Special Event Training Module Area Team Special Event Coordinator and Ministry Team Members Welcome to Daughters of Destiny (All Members) Thank you for your interest in helping make the Daughters of Destiny (DOD) mission become a reality in women s lives. God is using women and couples just like you to touch lives through the full circle across the nation. Understanding the Ministry Circle Daughters of Destiny invites incarcerated women to receive salvation and then to grow in relationship with Jesus Christ during their time in prison and after release as they re-enter our communities. The circle of ministry begins for most at a Special Event in their prison. These take place in prison yards and large rooms where inmates hear the Gospel through music, testimonies, a presentation of the Gospel, and an invitation to receive salvation. Ladies who respond register in our network as Daughters Inside. They are in the circle to grow in the new faith and knowledge, experiencing God s life-changing power in their lives. Most women in the Daughters of Destiny network come in through a Special Event. Seminars make up the second area in the ministry circle. These are smaller than Special Events but also open to all inmates. Seminars attract a smaller attendance than Events because they are promoted more for Christian worship and teaching. At Seminars ladies engage in worship and gain more understanding of God s life-changing truth from Bible-based teaching and testimonies. This equips Daughters Inside to understand the truth about themselves and their heavenly Father. The teaching empowers them to think, talk, and act in new ways, God s way, while in prison. Seminar teaching also prepares the ladies to continue in their faith when they regain freedom on the outside. Invitations to receive salvation are usually presented at Seminars, just as at the larger Special Events. Women join the Daughters network and begin the transforming experience of following Jesus. Learn more about how to provide the Seminar ministry inside prisons through the Seminar Training Module. Life Groups allow Daughters Inside to meet regularly in small groups with women of faith who go into the prison to lead Bible study, prayer, and personal interaction. Daughters experience steady growth toward spiritual maturity. Life Groups are the most significant opportunity to nurture Daughters Inside in their knowledge of Scripture, faith, and relationship with Jesus. These studies are also the best opportunity for Daughters of Destiny volunteers to connect with Daughters Inside. Learn more about how to offer this ministry through the Life Group Training Module.
Women 4 Women (W4W) is a correspondence program providing Daughters Inside with relationship and mentoring from women of faith on the outside. Our National Service Center matches Daughters who request a correspondence relationship with a woman of faith. The one stipulation by law is that there was no contact between the volunteer and the assigned Daughter before the inmate was confined. Correspondence is through U.S. Postal mail. Learn more about how to become a part of this ministry through the Women 4 Women Training Module. This is an area of ministry where released Daughters may become involved, giving back through volunteer ministry with Daughters of Destiny. The Discipleship Network provides Daughters Free with in-person relationship for continued mentoring and encouragement. This is the most effective opportunity to nurture Daughters Free in their faith as it is tested while they navigate the critical transition into society. In addition to the spiritual and personal input a volunteer gives, this ministry in the circle positions the volunteer to assist the released Daughter to obtain clothes, work, a place to live, and to get connected in a church family and supportive relationships. These are critical steps of successful transition into society. Discipleship Network volunteers may mentor one or more released Daughters but may not have had any contact while the Daughter she was in prison. Learn more about this part of the ministry circle and how to become a part of this network through the Discipleship Network Training Module. For Daughters, the circle of ministry provides a net of grace that supports and surrounds them from the time they come into the Kingdom and our network for as long as they desire after release from prison. A Daughter never reaches the end of the circle because the Discipleship Network program does not have a set end point. Volunteers are supported and encouraged for ministry through this training manual and an Area Team that includes a dedicated Special Event Coordinator. Just as the circle of ministry provides a net of grace for Daughters, this manual and Area Team leaders provide a net of ministry support that continues as long as you serve. Your Area Team and its Special Event Coordinator are mature people of faith who will support and coach you and lead your Special Event Ministry Team.
Understanding the Special Event (All Members) When I arrived here my life had no direction. I desperately wanted Jesus but I had it in my head that God was frowning upon me in shame because of my chosen path in life. When the Daughters of Destiny came and gave their testimonies something happened to me that I can t explain. I asked the Lord with my heart (not just my mouth) to forgive me and to come into my life. I felt everything lifted off my chest. I felt clean and brand new. I want to thank Daughters of Destiny for coming; they have inspired my journey to freedom. Stephanie inmate, SD Special Events launch Daughters of Destiny ministry in a prison facility and expand it where programs have been planted. Special Events are for large groups of inmates in open-air and large-room settings. They provide an open, fun, and comfortable atmosphere appealing to most inmates, including those who wouldn t attend a program in the prison chapel. Special Events are your best opportunity to invite women to receive salvation and become a Daughter of Destiny. This is why most of the women who enter into the Daughters of Destiny network and circle of ministry come in through Special Events. These programs may be two or more hours, depending on the time allowed by the prison administration and your plan. The Event program includes four main components: 1. Greeting and welcome to acknowledge the women gathered and to invite those still coming. 2. Praise and worship led by a hostess or emcee who interacts with the audience and introduces each person who speaks. Teams use pre-recorded accompaniment for worship songs or play instruments they bring. The objective of this segment of the program is to engage the women so they feel comfortable, to establish the context, to recognize God s presence, and to introduce the benefit of His love, grace, power, and forgiveness in people s lives. This part of the program may include testimonies on coming to faith in Christ, the benefits of receiving salvation, or other aspects of coming into relationship with Jesus Christ. By-the-way, worshiping our God who delivers us from bondage while inside the confines of a prison is an awesome experience! 3. Presentation of the Gospel emphasizing God as our loving Father who accepts everyone and forgives all our guilt and wrong doing because of the death of Jesus Christ. The objective is to highlight the present and eternal value of salvation and the life-changing relationship with God that results. Conclude the presentation of the Gospel with an invitation to receive salvation. Present brief information on Daughters of Destiny ministry opportunities for the women and the teams of volunteers that will come to teach and encourage those who receive salvation and register with Daughters of Destiny
as a Daughter Inside. Encourage all who desire salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ to respond. 4. One-on-one conversations between inmates responding and Special Event Ministry Team members. Volunteers answer questions, confirm understanding of God s invitation to salvation, and when ladies are ready, lead each one in a prayer of confession of sin and acceptance of salvation. Briefly review the next steps as a Daughter of Destiny and the ministry opportunities that will be implemented in the facility. How your Area Team Supports your Special Event Ministry Team (All Members) Daughters of Destiny Area Teams include a Chairperson, a Coordinator for each part of the Full Circle Ministry (Special Events, Seminars, Life Groups, Women 4 Women, and Discipleship Network). This team initiates and oversees Daughters of Destiny ministry activity in a defined region of the country. The Special Event Coordinator of the Area Team leads your Special Event Ministry Team from her own training in this Training Module. How to Use this Training Module (All Members) This Special Event Training Module guides and equips an Area Team Special Event Coordinator and a group of women to form a traveling or local Special Event team that will plan, prepare, and present a Daughters of Destiny Special Event in one or more prisons. The team includes the following: Coordinator the Area Team member who initiates a Special Events ministry team and provides leadership and oversight. Team Leaders a nucleus of the team who fulfill key roles for the Event Team such as Event hostess, worship leader, and Gospel presenter. These leaders collaborate with the Coordinator. Members all the women (and husbands involved) who make your Special Events Ministry Team. Members include the Coordinator and Team Leaders. Standard Practices at Every Step of Daughters of Destiny Ministry (All Members) Prayer: All parts of Daughters of Destiny ministry, whether training, planning for an event, or doing the ministry, are spiritual activity. This is true because all these activities directly connect to inviting female inmates to receive salvation and continue in that spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ that has obvious and significant life-changing impact today and forever. Since all of Daughters of Destiny activity is ultimately a spiritual endeavor, the prayer of all members is critical. This is prayer on matters particular to your team and part in the Full Circle Ministry. It is also prayer that consistently invites God into your work, to speak His truth and direction into
your heart and mind so you and those you collaborate with may obediently implement His plan in your Daughters of Destiny ministry. The Topics & Resources section of this training manual includes two resources on prayer. They are Prayer with Daughters of Destiny Ministry and Talking with God and Listening to Him. All volunteers should read both of these at this point in your training because prayer is such a critical component of Daughters of Destiny ministry. Then return to this section of this Training Module. Collaboration: The second standard practice of Daughters of Destiny activity is for Coordinators, Team Leaders, and Members to maintain clear and consistent communication about your Daughters of Destiny ministry and work together toward the Special Events ministry objective. Event Team members collaborate within their team and also with Seminar and Life Group Ministry Teams to provide teaching and discipleship continuity. Collaboration helps your Special Event Team be informed and prepared to carry out its part of the Full Circle Ministry and lead women in prison into God s kingdom through it. This training module guides the collaboration necessary for success. Getting Started (Coordinator & Team Leaders, if ready) First, determine the ministry objective for your Special Event ministry. There are three types of Special Event ministry objectives. Each one leads to different ways of operating and alternative opportunities. One possible objective is to be a traveling team dedicated only to Special Events. This type of team will do a Special Event program to launch or expand Daughters of Destiny ministry in multiple facilities. By design, the traveling team should introduce the Seminar team or Life Group team that will come afterward on a regular basis to continue the Daughters of Destiny ministry circle inside the facility. The traveling Special Event team will need to consult with the Area Team to learn about follow-up Daughters of Destiny ministry in each facility. Your team may also collaborate with more than one Area Team if you travel longer distances. The Chairperson of the Area Team you collaborate with will assist with your entrance to prison facilities. To learn more, see Gaining Access Inside Prisons in the Topics & Resources section of this training manual. A second and expanded ministry objective is a traveling Special Event team that also travels to present Seminars. This is a versatile team serving many facilities. Special Events and Seminars have a similar format with some differences in the type and size of audience as well as the content presented. In this case, the traveling Event team informs the inmates that they will be back for more intensive Seminar instruction. This traveling team should complete this Special
Event training and also the Seminar Training Module. The Chairperson of the Area Team will assist with gaining access into each prison. Re-entry for Seminars will be easier because the prison staff will have already granted clearance once before to the ministry team coming in. The third Special Event objective is a local ministry team that will plan and present a Special Event in a facility but then also provide Seminars and Life Groups in the same location. This is a localized team probably serving one facility with depth through much of the Full Circle ministry. In this case, the team simply develops a Special Event to get started, a Seminar series to make the ministry wider and Life Groups to go deeper and more personal. At the Special Event, the team informs the inmates that they will be back frequently for Seminars and / or for more relational interaction and Bible study in Life Groups. This team should complete this Special Event training module, the Seminar Training Module, and / or the Life Group Training Module. The Chairperson of the Area Team will obtain permission for your team to access the facility on a regular schedule and also the larger events. Regardless of your specific ministry objective and how many times you will present Special Events, all Special Event teams range from a few volunteers up to 15 members who share the work to: 1. Bring in and set-up sound equipment, music instruments, and Special Event materials to be handed out. 2. Conduct the four main components of a Special Event program: a. Welcome b. Worship, interaction, and testimonies c. Present the Gospel and an invitation d. One-on-one conversation, counseling and prayer. 3. Take down equipment, clean-up the venue, and exit the facility. Recruit Your Special Event Team (Coordinator & Team Leaders when available) The Area Team Coordinator for Special Events leads recruiting but may engage ministry team members as they come on board. Volunteer Special Event teams may vary in size depending on the ministry objective and plan of your team. The first step is to consider how many people you need or want to include in your team. If you already have an established group, then this step is done. If your team size is not determined, then consider the following as examples. A local group intending to do one or two Special Events in a local facility to launch a Seminar and Life Group ministry in that prison may need only a few women of faith.
A traveling team that will present Special Events in multiple facilities might set its size at the number of women who can comfortably ride together with overnight luggage and Special Event equipment in one or two larger vehicles. Recruit people with interests and skills for leading worship, public speaking, and interacting with groups of women or one-on-one. Previewing the next section in this training module will help you know more on these roles so you develop a team that can do the job. Recruit women with the gifts your team needs to fill any gaps. See Recruiting Team Volunteers in the Topics & Resources section for help on recruiting. Those interested in joining your team must complete and submit a Volunteer Application available at www.daughtersofdestiny.org/volunteerapplication. Solidify Your Team (Coordinator & Team Leaders) A team is a group of people who work together effectively toward a common goal. There are a few simple steps to forming a group of people into a team. Get to know your team members. Understand what your team is about. Identify how each member contributes or may contribute. Get to know each other around a meal or dessert with time for casual conversation and also intentional interaction. Ask members to share briefly about their daily life situations. Let each one share some personal experience with God. Invite stories about past and present challenges and what was learned. Anticipate hearing about pleasant joys and painful difficulties. Laugh, cry, and pray together. Try to keep mental notes about these stories and perhaps list them later in order to begin building a team library of potential testimonies to include in your Special Event programs in the prisons. Create a roster of team member names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Hand this out with instructions for its use to stay connected and build relationships. Tell your team that as Coordinator and Team Leaders you will collaborate to send all-team emails from time to time about upcoming events, encouragement, and so on. Solidify your team more by creating a common understanding of your team s objective and part in the Daughters of Destiny ministry circle. This is an opportunity for each member to talk about her individual passion for the team. Then talk together bringing everyone s passion into a whole. Information given in www.daughtersofdestiny.org plus sections in this manual such as Understanding the Ministry Circle, and Understanding the Special Event are helpful resources for bringing together a team objective. Remember, the ministry opportunities are large and a variety of gifts are needed. A team is not built on one person or set of skills. Clarify your team
objective and how each individual fits in. Build a clear team understanding. Review this common purpose from time to time when you gather and when it seems appropriate for the content of all- team emails. From time to time when your team gathers, review your common purpose and celebrate together the privilege of your objective. Recall the truth that those who bring good news are beautiful (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15). Review the volunteer roles for Special Events and the importance of each part as this helps members realize how the team will work. Reinforce that roles can be filled by more than one person and that team members should be ready to backup or fill in on short notice. Of course, some activities require everyone on the team. Ask each team member to talk about personal interests for one or more roles. You might note these preferences as they will be useful when your team plans and prepares your Special Event program. Plan gatherings from time to time to further develop your team. For example, create a team gathering for educational events that help your members prepare for prison ministry. At these you might read together Emotional, Spiritual & Educational Issues for Inmates, Prison Ministry as Spiritual Warfare, and Reversing Lies that Bind Female Inmates that are in the Topics & Resources section of this training manual. Talk about the content of each article, answer questions, and confirm understanding. These articles and your conversation will help equip your team members for leading inmates to Christ and for guiding new believers to some of the important first steps in faith. Use team gatherings to provide a time when each member shares personal hopes and fears about prison ministry. This may be a time requiring some personal vulnerability and open sharing a critical element for a strong and cohesive team. The Coordinator and Team Leaders must lead in taking this risk and also show high regard for honesty, openness, and mutual care for one another. Honesty and confidentiality are important so team members may better understand, encourage, and pray for one another. Plan and Prepare Your Special Event (All Team Members) Effective Special Events are the result of thought-out plans that engage all your team members using their best skills. The Special Event Planning Worksheet in the Topics & Resources and Resources section of this manual and the following training material leads your team to develop an effective Event. Use it as a guide to help you map out your program and identify who does what when. Of course most team members will participate in multiple parts. When completed, the Worksheet will show how each member will function in your team to introduce women in prison to Jesus Christ and invite them into an eternal and life-changing relationship with Him.
To start planning, save the Special Event Planning Worksheet as a word processing document on your computer. (You may find it at www.daughtersofdestiny.org) Working on your computer, type the content for your team and your Special Event plan into each blank field. Delete or add lines and space as needed to customize the Worksheet as your own. Fill in the General Information you know. Consult with your Special Event Coordinator to learn about specific opportunities for Special Events in prisons. Identify the prison location and where your Event will be held inside the prison. Summarize the type of Christian ministry that has been present in the prison before your Event and the activity that will continue after your Special Event. This will inform your team and give you some context for the Christian presence in the facility and what you will send new believers into. Learn the visitation and clearance standards of the prison you will visit and customize the check-list of documents required according to those standards. List the materials and equipment you need at your Special Event and gain prison approval to distribute any materials you will provide to inmates. Remember all materials distributed must be pre-approved by prison authorities. Rely upon your Special Event Coordinator to gain these clearances. The materials and equipment list will serve as a packing list so you bring everything you need for the event. After you have gained the Prison Warden and Chaplain s approval for the Special Event then consult with your Coordinator who will ask the Prison Chaplain about sound and visual projection equipment available for your use. Do not expect anything. Note any prison equipment available. Your team Coordinator will correspond with the Chaplain just before the event date to verify the equipment is still available. Attention to detail on your equipment may help you avoid the sinking feeling that will come when you can t find the cable for the microphone and the Special Event should begin about now. Talk together and brainstorm ideas for each section listed in your Planning Worksheet. Go back to look for common threads and themes. Pull these out to identify a theme for your Event. This should be a short phrase summarizing what you bring the ladies. For example, Restoring Hope & Rebuilding Lives, Releasing Hearts & Minds, and so on might be potential themes. You should revisit your theme to confirm or refine the phrase so it connects with your Event program.
As you move through your Planning Worksheet, the specific role or roles of each team member will become clear. Refer back to team conversations on each member s interests for one or more roles. Everyone on your Special Event team will have at least one role. Your entire team will be involved in steps 1 and 6 in your Event plan. Use these planning blanks as a To Do List so everything is prepared and happens on Event day. Steps 2-5 are to write very brief plans for the content of your complete Special Event program. Put the information your entire team needs to have so everyone knows her or his role and the parts of each component of the program. For example, list the worship songs, leaders, and other people speaking in the program order. Include topics or brief summary of testimonies and time allocations for each. Add the times and adjust content accordingly to use the time you have for each session but not go overtime. Also, use your planning worksheet to track progress on preparations such as collecting and submitting documents for prison access, equipment and materials. Those who lead worship and speak should write more detailed and separate plans for their part. (The material on the following pages in this training module guides team members who plan and present these aspects of your Event). Once your Special Event plan comes together, review your Worksheet contents. Verify the roles individuals will fulfill. If not complete then identify the gaps and assign these to members so your plan is certainly ready before the Event date. Your Coordinator or another Team Leader will send your Worksheet to the team members who will lead worship, speak to the audience, share testimonies, give the Gospel presentation, and the invitation. Each of these members should use the plan to help them prepare and finalize their part so it supports the overall Event theme and remains in the time allotted.
Develop Your Special Event Content: Worship (Coordinator & Team Worship Leaders) Create a plan for the worship activities in your Special Event. Worship should include music, praise, and testimonies. There are thousands of contemporary worship songs that can greatly enrich worship at your Event. Finding the best worship songs for your program and leading or performing them is not difficult. Consult with your Coordinator for licensed access to one or more online clearing houses that will provide your Special Event team with downloadable recordings, music scores, chord sheets, and lyrics for contemporary worship songs. This will offer you a one-stop location to review and select songs to include. Consider upbeat and lively music that is easy to sing and team members already know. Look for lyrics with messages that go along with the content presented in your sessions. Keep in mind, songs that are more widely known may be familiar to ladies in prison. Finalize your selection of worship music. List the songs in order. Indicate who will lead the singing, play instruments, operate sound and so on. Leave space to insert the names of team members sharing testimonies and reading Scripture passages between worship songs or after. When you gather as a team, sing your worship selections. Your Daughters of Destiny teamwork should always include worship, prayer, and personal sharing on your lives of faith. Daughters of Destiny abides with federal copyright laws. The guidelines presented accomplish this. Learn more on how to easily comply with copyright laws by reviewing Abiding with Copyright Laws in the Topics & Resources section of this manual. Develop Your Special Event Content: Testimonies (Coordinator & Selected Members) Your Coordinator will collaborate with your team to identify the testimonies that best support the theme of your Special Event. Recall testimonies shared during times to Solidify Your Team previously recommended in this training module. Those who will share testimonies or who would like to give testimony should review Telling Your Testimonies in the Topics & Resources section of this training manual. This article helps speakers identify and organize content for testimonies.
Note the title or topic of testimonies and the person presenting each one on your Worksheet in its place. Include the allocated time. Ask those presenting to prepare so they remain within the allotted time. Develop Your Special Event Content: Audience Interaction (Coordinator & Team Worship Leaders) Your Coordinator and worship leaders for your Special Event collaborate to plan your stage monologues for brief interludes between worship songs, testimonies, and the Gospel presentation. This is more than just announcing who or what is next in the program. Your objective is to engage the audience in your program and connect the part just concluded to what is coming next. Relate a completed song or worship set to the coming testimony. Connect a testimony to the message the next speaker will bring, and so on. All these linking monologues indirectly help the ladies follow the program, anticipate each segment, and realize the personal benefit of the Event contents and theme. Special Event audiences may include committed Christians, nominal Christians, spiritual seekers, women wanting something to break the boredom of prison life, and possibly some who are opposed to God and the truth. Include content and monologue that may help all these women connect with your program and find value and meaning in your message. Here are some specific suggestions: Be sure every speaker is introduced on a first name basis, either by herself or the previous speaker. Tell the ladies the importance of what each speaker will bring next. This provides a transition that keeps your audience connected with your program. Tie each part of your program to the theme and message of your Event. These offer ladies who have not yet engaged with your program another invitation to get connected. Keep your monologue segments short. Refer to the inmates as ladies. Appreciate their presence. Affirm their value and beauty in your eyes and their heavenly Father s eyes. Be positive and genuine. Keep the event agenda moving along. Develop Your Special Event Content: Gospel Presentation (Coordinator & Team Speaker) Your Special Event Coordinator may take the lead to identify this speaker within your team or
from several ministry speakers who partner with Daughters of Destiny and will travel the country for Special Events. The Gospel presentation is the key component of your Special Event. It is your opportunity to share the importance of salvation and the present and future benefit of release from the guilt and spiritual consequences of all our wrongdoing. Ask your Gospel presenter to independently plan and prepare this part of your Event program and inform your Coordinator on the content. If needed and feasible, adjust your worship, testimonies, and audience interaction to complement the presenter s message. Gospel presenters should see Speaking at Special Events and Seminars in the Topics & Resources section for help to develop your presentation. In the presentation, emphasize the salvation truths of Scripture. Recite verses by memory or read them from your open Bible. Use your stories to illustrate the freedom gained through Jesus Christ s sacrifice for the punishment we owe. Emphasize that all of the ladies are invited to remove the response section of the Join the Network brochure to complete and give to any team member or they may send it by postal mail. This response form is how the ladies become registered in the network as Daughters of Destiny. Tell them they will receive a Daughters of Destiny membership card by mail. Explain the Daughters of Destiny ministry plan for the facility if you know it. Be careful to present only what you know for sure will happen. Show a recent edition of The Daughters Journal and explain that future editions will be sent to the Chaplain for distribution. Explain these as events, programs and resources to help Daughters of Destiny in the prison. Develop Your Special Event Content: Invitation (Coordinator & Team Speakers plus All Members) The invitation is the culmination of the Gospel presentation. It is an invitation for inmates to come for one-on-one conversation with a team member, prayer to receive salvation, and to become a Daughter of Destiny. The speaker presenting the invitation should consult Leading an Inmate to Salvation to plan your invitation. It is best to ask the women to come to the front or a designated area on the side where they can meet with your team members. Before your event, confirm your response plan with the Chaplain and/or Warden. In rare cases, prison policies may prohibit the ladies from coming forward or moving about freely. If this is the case, simply make any changes necessary to comply with the Chaplain or Warden s directions. For example, you might ask those responding to stand or raise a hand so your team members can go to them.
All team members should be very familiar with Do s and Don ts of Daughters of Destiny Ministry Inside Prisons and Leading an Inmate to Salvation. These resources, found in the Topics & Resources section help team members in their counsel and conversation with inmates. Very briefly, these conversations should: Review truths presented in the Invitation. Verify understanding. Present additional truths or information needed about salvation and a life of following Jesus. Lead ladies as they are ready in personal confession and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior. Special Event Prayer Support (All Members) Favorable outcome of any Special Event depends upon God s work through His Spirit in the hearts, minds, and lives of the women served. We participate in that work by careful planning, preparation, and prayer. Each of these is critical. Volunteers are responsible to pray for Daughters of Destiny ministry at different levels and also encourage others in their circles to do the same, at least for non-confidential matters. Team Leaders are responsible to promote prayer for ministry activity among teams. Leaders and team members should see Prayer Support for Daughters of Destiny Ministry in the Topics & Resources section for more on what to pray for and how to engage people in praying with you and also for you. Connect Daughters at the Special Event to Upcoming Ministry in the Prison (All Members) Help connect inmates who receive salvation with opportunities for more opportunities for worship, teaching, Bible study, and correspondence with a woman of faith on the outside. Try to engage inmates with as many of these Daughters of Destiny opportunities as possible. Refer to your Special Event Planning Worksheet for the ministry plans in place to follow your Special Event. If your Special Events team will return to provide Seminars or Life Groups in the prison then tell the women about your plans. However, only be as specific as your solid and complete plans allow. Be careful to not make any commitments you are not certain to fulfill. See Do s and Don ts of Daughters of Destiny Ministry Inside Prisons for more on making promises. If you will be one of the volunteers serving the Seminar or Life Group program in the facility then use time at the Special Event to begin developing personal relationships with the Daughters. This will help you when you return and also encourage the new Daughter to take interest in upcoming events.
If your Special Event team will not return to the facility for additional ministry in the near future then your Special Events Coordinator will advise you about any plans for Seminar and Life Group ministry programs at the location. Always, encourage Daughters to request a Women 4 Women (W4W) correspondence relationship with a woman of faith on the outside. This is one of the check boxes on the Daughters of Destiny registration form. Also encourage them to ask the prison Chaplain about Daughter s Journals, sent to prisons, and to anticipate their Daughters of Destiny membership card in the mail. Benefiting from your Area Team Coordinator for Special Event Ministry (Team Leaders) Think of your Coordinator and your Area Team as your best friend, coach, and consultant at every step of ministry whether just getting started, developing your Event program, gaining access to a prison, or preparing your team to connect Daughters to future ministry opportunities. Develop an open, two-way relationship with your Coordinator that provides mutual prayer support, exchange of ministry ideas or resources, plus spiritual- and ministry-accountability. Freely initiate contact to share specific questions, ministry uncertainties, accomplishments, and developing plans. Your Area Team members are interested in all these areas and will talk, pray, praise, and explore with you. Raising Funds to Cover your Costs of Ministry (Area Team Chairperson, Coordinator & All Members who choose) Individuals and teams doing Special Events will likely have some expenses related to their ministry. Volunteers are required to pay their expenses. Those who pay them out of pocket may be allowed to deduct a portion of documented expenses from personal income taxes. Consult with your tax accountant on this possibility. Individual volunteers and teams may choose to raise funds for paying ministry expenses. To explore this further, see Raising Funds for Your Daughters of Destiny Ministry Expenses in the Topics & Resources section of this training manual. Consult with your Area Team Chairperson and Special Event Coordinator. Build on Your Experience to Prepare for Your Next Event (All Members) All Special Event teams should review completed events and evaluate their activities to consider improvements. This is especially the case for those teams that will conduct the Event again or might offer a second Special Event in a facility sometime in the future. Work through your Special Event Planning Worksheet and the Event sequence you completed to evaluate and identify what worked well and not so well. Add comments and notes to your Planning Worksheet but change the file name by adding Review in the title so you keep your
original planning document. The Review document can become your next Special Event Planning Worksheet because it will have your improvements already included. Your review process might include the following. Review your equipment and materials list. Omit any items you didn t actually need or use. Consider the effectiveness of everything you carried into the facility, especially if you travel to Events. Revisit the content you planned. Talk about the effectiveness of that content to convey your theme and message. Talk about any problems that occurred in the sequence and flow of worship, testimonies, Gospel presentation, and invitation. Note suggestions for improvement. Evaluate the time allocations you assigned in your original Planning Worksheet. Compare each one to the actual time used when you did the Event. Make any necessary adjustments to content or time allocations to keep your Event program within the time frame you have at the next Event. Congratulations! (All Members) You have concluded the Special Event Training Module. The information and help is here for you to review as you continue to develop your Special Event program or expand your Daughters of Destiny ministry. Your log-in gives you access to all the training modules of the Full Circle Ministry and the Topics & Resources content. You may also want to print this manual to have on hand as you plan your event. Return as often as needed to enrich or enlarge your Daughters of Destiny ministry. Thank you for participating in this training.