The LOCK Ministry: Newsletter Issue 3

The LOCK Ministry: Newsletter Issue 3 (7/20/2020)

The LOCK Ministry / Potter’s Hands Prison Ministries

Covid-19

Corona Virus has been changing the world. Based on statistics at the end of June, 2020, over 11 million people got infected and over 500,000 people lost lives. It’s been a few months already since students stopped attending schools and Christians stopped worshipping together in worship halls. California State announced that all jail and prison visits would be banned temporarily on March 14 this year. Our team has not been able to meet together for our jail/prison ministries. We have not seen any inmates more than four months now. Our ministry relies heavily on face to face communications with inmates through regular visitations to the jails and prisons. Our ministry team meets at least every Saturday, not only for the visitation of inmates, but also for fellowship and for a time of prayer. You can understand why we felt that our ministry was completely suspended from that date forward. It is only through God’s special grace that we were able to continue our ministry even better than before this difficult period.

While we cannot meet with inmates face to face, we relied on written communications through regular mail. Actually, fellowship through postal mail has the advantage of deeper heart connection. We have once again experienced that God works in mysterious ways and His ways are truly higher than ours. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) We believe that our relationship with the inmates became stronger during this pandemic season. Two inmates we meet with regularly contracted COVID-19. One completely recovered, and we trust that the other brother is on the road to recovery as well.

Inside this issue

COVID-19................................................................1
LOVE Ministry.....................................................2
Jail/Prison Visits................................................2
LEARN Ministry.................................................2
P1 PROJECT.........................................................2
Mt. Zion School of Theology....................4
LIVE Ministry.......................................................4
U-TURN For Christ..........................................4
The LOCK Community.................................4
The Potter's House..........................................5
Gate Money..........................................................6

LOVE Ministry - Love Of Christ’s Kingdom

Jail/Prison Visits

During the last 6 months, we have exchanged an extraordinary amount of letters with inmates from both prisons and jails. Due to the fact that prisons are located further, and visitations are allowed only for certain days, we usually exchange more letters with prison inmates than with jail inmates. During the COVID-19 shutdown period, however, we had to utilize letters even for jail inmates. Letter writing is not an easy task for our ministry members since we are mostly first generation immigrants. As we wrote letters to inmates, however, we were able to spend more time thinking about them and in prayers for them. Written communications stay with us for a long time, and we can revisit them by reading their letters as often as we want. We also can keep track of their spiritual growth as we witness their changes firsthand.

LEARN Ministry- Learn on Christ’s Kingdom

P1 PROJECT

Brother I of Susanville Prison has brought many joyful moments to us. He has been particularly excelling in reading the Scriptures. He was incarcerated in May of last year. He has already finished reading the whole Bible, and he recently started the second round. He confessed recently that he would not have read the whole Bible if he was not locked up. As David confessed, he was able to say, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71) We also provided inmates with a total of 184 devotional books. (Living Life : 64, Today : 120) The P1 PROJECT started to grow rapidly during the last 6 months. P1 stands for Psalm chapter 1 where it says the Blessed is the one who delights and meditates on the Word of God day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2) We also know that “the word of God is alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12) It will penetrate souls and spirits and eventually change the lives of the readers.

We pay $1 for each chapter of Scripture written correctly by inmates. We provide $40 initially to the ones who make a commitment to start the P1 PROJECT for the supplies such as papers, envelopes and stamps. We used to provide spending money for the inmates based on their needs and requests, but now they are actually earning money by their hard work which gives them a feeling of accomplishment. More than 26 inmates are now participating. They have completed over 1,700 chapters and we have sent out more than $3,000.

Orange County

Brother J at the OC Jail finished all 27 books of the New Testament, along with the books from Psalms through Malachi. It’s 654 chapters total and we have sent $703 to him by the end of June. Upon his request, we have been sending money to his family instead of sending money to him. He obviously does not need hundreds of dollars in jail, and he feels much more rewarded by being able to make money for his family while he is incarcerated in jail. He had been a burden to his family, but now he is making money for his family. Besides Brother J, we have 3 additional inmates participating in the P1 PROJECT.

Norco Prison

Norco Prison has the most participants in the P1 PROJECT. Brother J has finished the whole New Testament (total 260 chapters) He is also the oldest participant. Brother D has been in the P1 PROJECT only for two months, but he is about to finish all of the New Testament. He is also the main reason for the high participant rate in Norco Prison. He has been encouraging many inmates to participate in the P1 PROJECT within in the Norco Prison. He confessed that he is spending more than half of his waking moments for the P1 PROJECT. He made a clear commitment to finish the whole Bible and we believe it is very possible based on his track record. There are 6 more inmates participating in the P1 PROJECT besides Brother D in the Norco Prison.

Susanville Prison

Brother I started the P1 PROJECT along with Brother T in the Susanville Prison. We understand that Brother I has enough monetary support from his family. But he has been working closely with Brother T who is a new Christian, and encouraging him to continue the P1 PROJECT. They both have finished the book of Matthew, Mark and Luke so far. He is an inspirational character not only to Brother T there, but also to us as he brings many great testimonies through his P1 PROJECT.

Vacaville Prison

Brother J has been incarcerated for 20 years. We were introduced to him by his parents last year. We have introduced the P1 PROJECT to him recently and he has already finished the books of John, Proverbs, Romans and a portion of the book of Psalms. We feel grateful to him because he brought out two other inmates to the P1 PROJECT, and they have been working together, encouraging each other.

Los Angeles Jails

Brother J went into the LA jail last December. He has been heavily involved in drugs before incarceration, and we were not sure if he could perform the P1 PROJECT. To our surprise, however, he sent in one of the cleanest and the most accurate writings to us. Moreover he plays a great leadership role within the LA jail, introducing other people to the P1 PROJET. There are 2 more participants of the P1 PROJECT within LA jail. Unfortunately, he told us that he has contracted COVID-19 recently. We pray that he may recover quickly and be able to continue the P1 PROJECT he started.

Corcoran Prison

Brother B suffered from ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) from an early age. In addition, he had been addicted to drugs for many years. He was not able to write a letter longer than 2 paragraphs. We have been recommending him to start the P1 PROJECT for a few months now, without receiving any response. All of a sudden, 4 thick envelopes arrived one day. He finished the whole book of John in 93 pages of neat hand writing. It was one of the most precious moments we experienced over the P1 PROJECT. We pray that he may continue his commitment and that the Holy Spirit may intervene in his life for a new beginning. There is also additional brother who started participating in the P1 PROJECT at this location. We pray that P1 PROJECT expand to include more people and facilities.

Mt. Zion School of Theology

We have been praying for the start of a theological school at the prison facility. At the end of last year, we signed a MOU(Memorandum of Understanding) with the Mt. Zion Church of Ontario, our sponsor church. It is in conjunction with the ADVANCE program of Gateway Seminary. Dr. Key Han has been serving as the director and the new registrar is Ms. Nina Traylor. Gateway Seminary offered the ADVANCE Expo on January 16 through 17 on the Ontario campus. A number of ministers and volunteers participated in the training session. At this juncture, however, it is not yet determined if we may be able to start the Fall semester, 2020 due to the ongoing crisis of the COVID-19.

LIVE Ministry - Live Out Christ’s Kingdom

U-TURN For Christ

People with lingering drug addition problems even after the jail/prison terms are recommended to stay in rehabilitation programs. While there are hundreds of rehabilitation facilities available in California, the success rate has not been quite satisfactory. We visited World Cross Missions that is located in Yeoju, South Korea last year, and we learned that it has a good success rate for drug rehabilitation even for people from the United States. We have been recommending the World Cross Missions to the second generation Korean immigrants with addiction problems.

We are prepared to support certain expenses such as air fare to Korea, if they choose to enter World Cross Missions. Since the COVID-19 crisis made it difficult for anyone to travel internationally at this time, we have been recommending people with rehabilitation needs to UTurn for Christ as an alternative. The U-Turn for Christ is a nationwide rehabilitation organization that has an operating principle based on the faith in Jesus Christ. It requires participants to pay $1,000 for every two months of their stay. We have provided a portion of the expenses for certain people who cannot afford the fee. Recently, Brother W and Brother J, who were released from the Orange County Jail, stayed at the U-Turn for Christ for a while, and we supported a portion of their expenses.

The LOCK Community

Due to the COVID-19 situations, some inmates were allowed to be released earlier than expected. Certain jail inmates were released without bail before the court date with only a simple signed promise. It’s called the O.R. Release (Own Recognizance) Also the arrest rate for offenders has been significantly reduced. We recognized that we need to put more resources and attention into the welfare of those who have been released from incarceration. We have been constantly in touch with approximately 15 people with encouraging words from the Bible daily, and sometimes with telephone calls. The following individuals have been worth noting for the fellowship we had with them during the last six months.

Brother J is 28 years old. He had been incarcerated in jails before. He also had been under a bad drug habit for a while. But, he was able to clean up his life completely by the grace of God. He has been attending a Bible college, and working as an apprentice carpenter . He is also serving as a cell group leader in his church. He started an online business, dealing with children’s toys. Recently, one of our supporters donated 500 masks to our ministry, and Brother J was able to sell them through his online business to help our ministry. He made a commitment to donate 5% of his monthly income to help our ministry and has already made three donations so far. Brother D is 29 years old and has been struggling with drug addiction for a while, until he made a commitment to get rid of the bad habit completely. He enrolled at a community college in the spring semester this year. He also started as a delivery person part-time, but now he works for Federal Express full time. He enjoys his work and he has been building his self-esteem through these accomplishments. He sent in a $100 donation from his first full time wage to our ministry. Our ministry is sustained thanks to the donations from our supporters, but it is especially rewarding to see donations coming from the people we cared for. We have some other people out of jail settling down steadily, such as Brother J, who started working for a medical supply distributor, and Brother S who is preparing a barbecue grill cleaning business. We were able to meet with them through Zoom meetings during the COVID -19 lockdown.

We met Brother P at the LA Pitchess Detention Center early this year. He was released and stayed at his parents home for a few days. He was planning to enter the Rehab program in the Los Angeles area, but we lost contact with him abruptly. Some people do not have home to go back to, and others may not be able to stay with the family members with various reasons. Brother P had been very diligent with the P1 PROJECT, and was planning to start his life anew. We believe, however, he was not able to find a place where he can be mentored properly while preparing to enter into the job market. Unfortunately, we were not able to provide a safe place for Brother P and we feel at a loss since we don’t know where Brother P might be right now. He probably is moving from one friend to another, still under the heavy influence of drugs. We need to start Potter’s House, where we can house people like Brother P so that people out of jails/prisons may find a home where they can begin in the road to complete recovery and re-entry into society.

The Potter’s House

The Potter’s House requires a building where we can house 6 to 10 people initially. It is estimated that we need $3,500 to lease a 3 to 4 bedroom house and $4,500 for utility, meals and other expenses. If we choose to purchase a house it may require a similar monthly expense in addition to a down payment of approx. $200,000. Until we raise enough funds for the Potter’s House, we may need to recommend a rehabilitation place such as U-Turn for Christ, and we may need to utilize the World Cross Missions in Korea if he is allowed to make an international trip. It is a painful experience watching a person out of incarceration wandering around, since he has no place to go. We view the establishment of the Potter’s House as our ministry priority.

Gate Money

When a person is released from California prison, he is given $200 in a prepaid debit card. It’s called “Gate Money.” The Gate Money is for the minimum expense needed for a released prisoner to arrive at his home town or the place he would start his new life. For a person who has family, the Gate Money may be enough needed for the transition. When he does not have a family to go back to, however, $200 can cover only a short-time period. When the Potter’s House is established, we can just bring the person into the safe hands of the Potter’s House. Until such time the Potter’s House is ready, we may have to provide the person released from jails and prisons with sufficient means to survive and help them find a place to stay. We have provided some financial support to Brother S and Brother P to help them to settle down. Since we don’t have enough experience or precedence, we are not sure what is the proper amount of help we can provide at this time. As we continue to build cases and obtain experiences, we should be able to provide adequate support for the people coming out of incarceration.

Prayer Requests

1. Pray that many lives of inmates, and those released from jail/ prison may be impacted and changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. Pray that the Holy Spirit touches many lives who do the P1 PROJECT.

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

4. Pray that we may raise full financial support for the building of The Potter’s House.

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