(SCI Dallas Penitentiary)
My name is John T. Jones, I’m writing this letter to express how taking the Bethesda Parenting class has changed my whole outlook on life. Before taking this class I was a bitter, angry and confused person. I was living my whole life in turmoil with drugs and crime. As a child I was molested and beaten and to top it off, I was mistreated by my own mother. I was never shown affection or love as a child. I grew up in a family that did nothing but drugs and crime. I was never taught any morals or value about life. When I was 12 years old I watched my stepfather shoot my mother six times and while she laid on the floor bleeding, a part of me was glad she was hurt and a part of me was sad. When she came home from the hospital I was forced to take care of her and my younger sibling because I was the oldest. My childhood was taken away from me. I couldn’t go outside and play with my friends because I had to stay in with my mother. I was very depressed at this time and I started stealing my mothers medication to escape the pain I was feeling. The medication made me forget about the pain I was feeling inside. I dropped out of high school because I was hooked on drugs. Then I started hanging out in the street at night after my family went to bed. I was hanging with people much older than me who gave me much more and heavier drugs. I even started going to bars at 15. When I was 16 I got shot while being in the bar. When I came home from the hospital everybody told me I was a man now. At this point I was running the streets committing crimes also. I had my first child at 17, by this woman who was 24. She cared about me a lot, but all I did was mistreat her. I have 7 children now by 6 different women and that’s because every time one of them tired to get to close to me or start telling me they loved me I ran away from them. I didn’t like people telling me they loved me, because I didn’t know what that was. Four years ago I got married to a good woman who didn’t use drugs or drink. We have three children that are very obedient. For the first time in my life I wanted to see how it felt to be a family man. The first couple of months everything was okay, but the love in my household overwhelmed me to the point I was angry and uncomfortable, so I started hanging around people I used to run the streets with. For some odd reason I felt comfortable around them. I stated getting high again, then I was mistreating my wife and my children. Then I went back to crime. Now I sit here with a 5-10 sentence at SCI Dallas. The best part about me being here at Dallas is, I was fortunate enough to get into the Bethesda parenting class. I took this class because I wanted to get educated on how to be a good father to my children. I didn’t know this class had so much more to offer. It not only taught me how to communicate with my children on a different level. It showed me how to overcome all the pain and hurt I have been carrying with me since my childhood. I have healthy relationship now, because Bethesda has shown me how to trust and allow people to help me. I no longer have hatred towards those who have abused me when I was a child, because I learned that they had issues themselves, somebody might have mistreated them and they know nothing themselves but to mistreat others. Bethesda has taught me this type of pain is a vicious cycle and we have to break it somewhere. Being in this class has helped me to be what I always wanted to be. A caring, responsible and loving person. Thanks to the Bethesda parenting class my life looks a lot brighter now and I can finally focus on what I want out of life instead of worrying about what happens in my life.

Mr. Jones explains why he values the Bethesda program so much in this way: “Other programs (e.g. T.C.) take you to a certain point (like confronting your pain) and then drop you off. The Bethesda program teaches you what to do after that in order to reach forgiveness and healing.”

He has been able to incorporate the Relationship Sequence and the Four Steps to Emotional Healing into his life. What a tribute and credit he is to the Bethesda Program.