The History of Barabbas Ministries

In 2003 while Charley Mann was working with T.O.U.C.H. Ministries, Barabbas Ministries was conceived. While providing Christ-centered substance abuse classes and support within the Bexar County Jail. As he was helping with an in-prison ministry event, a young inmate seemed to be very troubled.  He was good looking, doing well in class, and had a skill which he could use on the outside.

As Charley spoke with him he found out that he was actually terrified of getting released in a few weeks.  The young man asked if he could help him once he was released and was told that the current ministry was strictly a Christ-centered substance abuse program which did not offer other outside services.  About a week later that same inmate approached Charley again and asked if he could at least work with the church that Charley attended to assist them after he was released from jail.
 
Soon after Charley began doing research and learned how really effective it is for a prisoner to find Jesus Christ as his savior and participate in a discipling program.  He was shocked to find out that without Christ, an ex-offender at that time had a 60%-70% chance of returning to prison within three years.  If an ex-offender began living his life for Christ when he was released, he had anywhere between a 1% and a 20% chance of reentering prison.  At worst, the Christ-centered ex-offender programs had three times better success than participation in no program or a secular program, and at best by sixty times better.

In September 2004, Barabbas Ministries was formed and leased a house in the S/W part of San Antonio.  It was set up as a Faith Based Transitional House, called Barabbas House.  We completed our preparations and began working with the State prison system and parole office to determine when the inmates, who we had been working with on the inside, would be released or paroled.  Thirty two ex-offenders were housed in Barabbas House from November 2004 to July 2010.

Although we were able to train and assist twenty six of these men to make the transition from prison to free society, we saw that many were not spiritually mature.  They either wanted to remain in the house and not strike out on their own, or they ended up returning to jail because they could not deal with the rules and laws of society.  During the period that Barabbas House was in operation, we did find that those men who were likely to make the transition had been discipled while inside prison and continued on the outside becoming grounded in the Word of God.  Those who found and attended a church were more likely to make the transition with much less stress and difficulty.  Therefore, in the summer of 2010, we shut the house down and began concentrating on reaching, teaching and discipling the men while they were still incarcerated.

About 18-months ago, Prison Fellowship (PF) Ministry decided to work toward developing a PF Faith Based Dorm in the Dominguez State Jail here in San Antonio.  Barabbas Ministries began working with both PF and Dominguez leadership on the project.  By July 2010, all approvals were received from the State and from the Warden at Dominguez.  Ultimately, PF chose not to participate in the Dominguez dorm program because the jail could not provide enough men having at least a one year to serve before release.  PF’s program required at least one year to complete.  Because Barabbas Ministries felt God was opening a door inside Dominguez, we decided to initiate a 90-day Faith Based Dorm program.  We call this program, the Barabbas Project.

Barabbas Project began on October 25, 2010.  This program provides inmates six hours of class per day for three days a week.  Fifteen volunteers teach employment skills, addiction comprehension and healing, discipleship training and mentoring.  Each dorm participant is required to do homework and is held accountable for their participation in the classes.

Nine inmates were led to salvation in Jesus Christ through the program within the first month.  During the month of December 2010, Dominguez jail was under "lockdown" due to some fights breaking out (none in the faith based dorm).  Barabbas Ministries had planned a Christmas party for the Dorm but that had to be cancelled.  During the three week lockdown, several of the men in the dorm led three of their own to salvation in Jesus Christ.  What a blessing to know that our efforts led these men to evangelize their own.   So, within two months, we saw 21% of the men in the Dorm accept Jesus Christ as their Savior as they participated in the discipleship program (A good number of the inmates were already believers when the Dorm program began).

Each group of fifty six inmates is individually interviewed by a volunteer to obtain information about their family.  This information is utilized to minister with the family as they await the release of their husband, father or brother.  We are making an effort to prepare the families for their loved ones' release and get them involved in a "receiving church".  In this way, an ex-offender will be able to join his family in a "church home" immediately upon his release.  If the man is single, he can be helped to find a “receiving church” in his area where further Christian mentoring can take place.

As our volunteers work with these groups of 56 inmates every 90-days, some of the men are released from prison during 90-day period and some return to the general population to await release at a later date. The Barabbas Project is attempting to prepare these men to be ambassadors for Christ as they return to the general prison population and await their release dates.  In this way they will hopefully be able to multiply themselves as Christ followers. Please pray for these men and their families. Also pray for our volunteers as they serve "within the walls".