Helping ex-offenders achieve successful reentry into society

Platform Guest Speaker, NFL Player

Get ready and sign up today!!!  Weekend of Champions is back for a second year starting August 27-29, 2009 in Miami, Florida.  Riverside House will collaborate with Jack “Murf the Surf” Murphy and Bill Glass Champions for Life Ministries to host the Weekend of Champions event.  The Weekend of Champions, under Champions for Life’s prison ministry, takes a group of professional athletes and entertainers into the prisons of America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South Africa in an attempt to reach inmates who normally never set foot in the prison chapel.  The organization spends two days in five to 15 separate institutions simultaneously in any given geographical area.  In addition to the athletes and entertainers, the organization also relies on the help of volunteers known as the Bill Glass “Teammates”.  Each volunteer’s participation is vital to the Ministry as these individuals spend each day with the inmates, visiting, encouraging and sharing one-on-one.  Riverside House is currently seeking men and women of God to participate in this exciting weekend either as a volunteer or as a financial donor.  Volunteers can make a difference by signing up as a teammate to minister in prisons, as well as a host of other volunteers to help make the weekend a success.  For more information on volunteering for Weekend of Champions, please call Ms Forbes at (305) 326-9799 x104 or visit www.billglasschampionsforlife.org.  Persons may also send monetary donations towards the cost of the event, which is $10,000.  Please make check payable to “Champions for Life” and please include in the “memo” of the check: “Miami Event”.  Check should be mailed to: Champions for Life, P.O. Box 761101, Dallas, TX 75376.

Jack Murphy

Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy, known for committing what has been called the “Jewel Robbery of the Century”, lifted more than $2million in gems from the J.P. Morgan collection in New York City.  While serving 21 years in prison for the jewel heist and other serious crimes, Murf met Bill Glass, former All Pro football player and founder of Champions for Life.  That encounter and a decision to follow Christ changed Murf’s life for eternity.  Upon his release in 1985, Murf soon returned to prison, this time as a featured platform guest, speaking to inmates about his 21 years behind bars and boldy proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus.  A regular on Christian TV and radio, Murf has been a guest on CNN’s Larry King Live.  He is an accomplished painter, musician and author of his book Jewels for the Journey.  In 1997, for his lifetime achievement, he was inducted into the Surfing Legends Hall of Fame.  Now living in Crystal River, Florida with his wife, Kitten, Jack is the International Director for the Dallas based Champions for Life Ministries. 

Bill Glass

Started in 1969 as the Bill Glass Evangelistic Association by founder Bill Glass, the Ministry of Champions for Life evolved from a small City-Wide crusade ministry to the world’s largest evangelistic prison ministry that now includes one of the most effective youth outreach ministries in the country.  Over the last 35 plus years, Bill Glass and Champions for Life have shared the Gospel of Jesus in thousands of towns, cities, churches, prisons, jails and youth facilities across the United States and several foreign countries.  Their mission statement is to: “Assist the church by equipping and igniting Christians to share their faith in Jesus Christ with the ‘least of these’”.  Prior to founding Champions for Life, Bill Glass made a name for himself as one of the most outstanding football players in the National Football League.  He was a consensus All American at Baylor University .  Working with his life-long friend, Dr. Bill Bright, he helped establish the Campus Crusade for Christ chapter on the Baylor Campus.   He was a member of the 1964 Cleveland Browns team who beat the Baltimore Colts to win the NFL World Championship one year prior to the first Super Bowl. Four - time All Pro and College and Texas Sports Hall of Fame were some of Bill’s athletic credentials. He finally retired in 1969 after 22 yrs in amateur and professional football without missing a work out or game.

To read more, download the entire Riverside Today Newsletter!

Riverside House will host its Sixth Annual Second Chances Fundraiser at the First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables, 536 Coral Way.  The fee to attend the breakfast event is $20, which will directly benefit Riverside House’s Pastoral Care Program.

This year’s guest speaker is Jack Murphy.  Once infamous for committing what has been called the “Jewel Robbery of the Century,” Murphy stole more than $2 million in gems from the J.P. Morgan collection in 1964. While serving 21 years in prison for the jewel heist and other serious crimes, Murphy met Bill Glass, founder of Champions for Life.  This encounter changed his life and upon his release from prison, Murphy began speaking in prisons to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus.  He is an accomplished painter,musician and author of the book, Jewels for the Journey.  He is the International Director for Champions for Life Ministries. We are thrilled to welcome him to this year’s fundraiser breakfast.

The goal of our fundraising event is to raise community awareness and to continue to fulfill Riverside House’s vision and mission of guiding people who have served their debt to society into becoming productive citizens.  One such way we carry out this vision and mission is through our Pastoral Care Program. We offer individuals who are imprisoned in mind or spirit a place of refuge while providing life sustaining spiritual and social guidance.  To accomplish this, we give them a non-denominational introduction to a God who will forgive them of their wrongs, love them unconditionally and transform their lives.  The success of this annual fundraising event is a critical component to our Pastoral Care Program as the monies raised directly fund on-going spiritual discipleship, additional spiritual conferences, and the development of a men-to-men mentoring program.  Your contributions will aid this mentoring program to be the vehicle that will grow the Aftercare/ Outpatient Services component of Riverside House’s vision and mission statement.

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Carmen Bell, fundraiser coordinator, at cjbell@riverside-house.org or 305-326-9799 ext. 113.