Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2018

LOCAL JAIL MINISTRY The Greene County Jail Ministry has been an official part of Cedarville’s outreach programs since 1996 and has sent 248 students to share the Gospel and study the Bible with inmates. The Clark County Jail Ministry began in 2011, and 110 students have traveled there to show the love of Christ, bring the Gospel, and provide one-on-one discipleship. Every year, there are salvations as part of the jail ministries and many opportunities to disciple inmates. The Clark County team visits the jail, located in Springfield, Ohio, three times a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They come during what’s known as “chaplain hours,” from 7–9 p.m. and get to know the inmates and share the Gospel with them. Tyler Dellaperute ’20, a piano performance major, leads the Tuesday night team that visits the Clark County Jail. Dellaperute has seen the Lord work in amazing ways, especially in those moments when he’s felt the most inadequate — talking through a glass wall via telephone to an inmate he may never have met before. “There was this one time last year I hardly said anything at all,” Dellaperute shared. “I just met with this guy, and all I did was listen and ask a few questions. But it was just so clear that God had worked beforehand.” They ended up having an incredibly natural conversation about the Gospel and Jesus, and over the course of several meetings, the inmate put his faith in Christ. Joe Petroff ’20, a chemistry major, is in his second year with Clark County Jail Ministry. The first time he visited, he was extremely nervous. “I was afraid I’d mess up and say something wrong, that I’d somehow mess up Jesus for whoever I spoke to,” he admitted. “I asked everyone I lived with, all the guys, to pray for me.” There have been surprises in the jail ministry, too. One night, when Petroff was feeling particularly discouraged and almost didn’t go, he was paired up at the booth phone with an inmate who was already “on fire” for God. “The guy showed up with his Bible,” Petroff said. “He was so in love with Jesus, so excited about the power God used to break him of addictions, so excited to share that Good News with others inside the jail. The guy is getting out soon, and I plan to follow up.” Halie Hardwick ’20, an allied health major, has served with the Greene County Jail Ministry three years and is a leader for 2018–19. Her eyes have been opened to the great need inmates have for the Gospel. “The people in jail are pretty broken,” she shared. “The women I’ve talked to are in deep need of someone to care. They are real people, and we get to share the glory of who Jesus is with them.” Hardwick stays in contact with inmates after they’re released. One woman lost custody of her kids and her husband left her. “She was so receptive to the Gospel,” she said. “When she left jail, I followed up, and I saw how she worked to better herself. She connected with a local church, got her kids back, and she found a job.” 12 | Cedarville Magazine