Randall McCamman, a prisoner in Arizona, shared with us several years ago his desire to pursue a ministry education. After prayerful consideration by our leadership, we offered to begin funding his pursuit of a bachelor's degree from Louisiana Baptist University (LBU).
LBU offers bachelor's through doctoral degree programs to prisoners at a very reasonable cost. It is one of the few Christian institutions to continue offering correspondence courses while the majority of schools have moved entirely online, making them largely inaccessible to prisoners.
Our approach with Mr. McCamman emphasized both trust and accountability. We funded several courses at a time, and purchased textbooks as needed. Once those first few courses were completed, we would fund a few more. Mr. McCamman was diligent and faithful to complete his coursework quickly and at a high level. Earlier this year, we were honored to pay his final graduation fee and to see him receive his Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. His professors at LBU have invited him to pursue a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling, and The Cell Church is grateful to God that he has provided us with the resources to continue funding his education through our faithful and generous donors.
The Cell Church is committed to equipping and developing prisoners for ministry leadership. While our primary training program is The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), we hope to also continue supporting gifted prisoners pursuing Christian education through other institutions such as LBU.