Course Description
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With appropriate illustrations, diagram and models, the core curriculum for NewLife Behaviour Ministries is a comprehensive study to understand ourselves and the importance of finding a relationship with God and others.
The course contains 140 lessons divided into ten courses plus a "Children's Edition". Each of the ten courses consist of 13 eight A4 page lessons and 2 Response Sheets. Lessons are written in the outline style so that it can also be use as a sermon. |
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The curriculum was designed for people in all walks of life and has been well received by Christians and non-Christians alike. The greatest use of the courses has been in prisons, both incarcerated persons as well as their families.
Portions of the NLB curriculum are now available for our Spanish, Russian and Chinese speaking population.
The curriculum has been edited and field tested for nearly 20 years and is avalible on CD [see "NLBM on CD"]
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| Core Curriculum |
It is a proven curriculum for providing “a ministry of hope” to those in jail or prison. The Program was given a Quality Assurance from the Director of Program who approved it for use in all of its prisons.
NLB is not a Bible course. Rather, the Bible is used as a guidebook to teach desired changes in the behaviour, attitudes and concepts of the student.
The goal is to integrate what a person thinks, feels and does, as illuminated by Bible texts. |
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Thus, NLB is useful to anyone experiencing changes in their life and has been used effectively with students of all ages, helping them improve the way they think, feel and act.
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| Course Overview |
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| Course 1: A Sense of Self |
Studies show that behaviours - good or bad - stem from the view individuals have of themselves. Many in prison have grown up with a negative and destructive self-view (or confused at best). Consequently, they grow up feeling "damaged" and unworthy of love. Such thinking leads to poor choices and accompanying results.
A Sense of Self explores the deep and meaningful questions of life ...
"Who am I?" "Why am I here?" "Why do I do the things I do?" "What am I supposed to be doing?" "Where am I going?" |
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| Course 2: A Sense of Family |
A Sense of Family is the normal progression in NLB curriculum study, especially for the student that started with Course I. Diligent participants are going to grow in their understanding of the critical role each person has in their family of origin.
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This discovery will be of immense help in looking back and bringing them to the present time. The next development step to be considered is learning to make necessary changes to improve the role each plays in his or her family today. |
| The single most absent influence in most families is the male role model, regardless of cause (abandonment, separation, divorce, military duty, illness, job, incarceration or death). |
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| Course 3: Parenting Matters |
| The Parenting Matters course is developed to meet the needs of offenders who are parents or will become parents in the future. Parents behind bars are still parents. They have an influence over their children - for good or bad. The incarcerated parent also has a relationship with the other parent in the free world. |
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| Hopefully, these parents will learn to cooperate together for the good of their children. Positive parenting is never easy. It becomes much more difficult when one or both parents are incarcerated. |
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| Course 4: True Freedom |
The True Freedom course is a 13-lesson curriculum developed to meet the needs of offenders who have fallen victim to their circumstances. It is designed to help deliver the incarcerated from continued experiences of the same. It is so easy to believe Satan's lies, predicting a repetitive future and telling them that they cannot change.
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These misrepresentations are "sold" on billboards, in TV commercials and on the big Screen. Eager for ''freedom'' at almost any cost, offenders have fallen for stupid schemes that result in digging their hole deeper.
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True Freedom comes at a cost. There will be no empty promises. In order to experience this ultimate freedom, one must be willing to surrender ALL.
If a student is not yet a parent, this is an ideal time to learn from the mistakes of others and determine to be the best parental influence possible. It is not unusual for the student to understand better mistakes made by their own parents and develop an increased capacity for mercy and forgiveness. One can only do as well as he knows how and, frankly, too many failed to learn parenting skills.
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| Course 5: Christian Marriage Skills |
Christian Marriage Skills is designed as a cognitive learning program with four units of study.
For more detail see Curriculum. |
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| Course 6: The Christian Woman |
The Christian Woman course is a 13-lesson curriculum developed to meet the needs of offenders wanting to learn more about God's role and plan for women. It is an excellent class for a husband/wife "team" or two couples to "team up" in teaching the course. It is designed to help Christian women learn to be God-fearing wives and mothers.
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The Christian Woman is seen in all her glory as a "virtuous woman" (Proverbs 31) and as the comparison to the Bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:22-31. It is the woman who both "rocks the cradle" and makes everything else work around the house! The wise husband and father knows this and highly values his wife and the mother of his children.
The children of The Christian Woman look to her as a role model in creating and maintaining the peace and tranquility of the home. She protects them as a "mother hen seeks to gather her chicks under her wing in a storm" (Matthew 23). Her love and support is fundamental to a healthy child that may be forced to deal with abuse issues in or out of the home. Her home becomes a haven and refuge for her own children and friends of her children.
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| Course 7 Attitudes and Behaviour |
| "Attitudes & Behaviours" - is designed as a cognitive learning program with four "Units" of study. It consists of fourteen (14) individual lessons. Each lesson can be adequately taught in a class adapted to either one or two hours in length. The preferable size of class is 20-25 students with two instructors. Course VII includes sessions that address seven godly virtues: Faith, Hope, Love, Temperance, Courage, Wisdom, Justice and seven deadly vices. Anger, Pride, Lust, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth. |
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| Course 8 Christians Against Substance Abuse (CASA) |
Christians against Substance Abuse faith-based course encourages recovery from ALL forms of substance abuse: alcohol, narcotics, sex, food, exercise, work/career, relationships, etc. The principles taught can be understood by anyone interested in learning a better way of living.
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This curriculum enables the student to produce positive lifestyle changes. The twelve steps used by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and other step programs are also successful when followed explicitly.
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| Coarse 9 The FamilyNet Program. |
| FamilyNet was launched in 1993 as a pilot program at the Michael Unit (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) near Palestine with the help of Chaplain Bill Brewer. Wives and children were invited to join with incarcerated husbands in a special weekend of study over several weeks. The Children's Edition of NLB was utilized with the children as students. At the same time, parents and spouses gained from the adult curriculum. Many were learning for the first time how to form a strong and godly bond in marriage and to implement successful parenting techniques. |
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| Course 10 The Seekers Series |
The Seeker Series is a 10-lesson curriculum developed to meet the needs of offenders wanting to learn more about developing a closer relationship with God individually. This is a Bible study course for serious seekers of God's will for their lives. Its approach is non-sectarian and non-denominational. The purpose is to direct students only to the Word of God. Various Bible terms for the church are employed such as: body of Christ, family, house of God, bride of Christ, kingdom, etc. The definition of the "church" is to fit the Bible pattern rather than patterns of mere men. The course can be studied online through the NLB web site: www.nlbm.org
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| Course 11 Children's Curriculum |
| The Children's Edition is a 13-lesson curriculum developed to meet the needs of children of offenders between the ages of approximately 5 to 10. Since one or both of parents are studying New Life Behaviour curriculum and children are attracted to the butterfly logo, they also want to be enrolled. The Children's Edition has been designed with them in mind. Several of the individual lessons are exactly the same as those studied by the parent. Thus, a parent can use the curriculum to teach and train up a child in the way he should go (Ephesians 6:4). The course can be studied online through the NLB web site: www.nlbm.org |
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| Course 12 Prisoners of Christ? |
| Course XI of the NLBM curriculum - "Prisoners of Christ" - is designed as a cognitive leaning program with four "Units" of study. It consists of thirteen (13) individual lessons. Each lesson can be adequately taught in a class adapted to either one or two hours in length. The preferable size of class is 20-25 students - with two instructors. Course XI includes sessions that address specific areas of need from the time of arrest to release - either from a local jail or state/federal prison. |
The entire Curriculum including a promotional video is available on CD.
Users of the Program are required to sign an agreement with NLBM-SA |
