Tracy Lindsey is a mother and grandmother reborn. In her remarkable rebirth eight years ago were planted seeds that would blossom into new life for dozens of other former female prison inmates to benefit from her spiritual transition.
Born and raised in Omaha, Ark., near the Missouri border, Tracy at 44 is proof that a former female prisoner who happened into a dark and hopeless place as a felon can rise from the ashes of meth addiction to provide a faith-based home where hope for many flourishes.
In the original Greek it was written in, the gospel of John says Jesus' final word on the cross was "tetelestai," which translates to "it is finished." What's finished in Tracy's unique program are troubled lives experienced by former felons who've passed through her Tetelestai House program.
"Tetelestai House is a faith-based, nonprofit program that provides housing for women coming out of incarceration seeking a new way in life," she said. "The intent is to make them aware their old ways of life can be finished and new life awaits to be found in Christ."
She also ministers in the Boone and Newton County jails and leads a discipleship class in a Missouri recovery center where many attendees are former inmates.
Tracy graduated from Omaha High School with youthful dreams of becoming a teacher and basketball coach. However, the company she chose to keep and related life style would soon crush such hopes.
"At 18 I tried meth for the first time and was immediately addicted, which stole the next 16 years," she said. "It ultimately cost my family, home and dreams. I was in and out of jail several times."
In 1997 she spent a year in the Arkansas Department of Correction. Afterwards, Tracy began using meth again. In 2010 she went back to prison for three years.
As an inmate, she joined the Principles and Applications for Life program where chaplains introduced prisoners to the Bible. She began evaluating her life. "I sat in a classroom every day and was told about Jesus, what he did for me and who I could become in him."
That experience inspired her. "Inside prison I found true freedom," she said. "I accepted Christ as my savior. My life began to change. After release, I joined Omaha's Lakeland Baptist Church where God continued to work in my life."
Her jail ministry began in 2012 at a county jail in Oklahoma. Afterwards, she launched a similar program at the Boone County jail in Harrison where she'd once been held. "One night I had eight female inmates at our service. I asked where they were going when they left jail. Six were returning to the same house where they'd been arrested." When Tracy asked why, many explained they had no other place.
Thus was planted a seed. "I saw the need for a safe, drug-free place for women to begin anew." When she left prison, Tracy had that realization patiently waiting, which she recognizes contributed to her program's success. Otherwise, she would have returned to the hell she had lived for well over a decade.
She shared her heart with her church congregation, an act that moved a couple to donate a house they weren't using as a ministry for women leaving incarceration.
Tetelestai House was incorporated in 2013. The first resident arrived in April 2014 and 28 women since have called the program home. The house has three double-occupancy bedrooms, two full baths and a half bath, an office area, utility room, classroom, kitchen, living room, and an unfinished basement.
That donated property initially allowed Tracy to house four women for a year. "We recently finished phase one of construction of a new 4,400-square-foot ministry-owned home which empowers us to house six women, with opportunity to eventually expand to 12."
While some arrivals are mothers, they often have lost custody because of their criminal records. Although they are allowed visitation, children are not kept in the house.
The Tetelestai program is tightly structured, with rules and policies centered around instilling dignity and integrity. Not every woman who comes stays a full year. "Some cannot make the life changes to succeed," said Tracy, adding, "yet if not for Tetelestai House, no woman would even have the chance."
The program has provided the opportunity for her to give back to a community that has offered considerable support. And it has filled her heart with unselfish wants. "I want to be a light in my community. I want to be a witness to God's grace. I want to make a difference in a community I once took so much from."
Shepherding incarcerated women released to the uncertainties of a free world can prove challenging, she said. "We work in a tough ministry. When you have six women, with six different personalities, each with their specific needs and circumstances, every day brings both new challenges and opportunities."
Asked what's required to launch and maintain a program like Tetelestai, Tracy learned early it wouldn't be only her that brings about redemption. "This house has been faith-based from the beginning. We have operated off donations since 2013. God provided the home, and God provides the daily needs."
One of many contributors, Lionel Cantu, a retired member of Special Forces and former postmaster, also of Omaha, summed up his firm support for Tracy's program: "This is her way of giving back to the community that gave her another chance."
Tracy has one full-time employee and a friend, Jayma Roten, along with a host of supporters who contribute time, talent and treasure. Farmers give food. Business owners provide services. Churches and civic organizations help where needed. And private contributors like Cantu support the program financially and physically.
"When we opened we said if we could make the difference in one life, it would be worth it. We have since ministered in the lives of 28 women, as well as those of their families."
After 60 days of "in-house treatment," Tracy's program helps Tetelestai ladies secure a job. "We've partnered with several companies that provide a second chance for previously incarcerated women. Our residents also do community service projects throughout their time in our program."
There have been many success stories, including a former resident who just competed her college degree and others who've held lasting employment.
Tracy expounded on other examples: "We had a resident who came to our program in 2016 who'd been in active addiction for nine years after using pills in high school, which escalated to heroin addiction by 2016. She'd been unable to keep a job and had burned many bridges in her lifetime. Here, she began to seek God's will. Soon she was employed and changing her attitude and behavior.
"God also began rebuilding her family relationships. In 2017 she graduated from our program and became a different woman than she was when she arrived. She's now married; they have three children. They also just purchased their first home. She's become a productive member of society who loves her job and family."
During one jail visit, Tracy said they ministered to a young woman who began paying increasingly closer attention to the message, until one night she surrendered her life and was saved.
"We weren't able to visit the jail during March and April due to covid-19, but last week she sent a letter saying she'd made it into prison and wanted to thank us for coming to the jail. She was still walking in the commitment she made in jail and is interested in coming to Tetelestai House."
Tracy's dream, largely through prayer and faith, has become her own redemption and calling. "Since leaving prison in 2010, God has restored my marriage and rebuilt the relationships with my kids. My husband and I are active in our church and love spending time with our grandkids," she said.
"Joel 2:25 tells us, 'I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten.' I have life today like I have never known after surviving those 16 years of addiction. God has restored my family and placed me in a ministry I love."
In 2018, Tracy applied for a pardon that was granted this year. She had the opportunity to meet and thank Gov. Asa Hutchinson personally for her life's new beginning.
All those years filled with heartache and despair indeed finally were finished. "I never want to forget where I came from. And I don't think I can even comprehend where God will take me from here," she said.
Looks to me as though her creator continues to guide Tracy along the path he wants her travel.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 05/16/2020