END OF YEAR GIVING It is that time of year when we consider our charitable giving for the year. It is my privilege to challenge you in considering the Christian 12 Step Ministry, Inc. This past year has been a challenge. We were able to purchase a permanent home for the ministry. An office building appraised at $200,000 was offered to the ministry for $75,000. We were able to raise $17,000 and acquire a mortgage for the balance. We have a 5 year window to pay off the $60,000 mortgage. I believe God is preparing the hearts of those who will assist in paying off this obligation. Christian 12 Step sent more than 4,500 free study guides, "Walking the 12 Steps with Jesus Christ", in 2011. More than 3,000 inmates enrolled in the correspondence course that is offered free through the ministry. The ministry has been able to minister to more than 12,000 addicts this year. We have experienced a tremendous increase in churches establishing recovery ministries as a result of inmates sharing the study guide with church staff upon their release. God has blessed in that every bill has been paid. He promised He would provide for those who choose to be obedient to His Will. God stated in His Word that "obedience is better than sacrifice" but not "obedience instead of sacrifice". Thanks to you who have faithfully prayed and given financially to the outreach of Christian 12 Step. It is my prayer that you will continue and that you would consider the ministry in your end of year giving. We have remained faithful in our stewardship of funds made available through your giving. You are welcome anytime to peruse the financial statement of the ministry. We are blessed to have a committed Christian accountant, Sharon Fourakre, to assist us in being accountable in our faithfulness for ministry. The staff, board of directors and our host of volunteers wish for you and yours to have a blessed "Jesus" Christmas and a New Year filled with your faithfulness to the One who gave us His Son to make this such an exciting time of celebration. Restored by His Grace, Lonnie

I recently read an article and copied it and forgot to get the name of the author or the source of the article. So I hope I don't step on any ones toes for copying, editing the article to fit in with our agenda at Christian 12 Step it to our web page.
Hopefully it will encourage us to consider the costs of recidivism and explore programs that will decrease recidivism.

Cutting recidivism saves money and lives
If two-thirds of public school students dropped out, or two-thirds of all bridges built collapsed within three years, would citizens tolerate it?
The people of Florida would never stand for that kind of failure. But that is exactly what is happening all across the U.S. in our prison systems.
Last year hundreds of inmates with substance abuse problems were released from Florida’s prisons to re-enter our communities.

If trends of the past decade continue, two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years. That failure rate is a clear and present threat to public safety.
Not only is this revolving door a threat to public safety, but it results in an increasing burden on each and every taxpayer.
The Florida corrections budget exceeded 2 billion dollars in 2009, nearly 6 percent of the state’s general funds. Read more...