The Blue Watch Report – October 2022

This quarter we are featuring Jim Cartledge. Jim was one of the three founding Blue Watch Board Members. Recently, Jim decided to step away from the board. Jim has represented us well and has been a champion for the mission. Words are not enough to express our appreciation to Jim for his friendship, dedication and love.

Recently we sat down with Jim and asked him a few questions.

Tell us about life and where you grew up.

I grew up in Birmingham, attended Birmingham schools then went on to attend UAB where I received a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1958, I married my lovely wife Deanna, and we are the proud parents of two wonderful daughters. We now have the joy of being grandparents to three grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

At a young age, I was licensed to the Gospel ministry and have always been involved in ministry. Over the last 40 years, Deanna and I have taught many Bible classes and we continue to be involved in ministry activities.

Tell us about your experience as a police chaplain and what you see as the challenges facing officers and their families.

Back in 2017, the Vestavia Hills Police Department decided to start a chaplain’s program. In doing so, they reached out to area churches seeking people who were willing to serve. My church, Shades Mountain Baptist, put forth my name and subsequently I was approached about serving. I was excited to be a part of this founding group of chaplains and instantly knew this is what the Lord had been preparing me for all these years.

The opportunity to minister to the officers and their families has been a privilege and blessing as I have walked alongside them through the struggles of life.

How can organizations like Blue Watch help officers and their families?

Blue Watch and other like-minded organizations can help officers and their families by walking alongside in the journey of life, being encouragement for them. They can also help providing educational and training resources that can help. But most importantly, we can pray for them daily. 

Thanks again to Jim for all he has done. We wish you the best in all you do.

What’s Next

Planning is underway for the year ahead in 2023. In the weeks ahead we will be meeting with key law enforcement leaders and strategic ministry partners from across the state. We want to hear from the officers and their families as to what are their greatest needs and how greatest we can best minister to them.

If you have ideas, suggestions of questions feel free to reach out. You can do so by emailing us at info@bluewatchfoundation.org.

Order Your Book Today

Blue Watch wants officers to have a clear mind and a whole heart. On our website we offer resources that we believe will help them. Currently we offer the following books:

• "赢得枪战......在枪战中以道德、精神和策略确保胜利"： 要在枪战中获胜，不仅仅是身体上的幸存。大多数人在枪战中都能幸存下来，但未必能获胜。了解其中的区别以及如何才能生存下来并取得胜利。
• "自杀不是一种选择"： 每年，自杀的执法人员是因公殉职人员的 2.5-3 倍。尽管许多人做出了努力，但执法人员的自杀率仍在持续上升。退休警官兼作家蒂姆-鲁普（Tim Rupp）探讨了精神层面的问题，并认为生命的意义超越了个人。
• “Courageous Living Bible Study”: This four-session Bible study is designed to challenge you to live courageously for the sake of your family. Based on the movie “Courageous,” session topics include fighting for your family, valuing what matters most, impacting future generations, and standing for Christ.

To order your FREE book, visit our 赠书页面 并告诉我们您想要哪本书！

一旦您读完这本书，请与我们分享您的想法，无论好坏，我们也希望您能将这本书转赠给其他官员。

参与其中

支持蓝色观察任务的方式有很多：

• 祈祷 – we need prayer warriors who will pray for us on an ongoing basis and at special events.
• 志愿者 – we are in need of people who will help manage our website, social media and other aspects of the ministry. If the mission of Blue Watch is of interest to you and you have a skillset to offer, consider Blue Watch.
• 捐赠 – it takes money to make all of this to happen. The Lord greatly blessed us in 2021, but to continue our progress will require increased giving. You can give online or by check.

如果您对其中任何一项感兴趣，请发送电子邮件至 info@bluewatchfoundation.org。

Support the Mission

蓝色观察是一家 501c(3)非营利组织。所有捐款均可抵税。

蓝色守望的使命是帮助军官及其家人体验上帝在他们生活中的意义和益处。