Dear Friend,
People sometimes ask us, “What keeps you going?” The truth may be shocking. The fact is, we have always heard that “jailhouse religion” is fake and that “jailhouse conversions” are not real. However, we have found that those are completely uninformed statements. In fact, those who say those things do not know what they are talking about. Stop! There is such a thing as true, life-changing conversions to Christ! Salvation happens in the jailhouse, in solitary confinement, on death row, on suicide watch, in the cellblocks, and in the recreation yards! We fellowship with men and women every single week who have been drawn by our God (John 6:44) to be given the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8) and have finally found the Lord who offers them unlimited forgiveness (Colossians 1:14) for their sin, including the worst crimes they have committed. Jesus told his disciples in John 6:40, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The new heart in Christ passes through the razor wire to their families on the outside—to the children, to the parents. We see the fulfillment of these promises every day in the prisons where we work. While it is the Holy Spirit of our God who works in the hearts, this impact is also due in large part because of your financial help. Your help provides the wood for the Holy Spirit’s fire. Your help gives us the means to equip our students with the skills they need for biblical interpretation, doctrinal literacy, and applied ministry.
You will understand our joy in this work only if you have personally experienced the new heart and new spirit that our God promises to everyone who has been enabled to put their faith in Jesus Christ. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
That is the source of our joy. That is the source of our energy. That’s what keeps us going!
And Christ is the source of our hope for the funding for this, another year: our 16th year! Will you help us now or soon?
WHAT WE DON’T HAVE. Do you realize that we don’t have an endowment? We don’t have a guarantee that we will be funded very week, month, quarter, and year. God makes it clear to us that we are called to live as people of faith. We are called by God to trust in him completely. We do not buy lottery tickets each week hoping for the big win that would put us on easy street.
When we start a new year, we do not have that year’s funds on hand to pay for that year. How else can we do it when we sell nothing? We have no business-generated income. We operate no second-hand or thrift-shop store; we have no bookstore revenue, no cafeteria profits, no membership fees, no tuition revenue from our students. You have fully funded every Field Minister in Texas.
All we have is you, dear friend. You and other giving friends serve as our endowment from The God Who Saves.
You have provided everything we have needed for 15 years. And now we are in our 16th year, and we need you now as much as ever.
OUR BUDGET. This year’s budget is $978,00. We are at $363,412 as of the end of May 2026. That’s 37% of what we need for the year, and the year is roughly 50% over. If everyone who receives this newsletter would give just $300 one time this year, we’d have our budget met. But that’s a big IF!
We do not try to go wider, bigger, broader. Instead of trying to go wider, we elect to go deeper. As we go deeper, we have additional financial needs to take our students and graduates deeper into the mission fields to which they are called. To go deeper in our lane of effort, we must give our men’s and women’s campuses more tools, books, faculty, software, applied ministry opportunities, greater computer capability, and continue to grow their two remarkable theological libraries which, combined, are now larger than any prison theological library in the world. This year, our 28 faculty members will teach 52 college courses to our men and women students: Freshmen, Sophomore, Juniors, Seniors, and the new Freshmen class for next year arrives in August! See our catalog in our website for details at hotfcom.org/academic-catalog.
WHY WE NEED YOU. We need your help this very week, this month, this quarter, this year. We don’t have this year funded yet. The world’s economy has put most non-profits behind this summer. We cannot afford to be behind, and we are. But we are trusting in our Lord to help you and all our friends come to our aid and bring us into a positive cash flow by the end of the year.
WHAT GOD DOES WITH YOUR GIFTS. Look at what your support has bought thus far!
- 16 years of successfully sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Seeing lives change is the key to our spirits and energy
- Baptism class and baptisms: We have 20 believers’ baptisms scheduled in June at Memorial and Hobby: 13 men students and 7 women who the Field Ministers have brought to us from the Hobby population
- More than 400 Field Ministers (graduates!) serving in 57 Texas prisons
- 19 Field Ministers paroled successfully
- A freshman class of 31 women
- A freshman class of 42 men (Class of 2029) with 40 more men (Class of 2030) on their way for Orientation August 7 at the Memorial Unit
- Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors
- Applied Ministry activities in both Hobby and Memorial prisons; students and Field Ministers making regular visits to the prisoners, with personal visits, house church services, expository preaching services, literacy training, and the popular year-long program called the Field Ministers Institute
- Governor’s Awards 2022, 2026
- Our world-class PhD faculty of 28 professors: from Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maine, North Carolina, and Scotland
WHAT CAN WE SAY? What can we say at this point except thank you. Thank you for every check or donation, no matter how small, that enables us to meet our weekly expenses. We appreciate you more than our tongues can tell.
In Christ who changes even the hardest of hearts, with our thanks for you,
Grove Norwood, CEO, Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry
News! Construction is well under way at the Hobby Unit for women.
A new building is going up at the Hobby Unit which will house the Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry at the Hobby Unit for women—a building project that will exponentially serve all women in TDCJ for years to come, due to the work of the Field Ministers. Since 2021, the women have joyfully enjoyed the use of 2,400 square feet for their college instructional space. In the final quarter of this year, we anticipate moving into 9,000 square feet of instructional space that the new building will provide!
To watch the building go up has been a daily encouragement to all of the women at the Hobby Unit, and most especially, to the Field Ministers, the students, and to all of us at the Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry. The Lord has moved mountains to make this all possible. We are grateful to serve alongside so many who are making life-changing differences for women in the Texas prison system.
Below: The right-side view of the college building
Save the date! 2026 Annual Fundraising Banquet
Without question, the 2026 banquet will be the best banquet we have ever had. Please bring your friends and family. We will have great updates, wonderful people, and an abundance of excellent food! We have so much to celebrate this year!
Date: Friday, October 9, 2026
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Location: Traditions Club, 3131 Club Drive, Bryan, Texas
Good news! The ultimate good news is the gospel of Jesus:
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Thank you for your support. We need you, please help us!
Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry is a Candidate for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the baccalaureate degree. Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the status of Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).
