b'thanks to the favor of God, close relationshipsMoving into ministry expansion with the sheriffs office, our committed staffS ince its inception, Jail Chaplains had oper-and dedicated volunteers, and several programsated only in Cass County, North Dakota. focused on introducing people to Jesus. WeThat changed in 2024. A volunteer moved facilitate 12 weekly groups in the secure area offrom Fargo, North Dakota, to Fort Worth, Texas. the Cass County jail for both men and women,He presented the concept of our ministry model to including Celebrate Recovery, Living Free, Alpha,the Wise County Sheriffs Office, inviting them to Mens 33, Believers Truth, worship services, andconnect with the Cass County Sheriffs Office to discipleship. In the community we offer 1215understand logistics. They approved him starting groups at various locations, including churches,Jail Chaplains groups in the county jail. Within the public library, and other nonprofit recovery- months, he expanded to the Bridgeport Correc-focused properties. tional Center, Texas. Now he runs more than We also offer a ministry of presence to lawfive groups every week with five volunteers. This enforcement and their families, offering multiplesummer they hosted a community appreciation appreciation events each year. We host a familypicnic for the sheriffs office. picnic on the jail lawn, the Second Chances Com- Other correctional facilities across North munity Picnic, a family day and picnic at ThunderDakota have also reached out to Jail Chaplains Road Family Fun Park, scholarships to attend thefor training and support. A strategic planning Global Leadership Summit, and a Thankfularticle in the March/April 2024 issue of Citygate Lunch at the jail with brisket and gift baskets.Networks Instigate magazine helped us develop a strategy for this expansion. We eventually chose a structure that starts as hub-and-spoke. Volunteers in other communities become our volunteers. They must meet all requirements and perform the due diligence we expect of all volunteers. Special attention goes to weekly supervision and support. We established memorandums of understand-ing (MOUs) to sign with facilities. The intention for each is to transition to strategic partnership within one year of partnering in a new commu-nity through hub-and-spoke. We sign an MOU with a third-party organization. They build the program into their budget; Jail Chaplains provides facilitator training, fundraising training, best practices, standard operating procedures, ongoing monitoring, and emotional support. As a Citygate Network member, one of the pri-mary ways we partner with local homeless shelters is by offering small groups such as Living Free for their residents. We host these groups at locations \x02 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG 29'