful technology to reduce the threat of having 19 in real time.

You know, and that was the big differentiator right though, you know, when you clean you.

It if you clean Frank whatever the next time somebody walked in the room. The coveted infected again when you have technology like filtration or UV unit you have to wait for the air to go into the air handler for it to clean it and there is nothing in the air protecting between Expo. Our company has bright light air. We also have other technology depending on the level of of of you know that a better active and and can really mitigate that risk in real time and so and you know covert it mainly transmitted through the air, though it really brings the pollution on that when people would have to look at my home. You know that you know what, let's make this commercial level technology available for homes because you honestly can't overdo it when it comes to obit and we see the variant you know the truth that the ability to increase and double and triple you know every time were going. You know that were going to make this commercial level technology available for home and fell@brightlightair.com you can go and order your unit and we can just have it installed in your home on the phone number if you have any questions that 884. I'm sorry I'm a pre-pre-I'm more likely to 833 or 42732883344 brief that is the phone number and you can call the phone number or easiest thing to do. It just going to our website bright light air.com in order your unit you need one per air handler, Inc. at your home get on the phone and talk to somebody about what their options are. But that's wonderful, beautiful website and she would look at it yet. Glad we are finding tools to fight this bug is coming at us.

I remember when I was with that matter is in college I did a little stuff with the trying to kill germs in using ultraviolet light. Yet UV is a great tool as well and our company for commercial applications. We have definitely different commercial application to VP commercial. That's what I was trying to figure out two different systems to difference ways to do it and I wish they could hear Mark tell us a little bit more about what people can do if we can't get into the foresight jail and prison ministry.

What can we do to be helpful.

Sure II think the number one thing folks can do right now is is pray week. We cannot, we try to remind through our chaplains retry to remind the inmates that that are incarcerated in our community that they're not forgotten and are praying for these individuals at a time like this is is is so helpful.

So yes, certainly. Make sure your praying and then also bill you had mentioned it earlier. We were always in need of donations of hygiene supplies, Bible's various reading materials for for these inmates as well.

So you could do organize that some type of drive to collect some donations and bring them by our office or we can come and pick those up and then prayerfully consider signing up to be a volunteer coming going through our training to be a volunteer when volunteers can come back in our facilities. It's going to be a great need. We already know that. So yeah please consider doing that as well that can you share a little bit about what you think you Phyllis will look like when we get get it back up and running right yoke. Phyllis is been such a cornerstone program of the jail and prison ministry for so long and we've had some discussions with the state leaders are yoke fellows and and how we can know one of the things this covert has done is allowed us to step back and evaluate all of our programs and see where we can tweak things and make things better and and that's what were doing for yoke fellows as well so we'll have some more information coming out on that. But we look forward to the day when when yoke fellows can come back and you start those conversations up with the other inmates there at the prison on a on a weekly basis. We are internally having conversations about the best ways to do that in times and in the process for that.

So certainly more information to come as we come out of covert on those programs that if you not in Forsyth County. Most of the counties have a prison or jail system and this got chaplains there and they don't have the Bibles that Forsyth County does so if you're living in areas other than Forsyth County and your small group your church would like to provide Bibles. I highly recommend you calling you talk to the chaplain, have them call you in some cases you gotta have them sent directly from the publisher. In other cases if their unopened box. You can drop them by. But I know in a lot areas across the strike the state. There's a big need to have some reading material and a lot of those areas those chaplains doesn't have any resources to share with the inmates and it's even more important that got an opportunity to have some hygiene items or some other provisions, they can provide that the inmates it makes a really big difference in their ministries. One of the things that I used it I did not doing very much is that you've got inmates.

It is been in for very long time and when it looks like it's time for them to get out. It looks scary.

They don't know the way the worlds change they don't understand what it's like to be out there is a different way the heck they have to learn how to communicate with people that got to stop using a lot of words. This got to accept the truth that you if you walk in one way nobody pays any attention.

Not everybody knows you were in jail or prison if you walk in another way, you going to draw the wrong attention to you so there's a process for you to take an inmate and let them experience a little bit what it's like to go to a restaurant to go to a church service to be out of the facility for short period time and to be in a much better position to have the right mindset so that they don't come back in and that's one of the things are yoke fellows used to do and I know that they're going to have at least that part of the program back up and running again. Their other programs are we doing anything currently with the ex-offenders do we we have Bible studies or any resources available for ex-offenders. Now Mark sure were were working with ex-offenders continually transition to work program.

As you know we we help guys that are at the prison somewhere around 12 to 18 months from thing released from prison they can go through our our program while they're still on it in prison. Take some classes that teach financial responsibility and we have class human resource development that we work with Forsyth Tech on project reentry comes in and does a classes well here.

Previous guest was talking about and then once they do so the whole goal of that program is to help these men transition out effectively and not return to prison to reduce that recidivism rate.

So then we we support those ex-offenders as well with you know everybody needs something different. But some of the most basic needs like transportation or help with housing or help finding a job or help getting plugged into a local church were helping them with all of that sore working with dozens and dozens of sex offenders right now. If not, we really appreciate you sending the end.

We want you to keep Robbie in your prayers as he gets over the covert weekly. We want you to remember that were call-in show, and that you can call in the 866-34-TRUTH 7884 share with you like to share what everybody here we would love to help your organization technology really impacted in environment where you don't have to be afraid because you know that you have something that is protecting you in real time and you want to go to our website bright light air.com is a great place to all the information about our technology bright light air.com and if you want to give us a call 833443 is the number you can call thank you so much for being on the show with this this morning.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Thank you for much Marco. We were talking about the Forsyth Jill and prison ministry and the break you've got some wonderful staff people. There are occasions when you need a speaker for a different event for a Sunday school class for you want to serve some other group.

Do you have some speakers that can go out and talk about Forsyth Jill and prison ministry. Sure we do. We have our our staff and our chaplains are always willing to come out and speak about our ministry. Speak to your group, whether that be your church or your small group or community group, whatever that may look like. We would love to come out and share a little bit about the ministry you can reach out to us online info for site GPM.org you can call our office 336-759-0063 and I would be glad to set that up with you. They asked if the if it was a problem with the issue directly for money and I told him I didn't care if he came over and checked your cipher for change.

This is a great organization.

If you've got some money you trying to figure out who needs who really needs a little bit of God's providence that God bestowed on you highly recommend you get a Forsyth J PEM jail prison ministry.org and look at what they do and pray. If that's one of the organizations that you should share your largess with another when I'd encourage you to look up his city with dwellings.org. I had a gentleman that I was talking to just the other day will great guy I met he was really pitch in and help in it clear I did do a will. It amazed me that he'd been in the federal prison system and they had just let them go here and Forsyth County.

He was incarcerated in Florida when people are let out of jail and prison there given almost nothing except for a list of requirements. You've got to show up here you got a check in there. You gotta have a job yet. If you don't do everything you're supposed to will get a sticky back in and when you're in your building up charges.

You've got to come up and pay back. Now I'm not against all of that, but it just makes no sense to me at all that we don't build in a way to help them find some success because I would much rather them and I Telemann the jail people want you to have a good job.

They want you to have a happy family. We want you to have two cars.

We want you to complain about the amount of taxes you gotta pay. We don't want to pay for you to be in the jail in the prison you one of the things city with dwellings does is make sure that the homeless have a place to spend the night.

Instead of walking the Samaritan and then finding out they didn't have the space, then what you do. Everybody that we keep off the streets. We keep out of the jails and we save a small fortune everybody that goes to the Forsyth jail and prison ministry programs that feels like that there people out there that care form that there's jobs form that we help them figure a path from where they are to success saves us a small fortune as a community that takes volunteers that takes prayers that takes them financial assistance so number one. I hope that you write down somewhere where you will find it to pray for the Forsyth jail and prison ministry if you healthy and happy and you waking up saying God, what is it you want me to do and prison ministry pops in your head I'm sorry there's nothing in the Bible that says you're only supposed to do those comfortable things that make you happy and safe. God sent people to do some really wild things at Fox's book of martyrs pops in my mind everybody every time somebody says only good things are supposed to happen to Christians as not how it works.

We need you to get plugged into your community wherever you are.

You need to find ways as a Christian as a believer with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to find out where God wants you to make a difference in the lives of others that might not be working with the homeless. It might not be working with people incarcerated but I promise you that God's got a place for you to be and he's got a group of people that he needs you to talk to and if you like million you had a drug or alcohol problem and you are able to get beyond it. You're in a position to communicate and talk with people that other folks can't. In this things that some folks are are scared about their folks that have had mental problems at the there's an audience out there and hug them and encourage them to let Jesus you congregation your small group your Sunday school class hears about pray about how you make a difference in your community thought like with this is the Truth Network