ONE LINERS ON PRISON MIINISTRY

FOR THE LEAST OF US
Challenging Churches and Restoring Families


...be doers of the Word, and not hearers only..." James 1:22

• One of our volunteers put it this way: “Jesus said if you visit a prisoner you visit Me. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out He really meant what He said!” How about you? (Mark Earley, CEO Prison Fellowship). 
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• Mayor Dennis Donahue, Salinas, CA, plans for cleaning up crime is three-fold: Strengthening families, increasing literacy, and providing for after school programs.
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• Hostility and prejudice toward the incarcerated are impediments to ministry. The criminal justice system is dominated by notions of retribution, vengeance, punishment and isolation. The core values of the Christian gospel--forgiveness, compassion, redemption, reconciliation, restorative justice--run counter to prevailing sentiments in the justice system. (Pastor Kenneth Carder, Duke University)
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• In Matthew 22:34-40, we see the Sadducees trying to trap Jesus with the question of what the most important commandment was in the law of Moses, which of course is to love the Lord your God. But then Jesus goes on to say that “…..the second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant... for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10)

• "There is crisis in the spiritual well being of the inmates," he continued. "If you can reach them with the word so they can see where they're at within the bounds of God, then prison becomes a more peaceful place. There's an awful lot of anger and denial brought into this place. Usually the anger is at others and at themselves. You try to point out in scripture the dangers of anger and try to get them to seek sharing their anger with the Lord because He can handle it. But if they don't know the Lord they don't know about that resource." (D. Winters, New Covenant Church, Ala)
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• After all, 80% or more of the 2 million prisoners now "doing time" will be leaving their prison cell within the next few years. After-care and job development loom as an area of prison ministry calling for the creative commitment of the Church. Model programs have developed in the Oklahoma Conference, Central Pennsylvania Conference, and some ecumenical and community center programs. Perhaps the most critical aspect of transition back into society as constructive citizens is the involvement of ex-offenders and their families in the full life of a local congregation. This is a challenge to each of our local congregations. (Marian Styles – McClintock)
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• Prison is a lonely life, both for the inmate and the loved ones who have to get along without him or her. It's a vicious cycle: Absent fathers and mothers create broken homes, and broken homes often lead to even more crime. So how can churches help? Former inmate Manny Mill encourages Christians to reach out to prisoners' families and offers practical suggestions for ministering to this forgotten segment of society. "I say to prisoners ... 'You have the power in Jesus Christ now to break the cycle of crime.'" - Manny Mill (President of Koinonia, a prison ministry)
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• Dr. Richard Kern, executive director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Committee, described how Virginia has done away with its parole system. Their prisons had been loaded with non-violent offenders. These people are not simply turned loose after they have been found guilty. But instead of being sentenced to prison, many are sentenced to various types of work-release programs. Recidivism has been reduced to 49%
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• Most churches today live in fear of lack of resources, the "what ifs," and have forgotten that our primary call is to "give ourselves away." We're not here for ourselves. We're here to bring good news to the poor. So instead of having a servant "lose my life" mindset, we have a fortress mentality. "Build these walls, protect these walls, and don’t let anybody in." (Pastor Jimmy Dorrell, Mission Waco)

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," (I John 3:18).



In His Service  Bill and Pam Ziering  26033 Mesa Drive, Carmel, CA93923  831-250-7921

A COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CENTER – A faith-based ministry in human development

Clearly, if you want to build somebody's self-esteem, it's not giving them money and helping them out through the next crisis. It is giving them value, it is in helping them identify the gifts they have and giving them the confidence the world has beaten out of them. (Pastor Jimmy Dorrell, Mission Waco). People possess the power, the capacity and the desire to solve their own problems, if they are given the resources they need and the opportunity they crave. People don't need help nearly as much as they need a chance. (Larry James)

PATRONS

The homeless

The poor

The aged
The addicted
The felons
The disabled
The pregnant


PROVISIONS
Shelter, Food, Clothing, Transportation, Health care, Child care, Respite care, Recovery/support, Social services, Financial aid, Mentorship, Community center, Activities (Interactive lectures, parties, dancing, singing, bible study)

TRAINING
Literacy, Employment skills, Family matters (marriage, child rearing)Social adaptation, Ethics

WORK PROJECTS
Creation of jobs (construction, landscaping, cooks, food servers, meat cutting, auto servicing, health aides, secretarial, cashiers, delivery, clerks, On-the-job counseling

ELECTIVES
Worship services, Bible
study, Adult ministries, Teen center, Children activities
Senior luncheons, Town Hall

The poor are the Church. Whenever the Church is understood as separate from the poor, it is no longer the Church… Only by understanding that those In the Fourth World are our moral equals and by embracing them as full members of society – neighbors, friends- can we possibly begin to deal with the problem of extreme poverty. It suggests that giving charity, paying higher taxes, voting correctly, and political advocacy are not nearly enough. It is only by fundamentally changing our relationship to the poor that true change will be possible.”

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” - Matthew 25:40

“The LORD will answer and say: If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. - Isaiah 58:9-10

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." - Luke 14:13-14

Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
Amos 5:12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes And turn aside the poor in the gate.

MISSION BASIS

We as a community, faith based and secular, are called to care for those who are suffering, to assist those who are unable to do so for themselves. It is a calling at the highest level, compassionate, sacrificing, loving, for which all are ennobled.

“Crisis care” in our outreach ministry is to be provided for by trained and professionals within the proposed neighborhood center, in collaboration with the multiple outside public and private service organizations. Clearly, these endeavors and provisions will be immediate and life sustaining. The need for such services is constant. Man will forever find himself victim of untimely events whether preventable or unanticipated.

To minimize the cycle of poverty, however, simultaneous to emergency intervention, is long term habilitation/rehabilitation. While short term immediate assistance mainly for food, shelter, health care and transport is an imperative, until there are job skills and available jobs, stop gap assistance is just that, a postponing of personal and family disintegration. For families to take their rightful place alongside their more productive and affluent neighbors, there is need for them to be adopted into the general community as brothers and sisters with equal acceptance and status. This will take intention and effort on the part of the rest of the community.

The poor and “others” can be empowered to take control and manage their predicament. Neighborhood health and resource centers located in areas of poverty and need, can work effectively with government and other civic institutions on a holistic (physical, mental, spiritual) basis.

In development, leadership and management are to be transferred to the neighborhood itself thus providing political power to those who are served. Employment opportunities are available. Those servicing the neighborhood center are to be recruited from within, to provide jobs in the food bank, restaurant, clothing store, outpatient health facility, transportation service, and function as clerks, intake supervisors, literacy teachers, respite caretakers, homemakers, computer mentors, bible and small group leaders, etc.

I got my energy for this work from other people, so the self must stay in connection with others, new others, others that have more talent and more vision and more power than you have others that have more talent and more vision and more power than you have. That energizes you and keeps you going. You've got to be in relationship with real people.

PRISON MINISTRY FORUM (CPC Jan 12, 2008) BREAKOUT POINTS

A letter to my church brotherhood:

Whereas the recidivism rate on re-entry is the same for Christians as for non-Christians (now approaching 85%) and whereas the releasee must return to his/her old neighborhood and the “friends” who prompted the original criminal behavior, it is critical that the church body come aside the family as a counterforce.

Neither the criminal justice system nor the home environments have proven helpful. The large majority of those released were sentenced for non-violent crimes and have completed their time, yet within two years most will be returned to prison on a technical “violation”, related to the lack of mentorship, family support, and inability to obtain or keep a job.

John Wesley defined true religion as love for God and neighbor. Wesley considered regular visitations of and friendship with the poor and imprisoned as essential to discipleship as prayer and Holy Communion. Ministry with offenders and victims, then, is not optional; it is mandatory if the church is to be the church. The church has no choice but to cast its lot with the ostracized, victimized, and marginalized.


Consequently, as part of the Great Commission, it is likely a Christian imperative that each of us pledges to share our unique God given gifts with some family at this church or in this Monterey county who God loves and desperately needs our help. (In the 4 months of this ministry, the number speaking transparently of incarceration in their family swelled for “1” to “22”).


I believe each of you will identify one (or more) roles (as a team member) that you we might call upon when the need arises? Won’t you return this form to me with your pledge within the next day?

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," (I John 3:18).

For the prisoner:

o In-Prison Ministry. Unleashing Christ’s power in prisoners’ lives through “transformational discipleship.”

o An adopting church (policy, staff, membership)

o Prayer teams

o PenPal

o Visitations from church body

o Bibles and other Christian books

o AngelTree

o Training for re-entry. Koinonia, Kairos, etc

o Mentorship on re-entry (spiritual, physical, emotional”

o Rehab on re-entry (alcohol, drugs, pornography, sexual)

o Job training and opportunities

o Counseling (Mental health, marriage, parenting, employment, social, etc)

o Mediation: Victim repayment

o Transitional housing

For the family left behind.

o A welcoming church (staff, deacons, membership)

o Emergency food

o Financial aid

o Housing

o Healthy relationships as Covenant Small Groups

o Child care

o Secondhand clothing

o Transportation

o Job training

o Schools (tutoring)

o Social services, legal services, medical and dental Rx

o Business counseling

o Household help

o Respite care

o Fellowship (small groups, membership)

o Prayer warrior team

o Loving mentors (professionals, membership)

“Take tender care of those who are weak; and be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else. Always keep on praying. For this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thes 5:14-19)