ANGEL TREE CHRISTMAS PARTY at Carmel Presbyterian Church

                    
                    FOR THE LEAST  US 
          Challenging churches and restoring families 

    

Christmas 2009        

                           TESTIMONIALS
                         Host Families

    Angel Tree Christmas Festival    

 I want to thank your ministry for giving our church the opportunity to share the joy of Christmas giving with these hurting families. Anthony was the most alert, wide-eyed child I have ever seen, taking in everything including four pieces of pizza, two ice creams, and a box of raisins! He carried and guarded his gifts all the way home!  I suspect that Rudy will be open to Men's Fellowship and church. I'll be in touch with the family. Chuck

                    
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Wade and I had a wonderful time at the party(wow) and with our precious new friends Alejandra and Angel(after they got on the bus, Angel blew kisses back to me as we waved through the window!). I took a turkey to the family today and Alejandra was very excited to be able to cook it along with her sister-in-law for all the family. They are so grateful and we pray God's blessing on them and all the "little ones". Merry Christmas, Sheryl and Wade

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The party was grand.  The kids seemed to enjoy themselves, the adults seemed comfortable and happy. I enjoyed chatting with the 9th grader in your family, C.J.  He was friendly, and liked to talk about sports.Our family was very lovely.  We will stay in touch.  The older daughter is developmentally disabled, so Ann wants to see that she is getting the medical support she needs.  Ann might be able to get the mom hooked into Easter Seals. Ron    
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What a beautiful event.  I am so sorry that I wasn't able to participate, but I will be part of it next year. Maria
                                                         
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 What a great party! What a fabulous afternoon! You blessed so many, my family included, by orchestrating this grand event. I have a CD with all the photos. Christina. 


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Yesterday I was at a boy's group home making Christmas cookies with about 7 wonderful boys and we had such a wonderful time of just sharing the afternoon and singing Christmas songs. Our hearts are on similar paths to reveal the Father's love to those sometimes forgotten and set aside through lives circumstances, BUT GOD He sees each one and knows their heart so he sends his assistants, US..We love you and bless you so much. Dan and Vicki
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The smiles on the faces say it all!!! A wonderful evening. Thank you for all your ministry does to enrich the lives of these families. Doyle

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Thank you for your tireless work "for the least of these" as representatives of our Lord and Savior, Jesus!! I pray you have a wonderful Christmas! Your brother and fellow servant. Mike

_______________________________________________________________ For The Least Of Us Bill and PamZiering ziering@pacbell.net 831-250-7921 26033 Mesa Drive Carmel, CA 93923 "For The Least Of Us, Inc." is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit faith-based prison ministry (EIN 26-1361229) Donations are entirely tax-deductible and may be mailed to the above address in care of For The Least Of Us

ANGEL TREE Christmas 2009

                                      


                                

                    

FOR THE LEAST OF US
NEWSLETTER 15

December 25, 2009

Our Angel Tree Christmas festival is over, but the treasures of Jesus Christ has just begun. This week, the Children's Ministry of Carmel Presbyterian Church hosted the families of our greater community suffering the absence of a missing parent this Christmas, with a joyous event celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ and the promise of an everlasting relation with Him in His Kingdom to come that will have no end


HIGHLIGHTS. The Holy Spirit was evident from the first to the last

Families flocked to the Church by bus, car, van, and on foot

The classic Pacific Monarch bus arrived filled with families from our neighborhood many of whom never had traveled so regally or who had ever visited our beloved Carmel.

Lines of welcoming CPC families greeted our guests as they descended the bus with a police escort through the bustle of Carmel's shopping season

More than 250 participants unabashedly expressed their love for Jesus and to one another. Pastor Greg, in Spirit, rained God's love down equally to one and all

Our children recited God's word with strength and conviction

The thunder of Christian hymns sung by families echoed the halls as we melted together proving that the colors of black, brown, yellow, and white turn to gold

Tons of pizza, cookies, fruit, lemonade and ice cream disappeared in record time.No child or family was left behind


Equally tasteful and needy gifts were thoughtfully and generously distributed by our host families to our own and Angel Tree children

Evolving friendships were rooted with pledges of continued relations throughout the year

The bus ride home was filled with chatter of the joy of new beginnings
                

Pam and Bill Ziering

26033 Mesa Drive

Carmel CA 93923
250-7921
William_ziering@comcast.net



ForThe Least Of Us", Inc. is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit faith-based Christ centered prison ministry (EIN 26-1361229

Newsletter #10, June 08, 2009

Summer 2009

JUNE 2009 9th edition

One of our brothers in coming home!

Jeff Wells, husband of Laura, father of Connor (6) and Evan (3) is seven weeks from rejoining his beautiful family and our church community. To announce his homecoming, our Saturday morning Men’s Fellowship is busy assembling a welcome home celebration after worship services in August.

Jeff has gifts: accounting, bookkeeping, finance, taxation, formation and management of trusts, web marketing, bank and credit card reconciliation, QuickBooks expertise, blog and social networking, and still more.
His overriding interest is finding a job, being a breadwinner and the man in his home. Our interest is assisting him through Christian counseling, and mentorship on a continuous basis. Please let Pam or me know what your thoughts are and how you might explore using his services.

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SNAPSHOTS

Ladonna called back today. She was more intact than the desperate, tearful woman of 6 weeks ago. Then, she had exhausted her options and was about to be turned back to the streets. She, 47, a college graduate, now “clean” for months, had appealed, without success, to multiple service agencies for a roof over her head in a fit environment .Either she didn’t qualify or the meager facilities were full. One shelter gave her our name and number. There was one bed open and we were said to be her last hope. But it would take a dollar or two to pay for her care, life skill training, and counseling. LaDonna prevailed. Without our assistance, she’d be forced back into the streets to do what she didn’t want to do to make it through her day.

Today’s call was to notify us that the shelter was closing its’ doors in 2 days. They had not received their funding. LaDonna had worked odd jobs the past weeks, anything legitimate, to share in the costs, but jobs were scarce and discontinuous. I got on the horn and reached the Monterey Reinvestment Board and Loyanne Flinn who commiserated with us on the lack of beds for women, abused or down on their luck. She did suggest the Resource Housing Center which I promptly called and spoke with Elisa Hupt, who volunteered to take the case. She mentioning a shelter in Salinas with 2 emergency beds, and if that failed, to provide resources for a 3 month period!

I’ll call LaDonna tomorrow to check how it's working out 

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S.S., one of our Angel Tree families, adopted by the Clayton small group two Christmas’s ago, was about to be homeless 3 months ago. Well, the Lord pointed us to Craig’s list, where an Angel lay. Just the day before this Good Samaritan had placed a notice that her gorgeous home would be vacant for 2 months and was being offered free of charge to a needy family. We were able to bring the parties together and this Christian family of 5 moved in to the home in an exclusive neighborhood in Carmel.

But, all stories don’t have a continuously happy course. The 2 month stay has ended. Dad, didn’t find a job and now has relapsed and is back behind bars. Mom, a great mom, now, alone once again, raises her 3 lovely children, ages 6, 8, and 13, with her job as a home health aide. Once again, God to the rescue! His angel in Carmel has located another home, Carmel of course, where the family can stay, rent free, for perhaps 4 months, enough time, hopefully for things to simmer down and for S.S. to secure a richer job more consistent with her gifts and talents.

Meanwhile the Men’s group is scurrying about to provide furnishings (beds, chairs, sofa, tables, lamps) in this lovely but bare home.

Bill Ziering Ziering@pacbell.net 831-250-7921 In His service

Be careful, you might be in the company of Angels

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Don't rely on appearances!

By now I bet you've seen Susan Boyle's performance on Britans Got Talent last Saturday evening.

The judges, the audience, everyone was literally blown away by this Scottish woman's vocal ability.

Why?

Everyone pre-judged her based on her appearance. No one expected anything from her. Everyone dismissed her with laughs and cat-calls.

We do it all the time, don't we?

We do it on the basis of class, race, looks, body size. . .the list goes on and on.

Shame on us all for not assuming the very best of each other and everyone we meet.

Thanks, Susan Boyle. We all needed what you delivered. Forgive us.

Forgive us, Lord for not believing in those things you've placed in us all.

Watch Susan again right here.

DALLAS TEXAS: A Saga of one city's attempt to shelter the homeless.

Update on the plan to redevelop and renew the Plaza Inn at I-30 and S. Akard Street on the southeast edge of Downtown Dallas:

It turns out to be quite a saga, maybe closer to an epic!

Chapter One: The Central Dallas Community Development Corporation places the property under contract and writes a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LITHC) application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). The first round scoring on the application places it at the very top of such applications in the entire state of Texas. We're feeling really very good about the prospects of the plan.

Chapter Two: We begin to explain our plans to the neighbors who live, work and own property around the project site. Lots of honest conversation ensues. After two large, well-attended public meetings and numerous, smaller private meetings, we continue to feel positive about the project. We adjust our plans to include everything over which we have control that the neighborhood association and various voices from the community suggest. Included in the changes are 72 units of new construction, market rate, multi-family homes.

The only part of our plan we did not alter were the homes we intended to set aside for 50 formerly homeless individuals and families. At last, when the neighbors vote on our plan, we are turned back and voted down. This means that we cannot hope to receive the backing we need from Council Member Pauline Medrano and her colleagues on the Dallas City Council.

Chapter Three: We exit the process, but turn over our position to Hamilton Properties, the owners of the Plaza Inn. They adjust the plan to make it more economically feasible and to further suit the wishes of the neighbors. Translation: The new plan eliminates all units of permanent supportive housing designed for formerly homeless persons. The plan goes forward with neighborhood support now that CDM and the homeless are out of the picture. No homeless housing will be provided, but high-quality, affordable housing will be developed.

Chapter Four: The TDHCA objects to the revised proposal, citing 33 reasons why the plan, as presented, is not worthy of funding. Many of the problems are technical and based on inaccurate information and details lost in the translation during the revision process from the original proposal. At the end of the day, it becomes clear that the only way to advance the proposal on appeal is to put the permanent supportive housing units back into the plan. The appeal is submitted with this provision for the homeless included once more. A subsequent meeting with the neighborhood association results in a final rejection of the revised plan. As a result, the tax credit application is withdrawn and the deal is dead.

Takeaways:

1) People in all parts of Dallas fear and do not understand the chronically homeless. As a result of the fear and lack of understanding, they will resist the development of housing for this subset of the population almost automatically and in every part of the city. Further, many people do not want to hear the facts about the homeless who receive the benefit of permanent housing. No amount of national, empirical evidence convinces most people. Clearly, we must work harder, start earlier and do a better job of presenting the truth about "housing first" and permanent supportive housing as a viable, community solution to chronic homelessness. At the same time, we must find ways to legitimately earn the trust of neighborhood groups. We continue to hope that the success of our project at 511 N. Akard in the heart of Downtown will help with community education and understanding.

2) Funding for the development of permanent housing for the homeless must come from public sources with great capacity. These deals are complicated and expensive. Because of neighborhood opposition, and short of significant breakthroughs in community understanding, Downtown areas remain the best and possibly only location for such developments. A logical source of funding will continue to be the LITHC funds from the TDHCA.

3) Having funds available does not guarantee success. We may need to face the fact that funding is easier to solve than location for these projects, due largely to neighborhood opposition.

4) Currently, site selection for these developments may need to be limited to locations where no neighborhood organization exists. This limits development to very weak communities, not a good choice for several reasons, or Downtown locations that tend to be the most expensive sites.

5) Providing lots of information and/or being responsive to community ideas and suggestions is no guarantee that development plans will be supported or accepted. Unfortunately, this is simply a fact of life in this sector of the housing development industry at this point. Again, building trust is key. The Plaza Inn project taught me that I need to exhibit more patience, kindness and respect for those who disagree, while at the same time providing useful information needed to change attitudes toward our homeless neighbors.

6) The current political process serves property owners before the larger good of the entire community. Property rights trump human or community needs/rights.

7) The need and the relief that certainly can be provided for the clear need make continuing the effort more than worth the struggle and the frustrations. At the same time, developers and city leaders must face the fact that these developments will take more time, effort and funding than other sorts of housing endeavors.

A TIME FOR ACTION:

 

How to Start a Prison Ministry
by Frances Jett

 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow captives. (Hebrews 13:3)

 Building and maintaining prisons is one of the fastest growing "industries" in the United States. More and more men, women, and children are being incarcerated each day, forcing communities to build additional jail cells. Beyond the issues of how to prevent people from entering the prison system is how to care for those already behind bars.Many congregations feel that prison ministry is best done by someone else: an expert, a prison chaplain, or, some drastic cases, not at all.

Embracing our biblical mandate is essential when starting a prison ministry in your faith community. The theological foundation for the United Methodist Church to be in prison ministry starts with mandates by Christ to be in ministry by "proclaiming freedom to the captives" (Luke 4:18), and we are all summoned to "remember those in prison as if you were their fellow captives" (Hebrews 13:3). Jesus identified himself as the one who was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, a prisoner - and invites us to ministries of nurture, outreach, and witness. We respond to this invitation and commit ourselves to justice-making.
John Wesley defined true religion as love shed abroad in our hearts, 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. As a sign, foretaste, and instrument of God's reign, the church has no choice but to cast its lot with the ostracized, victimized, and marginalized.

The next step is to establish structure. Find out who in your faith community is already involved in prison ministry or reform activities. Some people work with ecumenical or secular groups; get to know those people and those groups. Seek out those in your community employed in any part of the criminal justice system: police officers, judges, lawyers. Start exchanges between those working in prison ministries and those employed by the criminal justice system. Invite them to speak on the importance of prison ministry or victim offender reconciliation. Peace with Justice Sunday or any Sunday that you may designate to reflect on social justice ministries would be a good time to organize an event on this ministry.

The final step for the prison ministry coordinator is to provide support. Collect and distribute articles and news about prison ministry. Maintain a file of resources and training opportunities on prison ministry, prison reform, and restorative justice. Distributing this information and having visitors speak on the subject will raise the awareness of your faith community's need to be involved with persons affected by the criminal justice system. You will have the power to effect change, as those who are incarcerated return to the free world. Considering that most of those incarcerated are released into society, making that transition a healthy one is important to the welfare of all people.

Not everyone in your faith community will feel comfortable visiting a prison, or participating in some form of restorative justice; those persons can participate in other ways. Since less than 20 percent of inmates receive visitors regularly, writing letters to the incarcerated and their families is appreciated. Preparing gift baskets for prisoners or providing housing for visiting family members, are also valuable opportunities for people to become involved. Enabling persons to take part of the ministry at level that is comfortable for them is extremely important.

We boldly state the idea of restorative justice in our Social Principles: "In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of genuinely new systems for the care and support of the victims of crime and for rehabilitation that will restore, preserve, and nurture the humanity of the imprisoned." A primary goal of rehabilitation has been taken out of the criminal justice system. Our current system is described as retributive, where crime is a violation of the state, defined by lawbreaking and guilt. Justice determines blame and administers pain in a contest between the offender and the state, all directed by systematic rules.

Restorative justice, on the other hand, considers "crime as a violation of people and relationships. It creates obligations to make things right. Justice involves the victim, the offender, and the community in a search for solutions which promote repair, reconciliation, and reassurance" (Howard Zehr, Changing Lenses, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1990, p.181). Restorative justice is not a new way of thinking or behaving. It is part of our Judeo-Christian heritage. The goals are to resolve conflict, find mutually beneficial solutions, and restore persons who intentionally or unintentionally have broken a covenant with the community, and increase their self-awareness and accountability. Each time God forgave the Israelites collectively or individually, it was God's invitation and opportunity for them to return to a relationship with God and to the human community. Sometimes the need is to transform, when there is little to which a person or situation can be restored. In both cases, the invitation to be instruments of restoration or transformation is still ours to accept as people who embody the faith.

There are many ways to put our faith into action. The General Board of Church and Society is mandated to speak truth to power and advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. We are actively advocating for youthful offenders for a juvenile justice system that will protect them from adult offenders in jails and prisons. We are actively opposing prison privatization as a public safety priority. We continue to speak out against police misconduct and discrimination.

The Church needs to understand that our ministry is with prisoners, crime victims, and their families and the community at large. This encompasses a concern for the entire criminal justice system, especially persons employed within the structure of that system. The ministry of the church is both pastoral and prophetic, seeking both to heal those who have been wounded and to transform those structures that inflict those wounds.

Bill and Pam Ziering
831-250-7921
For The Least Of Us

AWAKEN AMERICA

    
February 26, 2009                        

OUR MISSION

To identify, actively nurture, and support families of an incarcerated member

To link with active ministries and organizations toward:

o Reconciling families

o Transforming hearts through Christ

o Assisting in the provision of skills and services sufficient to help break the revolving door of recidivism

o Welcoming the whole family as members into Christ’s body, the church

                 

Why be bothered with prison ministry?


 2.700,000 men/women in prison
10,000,000 more in jail
7,000,000 on probation/paro
10% children in America has a parent in the "system"


No other country in the world competes with these numbers. How America defines crime, and deals with it is unique among both the civilized world and the emerging nations. Here, inmates are herded into vastly overcrowded cell blocks, deprived of all civil rights, excluded from any rehabilitative training, and ultimately released with only a prayer to make it successfully back into the competitive world. Is it any wonder the rate of recidivism is now approaching 70%? Some have likened incarceration to a postgraduate program for criminal behavior. How well does this square with America being as the ethical leader of the civilized world?
  
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A LETTER RECEIVED TODAY


 Hello Bill and Pam, 


Thanks for your kind message.  I am the chaplain among some eleven hundred inmates, many of whom will be released directly from here or go on to State prison, where they might serve a term of a year or two. All of which is simply to agree with your observation. Most of the people we incarcerate will be back in our communities sooner or later.  And yes, the public seems blissfully forgetful of this.


As there is not that much direct community involvement with prisoners themselves, the other good task people like yourselves set yourselves to is ministry with, support of the outside families.  You fill one of the crying evils of our County, perhaps of our State--a near-total lack of transitional services, job assistance, ex-con and family housing.

At the County Jail level, the chief goal of Command staff is to keep inmates safe and secure, rather than rehabilitated, while they wait for their trials to unfold, generally very slowly.  Some will end by being acquitted of their charges, too, and freed.  As you probably know, there is almost no public money for inmate Program for them, while they wait unsentenced.  They will see very few civilians inside the Jail; all of them service people of one sort or another--nurses, parole officers, rehabilitation counselors, the chaplain. 


The sole exception are the ministry volunteers, whose task is to conduct worship in one form or another once a week for the many separate housing units here, for while in Custody (as opposed to State prison) we may not call together large general groups for worship. We cannot, for instance, call together all the Muslim or Jewish or Catholic inmates for their own worship services, because the inmates are separated into housing units, and kept apart on purpose, as seems most prudent to the safety officers.


So, I may applaud and give the God-speed to what you all are doing for the least of these. I don't see many places where our specific goals are going to overlap, although of course we share many of their general goals--especially to reconcile their spiritual health and well-being with the grim fact of their incarceration.  For they must and despite all factors,  become whole men and whole women,  in good repute and in ill repute, still called into relationship with their creator, carrying the image of that Creator,  and considered as having nothing, yet in truth possessing everything.


The Rev. Cynthia Montague
Chaplain, Monterey County Jail
Salinas, California
(831) 755-3890                   39cmont27@sbcglobal.net

 And was Jerusalem built indeed,among those dark satanic mills
      

The Government sequesters inmates and blind us to its practices. Our intention is to make visible the process through newsletters, forums, and conversation Society cannot afford a system that does not provide reconciliation and restoration, tears apart families, and consequently will promote further destructive behavior. Correction will not happen at once or globally; it starts at the local level, with our reaching out in the character of Jesus to those who cry out in their pain. Are we not to love one another just as He loved us? 
                                            
Bill Ziering Ziering@pacbell.net
831-250-7921  In His service

February 7, 2009 7th edition

In his sermon this week, Pastor Rick Duncan saluted the many groups in our church who reach out to service those in our community who are in need. Their model? Jesus Christ. Their reward? The joy of giving!

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:28)

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“Jillian Antonucci is with us. She joined the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Program. That's a program that exists in order to help a child whose parent may be or has been in prison. It's a great program, by the way.

“She takes time out from attending Grove City College in Pennsylvania to mentor Brianna Morris, whose father and mother have both been in prison. I asked her, I said, ‘Well, how did you get involved with the program?’ She said, ‘The first thing is I prayed and asked for guidance from the Almighty.’ It's kind of an interesting way to become inspired, isn't it? Matter of fact, it is the basis of many faith-based programs—matter of fact, it's the basis of all faith-based programs.

“Brianna was suffering from depression. But Jillian, as a result of her love and desire to help, has watched this young lady become someone who is laughing and more open, somebody who has set goals. Interestingly enough, the goal: she either wants to be a basketball player or a computer technician. If your jump shot doesn't work, go computers. But we want to thank you both for being here. Thank you for coming. Please stand up and be recognized for your good work.”

President George W. Bush, Helping America’s Youth Initiative. April 1, 2008

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TESTIMONIALS

We are glad your Christmas was a blessing with your family.
We have made 2 contacts with our prison ministry family, and have set up times twice a month for small visits with them. We pray the Lord will give us just the right words to use when we meet with them. Much Love and Care, Karen and Kylee Keeven

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We brought gifts to Junior and included some to his half sister and for mom. The family is very nice, cordial, and very young. Mother is only 23. Her current husband is battling cancer. She is, very petite and lovely, works at the Asilomar front desk. It seems she may not be attending a church at this time. She knows, and will be reminded, that we will encourage their faith in Christ. So, a good start. Ann is very encouraged, and the kids are gems, the way the Lord does. There is an extended family around them, grandma, cousins, uncles and aunts, so while life is not real easy, there is plenty of support. Ron and Ann Kihara

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Just this week, the Joan Orchard bible study group celebrated a get together with their adopted family with a pot luck luncheon. The mom without prompting, gave an update, expressed her heartfelt gratitude to one and all, and asked for continued prayers for her family of six. There were few dry eyes in the room. All were struck how God was using this family for His glory, for now she too is ministering to another woman caught up in the legal system.

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In His service

WHAT'S OUR MISSION?

FOR THE LEAST OF US, Inc
A Prison Ministry

 

Our mission is two-fold:
To identify, actively nurture, and support families of an incarcerated member

To link with the active prison ministries and organizations towards

 Reconciling families

• Transforming hearts through Jesus Christ
• Assisting in the provision of skills and services sufficient to help break the revolving door of recidivism
• Welcoming the whole family as members into Christ's body, the church