Reentry
The ministry needs here are quite vast. Here is the mission of this phase of the ministry: Match an inmate within 6 months of parole, to a sponsor/mentor within the church in the community where the inmate will be paroling. This accomplishes two things: the mentor has had a chance to get familiar with the parolee prior to parole, knowing the parolees issues, weaknesses and accountability needs. It also gives the parolee a warm contact and friend thereby easing the transition back into the community and church.
Here is the problem and challenge we face, as a rule: An inmate comes to Christ, paroles, attends church, gets shunned, never returns, feels Christians on the streets are a bunch of fakes and never returns to church. With out fellowship, mentorship and accountability the parolee begins to face struggles and turns to what they know best (prior criminal lifestyle) rather than turning to Christ in adversity. The “hommies” are right there to say “see, we told you those people don’t care. We’ve got your back…hang with us and you’ll be fine.”
You may say that this can’t be true. We don’t give you this from hearsay from disgruntled parolees; we watch it happen again and again.
It is our prayer that the Lord will touch many hearts to act and treat these men and women as He would. We pray that our churches will become a Bethesda.
