Women

Bachelor of Arts in Applied Ministry

The Heart of Texas Foundation College of Ministry provides the Bachelor of Arts in Applied Ministry to women with extremely long prison sentences. Women with extremely long prison sentences must qualify according to educational and behavioral standards set by and agreed upon between the college and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Each application year, incarcerated women from all over the state of Texas are given the opportunity to apply. A class of up to 40 women are carefully selected. The new class is transferred from all over the state of Texas to the Hobby Unit in Marlin, located one hour north of College Station.

Our current student body Class photos:

Academic Calendar

The Field Minister Visits

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The Heart of Texas Foundation regularly visits the Field Ministers in their respective prisons in Texas.  There are thirty-three prisons in Texas who have their own team of Field Ministers. Currently there are 162 Field Ministers serving in those 33 prisons, where a total of over 78,000 men are housed.

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The Donor Visits

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“Seeing is believing.” There is no more powerful proof of that old expression than to go into a men’s maximum-security prison with us.  We often take new friends of our work into the prisons to visit our Field Ministers. We often take donors as well. And our visitors encounter experiences they never could have imagined. 

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The Four Pillars

of a Successful Field Minister

INTEGRITY

  • The Field Minister maintains a visible, unashamed, humble, accountable, and incorruptible personal integrity in a place where inmate integrity is often defined by the dark network of the prison’s inmate culture. “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” (Titus 2:7-8, ESV)

PERSEVERANCE

  • The Field Minister does not quit; he or she perseveres with joyful patience and hope-filled endurance in the midst of harsh circumstances, threats, temptations, and intimidations. “To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador inchains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18-20, ESV)

FAITH

  • The Field Minister lives out his or her faith with gentleness and consistency, and without hypocrisy—in full view of his or her peers. “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8, ESV)

HEART

  • The Field Minister proactively offers his or her heart to those in the prison’s deepest places of need, where the most isolated, forlorn, and lost inmates live—an environment which is often hostile and threatening. “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:14-15, ESV)

The Hobby Unit for Women

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The Heart of Texas Foundation | College of Ministry begins at the Hobby Unit for Women in 2021!

We are now developing a Field Ministers Program for the women in Texas prisons.  The Hobby Unit for Women, in Marlin (30 minutes south of Waco) will be the location of The Heart of Texas Foundation | College of Ministry for women where the Class of 2025 will begin their studies pursuant to the Bachelor of Arts in Applied Ministry.  

We look forward to releasing updates as we go. Please pray for the women students and faculty as we move forward together to equip women to serve skillfully and with joy under the cross of Christ anywhere a woman lives in the prison.