The LOCK Ministry: Newsletter Issue 2

The LOCK Ministry: Newsletter Issue 2 (1/29/2020)

The LOCK Ministry / Potter’s Hands Prison Ministries

Inside this issue

Mt. Zion School of Theology.....................1
LOVE Ministry.....................................................2
Jail/Prison Visits................................................2
LEARN Ministry.................................................2
P1 PROJECT..........................................................2
School of Theology..........................................3
LIVE Ministry........................................................4
Deportee Ministry............................................4
World Cross Missions.....................................4
The Potter's House..........................................5
The LOCK Communities..............................5
KAM Chorale Performance........................6
Media........................................................................6

Mt. Zion School of Theology

Finally we will be starting a school of theology for the Prison inmates. Mt. Zion Church of Ontario became the sponsoring church of our school. Mt. Zion Church of Ontario is a church with approx. 600 Sunday worship attendance. Pastor Brian Kennedy, Sr. is the senior pastor. He used to be the Director of Prison Fellowship for Southern California and has tremendous experiences in prison ministries. The church membership includes current staff of prisons and they will be great assets for initiating communications with local prisons. We initially named the school the Potter’s School of Theology, and we have renamed it as the Mt. Zion School of Theology. Now the school offers classes not only to the Prison inmates but also local church members. We are planning to open our school in the Fall semester, 2020. We provide ADVANCE Certificates, ADVANCE Diplomas and ADVANCE Leadership Diplomas in conjunction with Gateway Seminary in Ontario, California.

LOVE Ministry- Love of Christ’s Kingdom

Jail/Prison Visits

During last 6 months, we have visited Orange County Jails every Saturday and sometimes Mondays and Fridays as well. Main jails we visited in Orange County are TLF(Theo Lacy Facility), CMS(Central Men’ Jail) and IRC(Intake and Release Center). We have also visited inmates in California Prisons. We have been sending Bibles, and other devotional books such as “Living Life”, and “Today.” We continue to write letters to the inmates to give them encouragements and hope. We also provide them with spending money as needed. We have been meeting with family members of the inmates frequently. They need comforts and other helps as they go through difficult times while incarcerated. We have been also helping inmates to get connected with appropriate resource in preparation of their court trials. Recently a public defender of one inmate in the Orange County jail requested letters from the friends and family members of the inmate to ask leniency on his sentence. We have collected, interpreted into English and forwarded 17 letters to the attorney. They can be very useful in reducing the final sentencing from the judge.

LEARN Ministry - Learn On Christ’s Kingdom

P1 PROJECT

One of the ministries we do for the inmates of jails and prisons is providing spending money. It ranges from $20 to $40 and even $200 in rare cases. and the inmates can use the money to buy some hygiene needs such as tooth brush/paste, shampoo and sometimes they go to commissary to buy slippers, sandwiches and coffees. On occasion we provided $200 for some prisoners. Most of the time we don’t know how they spend money. Recently we found out one inmate at State Prison was still using drugs frequently.

We expect that the jails and prisons are without illegal drugs, but unfortunately we learn that drugs are still available to inmates. When we talked to the parents of the inmate, we were told that they are sending $150 monthly and the inmate has been using that money to purchase the drug. The fact indicates that the spending money we provide can be used by inmates to purchase drugs. P1 PROJECT LOVE Ministry—Love Of Christ’s Kingdom Jail / Prison Visits LEARN Ministry—Learn On Christ’s Kingdom Theo Lacy Facility Saturday Jail Visit Team Mule Creek Prison Devotional Books For Inmates After a serious consideration, the parents decided to stop sending money to their son. The inmate usually does not write letters back to us, and he does not show any appreciation for our visit even though we need to drive more than 6 hours one way to visit him. As he learned that his parents would not send him any spending money, he started writing letters back to us asking politely another visit to him at prison and also send some spending money for him. That’s when we came up with an idea of “Commissary For Bible Writing.”

When an inmate writes Scriptures on the paper, he would be paid for his work. For now we pay $1 for a chapter of Bible writing. For example he can get $21 when he finishes writing the whole Book of John since John has 21 chapters. If an inmate agrees to endeavor this project we send $20 just for the preparation. With $20 he can buy paper, envelopes and stamps since he has to send his writings as a proof of his work. Later we changed the name to P1 PROJECT. P1 stands for Psalm chapter 1. Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” P1 PROJECT has the following benefits: 1) We did not have any set criteria for giving money to inmates so far.

P1 PROJECT provides one legitimate way of supporting inmates with money which can show Jesus’ Love. 2) Inmates have a lot of time to waste. P1 PROJECT will allow them to use their time with a purpose and meaning. 3) We don’t give money as a charity any more. They get paid with as a wage for their work. We can call it the Holy Labor! 4) We admit that we can not change even one life. Only God can do that.

We are providing an opportunity to inmates which the Holy Spirit can minister to them. We are constantly praying for the inmates to get touched by the power of the Word of God. 5) We know many Christians including us experienced the power of the Word of God changing lives miraculously. We are waiting for the Holy Spirit work on the inmates as He did to us. P1 PROJECY also gives rewards for the memorization of Scriptures. Starting from the Psam chapter 1, we will give them certain bonus for the memorization of Bible verses. They can choose which verses they will memorize from the Bible verses they write on the paper.

School of Theology

As introduced at the first page of this newsletter, the Mt. Zion School of Theology will play major role for our LEARN Ministry. We have designated Connie Bennet, a long time member of the Mt. Zion Church of Ontario as our Registrar. Dr. Kon Yang, professor of Gate way Seminary and Pastor Min Lee, and Dr. Key Han were approved as instructors for the school. The Gateway Seminary in Ontario, CA provided an extensive seminar called ADVANCE Expo from January 16 & 17 teaching how to start and run the school. Mt. Zion Church will also start recruiting students for the local classes starting from Fall semester of 2020. We will concentrate for the next few months finding one or two prisons that are willing to start a school in their premise.

LIVE Ministry - Live Out Christ’s Kingdom

Deportee Ministry

When Korean immigrants without US citizenship serve more than one year term in prison, current US immigration laws require they get deported back to Korea. Every year hundreds of Korean immigrants get released from US prisons and deported back to Korea. Most of the time, they go through difficult time since they are not familiar with Korean culture and even with Korean language. We were in need of an organization which can help the deportees because we have been ministering prison inmates who were to be deported. Recently two people who were under our care have been deported back to Korea. Brother S has been under our care for almost 6 years in Orange County jails and in Chino Prison and was deported in June. Brother O was released from Texas Federal prison and get deported around the same time. He came to the United States when he was only 8 years old and he is 49 years old now. He speaks Korean, but has difficulties in reading and writing in Korean. Pastor Born Lee in Korea has been instrumental in helping them to settle in Korea. Pastor Born Lee himself was deported 14 years ago after serving 22 years in California prisons. He sensed God’s calling in Korea, finished seminary and became an ordained pastor serving deportees and prison inmates in Korea. Both brother S and brother O have been ministered by Pastor Born Lee. We will have more collaboration with Pastor Born Lee in ministering prison inmates and deportees.

Drug Rehab - World Cross Missions

The World Cross Missions is one of the most effective drug rehabilitation centers in Korea. It’s located at Yeoju, Gyeonggi-Do. They have been ministering the drug addicts, alcoholics and homeless for the last 31 years. It was founded by Pastor Il Kwon Ahn in 1989. Many found new lives through the World Cross Missions and at least 30 people became ordained as pastors. As Pastor Born Lee receives our deportees, he usually sends them to the World Cross Missions and works with them until they get settled in Korean society. There are many drug rehabilitation centers in United States. The Orange County alone has about 200 rehabs. Unfortunately their success rate of rehabilitation has not been that high. Daniel Kwon used be a gang member with drug addiction in Chicago, but he found a new life through the World Cross Missions, and he is now serving as an EM Pastor at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. We believe majority Korean second generation who are struggling with drug addictions may find a success in their drug rehabilitation through the World Cross Missions. We would like to utilize the World Cross Missions for the people we care until we can establish our own rehab organization, the Potter’s House.

The Potter’s House

We have been praying for a place where ex-convicts can start their new lives. It’s called the Potter’s House. We will provide them with a place to stay and also necessary disciple training and job training. It will be a community where they can share their faith and their journey to a new beginning. Actually we need two separate places for the purpose. We call first one, the Potter’s House-R. R stand for Rural. This will provide an isolated place probably at least one hour drive from the major metropolitan environments. It is a place where they can stay away from the drugs physically and go through a detoxication process. We may give them an opportunity to raise cattle or do some farming. The other facility is called the Potter’s House-U. U stand for Urban. As they build a healthy habit of clean life, they need to be trained to be assimilated to the society. It should be within the city environment where they can find jobs. The World Cross Missions in Korea also has tow places. The main location is in Yeoju, Geonggi-Do, but they also have an urban facility in Seoul. We have surveyed three potential locations for the Potter’s House-R. There was an opportunity for us to get a donation of an empty land of 5 acres in Phelan. It, however, did not fit for our purpose due to lack of water source. The other two locations we surveyed were in Lucerne Valley, and Aguanga. Both locations have plenty of water sources. We are looking for a place which has approximately 5 acres and a living quarter. We will be working to secure financial resources to secure the facility.

The LOCK Communities

All ex-felon need a faith community where they can build and grow their new lives. Brother H was released on June 30 last year after serving 21 years in California State Prisons. While he was in prisons, the Valley Korean United Methodist Church(Saturday Morning Prison Ministry) visited him frequently to encourage him in faith for 3 years. As soon as he was released, our team took over the care. Brother H started attending the Ambassador Church in Anaheim and was baptized in September 23. His application for getting US citizenship has been in process and he was also accepted as a cook at the restaurant Benihana. Brother Y was released on July 30 from the Susanville State Prison after serving 2 years. Brother L was also released from Norco Rehab Center after serving 2 years there. We have been meeting with Brother S and Brother Y who have been out of incarceration or trying to stop drug habit for quite some time. We know that they can not be successful on their own. They need a community where they can find friends in faith so that they can encourage each other to stay sober. Most of them have been successful so far, but we need to organize their efforts so that anyone who get released from jail and prison and also ones who have been trying to be away from temptations can join without any difficulties. We will support all spiritual and physical support for them. The LOCK Communities need to be growing with many successful stories.

KAM Chorale 14th Annual Performance

KAM(Korean American Master) Chorale is one of the most respected choirs in Southern California. On November 3, 2019, they had the 14th annual performance at the New Life Community Church in Artesia. They have been supporting Christian Mission organizations with offering they collect during the performance. They chose us as their supporting Mission organization and we became recipient of their support. Over 700 audience were present, and we prepared snacks for all audiences. We thank all volunteers who participated to help in our preparation of over 700 snack sets. We also would like to thank the Lord’s Light Community Church in Cypress, and the Korean Independent Presbyterian Church in Artesia for allowing us to use their kitchen facilities for preparation of snacks.

Media

GBC “TODAY”

On January 13, 2020 The LOCK Ministry was introduced through the “GBC TODAY” Program. You can watch again by clicking https://youtu.be/WAHNeoq1vKU

GBC “새롭게 하소서”

For 3 days from January 7, 2020, interviews with Pastor Key Young Han, President of The LOCK Ministry were aired. You can listen to the interview again by clicking http://www.kgbc.com/web/home/ch/37

Prayer Requests

1. Pray that all inmates’ lives may be impacted and changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. Pray that The LOCK Communities may be used mightily to change the lives of drug addicts.

3. Pray that we may raise full financial support for the building of The Potter’s House-R and the Potter’s House-U.

4. Pray for the successful launch of Mt. Zion School of Theology.