Youth Detention Centers
Training and resources to assist leaders in ministry to troubled youth.
A large percentage of at-risk youth are actively seeking spiritual answers. Good Soil Evangelism & Discipleship can help these young people really understand the gospel, the overarching narrative of Scriptures, and find the hope and meaning they seek in their lives.
The Story of Hope
An Evangelistic (or Discipleship) Bible Study Workbook
Why do we recommend The Story of Hope for ministry with youth in a correctional facility, such as a juvenile detention center?
- The Story of Hope begins with the assumption that Bible study participants know little or nothing about the true God, the Bible, or Jesus Christ.
- The study begins with Genesis 1:1 and unfolds the BIG Story of God’s plan of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation. In doing so, it provides the overall context in which the gospel of Jesus Christ makes sense, even to people from other faith backgrounds.
- It engages participants in direct Bible study, allowing them to have “Aha!” moments about the truths of Scripture, especially regarding Jesus Christ—His claims and His provision for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
- It is visually and colorfully illustrated and designed for easy understanding.
- It is time-flexible. You can use it in one-on-one studies, in group studies, or individuals can use it for self-study.
- There is a FREE downloadable Leader’s Guide available.
- In addition to the regular edition of The Story of Hope, there is also a Global English Edition available (40 pages, staple-bound), written at a 7th - 9th grade reading level, as well as The Story of Hope—Kids, for (approximately) ages 8-12 years old.
64 pages with plastic coil binding (that can be easily removed). Check out the generous quantity prices.
The FREE Leader’s Guide contains 103 professionally-designed pages of answers to the Bible study questions contained in The Story of Hope and suggestions as to how to deal with some of the common questions you may face, as well as many other tips for making your study successful. There is also a FREE Leader’s Guide available for the kid’s edition of The Story of Hope.
Download it for FREE and see for yourself.
The Way to Joy
A Basic Discipleship Bible Study Workbook
The Way to Joy was designed to teach new believers some of the most essential Biblical truths they need to know and to help them establish basic spiritual disciplines they need to begin to practice, after receiving Jesus Christ as Savior. The study includes these ten lessons:
- The Joy of Hope: Knowing God’s Eternal Plan Gives Us Hope
- The Joy of Eternal Life: Receiving God’s Salvation Gives Us Eternal Life
- The Joy of Confidence: Having Salvation Assurance and Security Gives Us Confidence
- The Joy of Guidance: Reading and Studying God’s Word Gives Us Guidance
- The Joy of Prayer: Praying Brings Us into an Intimate Relationship with God
- The Joy of God’s Power: The Holy Spirit in Us Gives Us Power to Live for God
- The Joy of Purity: Obeying God’s Word Helps Us Live Pure Lives that Please God
- The Joy of Sharing: Sharing the Gospel with Unbelievers Offers Them Hope
- The Joy of Fellowship: A Bible-Believing Church Provides Us a Place to Grow and Serve
- The Joy of Service: Understanding God’s Plan for Us Gives Us a Sense of Purpose
Bible memory verse cards, as well as a Bible reading and prayer journal are included. Also, The Way to Joy—Kids is available, for use with kids (approximately) 8-12 years old.
64 pages with plastic coil binding (that can be easily removed). Generous quantity prices available.
The FREE Leader’s Guide contains 44 professionally-designed pages to help you lead someone through this discipleship study. Includes answers to all of the Bible study questions in the study as well as lesson plans for all 10 discipleship sessions. Can be used for one-on-one studies or small groups studies. A FREE Leader’s Guide is also available for The Way to Joy – Kids.
Download it for FREE and see for yourself.
Additional Recommended Evangelism and Discipleship Resources For Use in Juvenile Detention Center Ministries
The Bible's Big Story Teaching Visuals
The Bible's BIG Story Teaching Visuals - Set of 105
Set of 105 laminated, double-sided teaching visuals for teaching the Bible's redemptive story, from Genesis through Revelation.
13.5" x 10.75" laminated printed teaching visuals. Key Bible event content on the back, event image on the front. 105 teaching visuals, 50 Old Testament, and 50 New Testament, plus five that work especially for ministry with Muslims. Great for teaching kids (and, adults too!) the BIG Story of the Bible that begins in Genesis and culminates in Revelation. Same images and key content as the Chronological Bible Cards—essentially big versions of those pocket-size cards. See below.
Chronological Bible Cards: Genesis — Revelation
ChronoBible Cards: Genesis-Revelation
A complete set of 135 pocket-size cards (4.5" x 3.375") for learning and reviewing the content and chronology of the Bible's Big Story.
Pocket-size cards for learning and reviewing 100 key Bible events as they appear chronologically from Genesis through Revelation. Each Bible event card contains an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Story art collection on the front and key content information on the back. 25 major Bible era cards and 10 Chronological Bridge to Life cards included.
Chronological Bridge to Life
Teach students the BIG Story of the Bible, based upon eight key concepts that emerge chronologically from Genesis through Revelation:
- God
- Man
- Sin
- Death
- Christ
- Cross
- Faith
- Life
A walk through the Chronological Bridge to Life
Evangelism and Discipleship Training
For Juvenile Detention Center Ministry Workers
The top ten takeaways from Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship training:
- Learn how to initiate conversations that open up to unobtrusive opportunities to share the gospel.
- Learn how to determine where a person is on his/her level of understanding of the gospel and receptivity to knowing more about salvation through Jesus Christ.
- Learn how to present the truth of the gospel in a way that it isn't misunderstood by the person with whom you are sharing, regardless of his/her religious worldview.
- Learn how to share God's story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation, so that the recipient will understand the Biblical context for the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
- Learn how to present the gospel, using the Chronological Bridge to Life.
- Learn how to share the gospel, using your own faith story.
- Learn a variety of ways to use The Story of Hope, in evangelism, with confidence.
- Learn how to use The Way to Joy, in discipling believers who are still weak in their faith.
- Learn about a wide variety of evangelism and discipleship resources that you may find to be helpful in your ministry.
- Learn to teach others what you have learned about evangelism and discipleship, and train them to do what you have learned to do through the training you have received.
Learn to share the gospel, God’s story of hope, in a way that people will clearly understand it, sincerely embrace it, and hold fast to it.
Always, engaging, interactive, and FUN learning.
Gaining Ground with Good Soil
Learning to Share God’s Redemptive Story in a World of Competing Faiths and Cultures
Gaining Ground with Good Soil will acquaint you with the theology of evangelism upon which Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship is built. We call it a “training seminar in a book – in a narrative format.”
You will enjoy the story of a couple of missionaries who are discouraged, but learn some ministry principles from the New Testament that revolutionize their ministries and change their lives. And, as you read their story, you will be learning some valuable concepts that just might revolutionize your ministry with troubled and incarcerated young people. There are also some FREE supplemental downloadable resources that you can download to use in training others on your ministry team.
The Roots of Faith – Old Testament and New Testament Bible Courses
The Roots of Faith Goes to Prison
The Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Dallas, PA (SCI Dallas) is a medium-security prison for adult male felons. SCI Dallas houses more than 2,100 inmates, some 400 of whom are serving life without any possibility of parole.
Ricardo Jackson, a chaplain at SCI Dallas, attended The Roots of Faith courses at ABWE, in order to be equipped to teach the courses to prison inmates. The class sessions were held on Monday evenings.
The class was promoted as an “Exploring the Bible” course. Chaplain Jackson asked some of the men to submit a note or letter, expressing what The Roots of Faith – Old Testament course had meant to them.
The Roots of Faith is also suitable for juvenile detention centers, with young people who are serving sentences long enough to participate in 50 or 100 Bible classes.
Learn More About The Roots of Faith Bible Courses – And How You Can Be Certified to Teach ThemMore Good Soil Resources for Evangelism and Discipleship
Good Soil provides an entire toolbox of resources for youth detention center ministries.
For a complete overview of our Good Soil resources:
Good Soil E&D Training and Resources for Many Types of Ministries
The focus of this page has been on using Good Soil in your youth detention center ministry, mostly one-to-one, or very small groups. But, Good Soil provides training and resources for many different kinds of ministry.
Join Our Mailing List
Get notices for new products, resources, and training events.