TRAINING VOLUNTEERS
PFC-U
Prisoners For Christ is dedicated to making sure that our volunteers are well- equipped for prison ministry. PFC-University is our volunteer training program in Washington State. It is held twice each year; once in the spring and once in the fall. With the onset of COVID-19, PFC had to stop gathering in person at PFC- University. In response, PFC recorded several of the basic courses and created an online training program. Volunteers can now watch training videos and take short quizzes from their homes. PFC hopes to resume in-person training in the fall of 2024. Training and resources on prison ministry can be quite limited in third-world countries, unlike in the United States. For this reason, Prisoners For Christ introduced a series of classes to become a Certified Prison Worker (CPW) to its associates around the world. This is a 6-month to 1-year certification program. The courses are sent via email, returned to the home office once completed by the student, graded, and then returned to the student. These classes are intended to provide both foundation level training, such as How to Grow a Prison Ministry, as well as more advanced lessons, such as Understanding Inmate Manipulation. The twenty-six lessons in this course will allow our missionaries to take their prison ministry leadership to the next level. The training is offered for free, though students must fill out an application before being accepted into the program. As of January 2024, 108 graduates have earned their certificates. We are excited to see how the Lord uses these studies to empower His servants in prison ministry around the world. The International Chaplaincy Training School (ICTS) was added to PFC’s repertoire of online courses for our international associates to complete once they have completed the CPW curriculum. Where the CPW curriculum would be considered undergraduate work, the ICTS curriculum would be considered graduate work. Once completed, graduating students will be conferred by PFC as a fully functioning chaplain for an institution. This is an incredible asset to the prison, its staff, as well as inmates. These courses were created to pick up where the CPW courses left off: to educate, to encourage, and to add credibility to our international associates’ pastoral authority within the institutions where they work. There are many chaplaincy training courses available in America for those aspiring to be a hospital, corporate, or military chaplain, however this is the only prison chaplaincy course targeted to those in developing third world countries. It is one of a kind in the world. We started writing these courses in 2018 and have since graduated eighteen students, with more currently enrolled.
CPW
ICTS
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