I love my job as a World Impact Associate! I am Chaplain Kris Briggs and I am a ministry coordinator for World Impact in Denver, Colorado. My main responsibility is to mentor the Wednesday night TUMI class in downtown Denver. I also co-mentor a Thursday night TUMI class in a men’s Federal prison, where we have 22 students. I grade homework for those two classes in addition to the Tuesday night TUMI class in a women’s state penitentiary.
Prison Fellowship partners with TUMI to take the TUMI Capstone program into the prisons. I coordinate with the local Prison Fellowship leadership and also send monthly TUMI reports for the prison classes to the Prison Fellowship TUMI Program Specialist.
A fulfilling part of my job has been encouraging students that they can “make it” when they get overwhelmed with their class commitments and assignments. Many of my students never attended college, and some dropped out of high school. Some have learning disabilities and had been teased and ridiculed in their childhood. So I’ve had to consider ways I can better help a student learn. As a result, I witness students overcoming their homework struggles and putting out quality, seminary- and college-level homework.
Our students have been recognized as leaders within the Christian community. Since the TUMI Denver class started over two years ago, we have had students become ordained pastors and chaplains, elders, TUMI mentors, TUMI site leaders, leaders of men’s or women’s Bible studies at their churches, and more. Two TUMI students have even joined our TUMI Denver team.
The ministry projects that incarcerated TUMI students submit at the end of each module tell us how they shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the prison. These inmates are leading people to Christ—one, two, three or more at a time. Prison staff let us know how pleased they are with the good leadership these students model within the prison. It is a privilege to see how first-hand how TUMI classes are changing the lives so many men and women.
