Our Vision
An Evolving Ministry
Just as we adapted to Covid by becoming a correspondence school, New Leaf is dedicated to following the leading of the Lord and trying to meet spiritual needs as we see them. Take a look at what we see for the short and long term future of our ministry.
ReEntry and Recidivism
In our work with the inmate population, we're realizing that leading inmates to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is only part of the job. Beyond that lies consecration. If a life is to really be saved from the cycle of crime and incarceration, that life must be consecrated to God. Therein lies the primary job and focus of New Leaf Inmate Ministries.
A common criticism of prison converts is that they "leave Jesus at the door" when they get out. We’ve presented the Gospel, led them to the Lord and given them a Firm Foundation to build their life on. But are we leaving them as they walk out the door? What’s life going to be like for that person after walking through those doors back to the outside?​​​ Our future vision for New Leaf is to address the issues that our students face after their release.
Leading Families to Christ
At New Leaf, our goal is to further our work with inmate families. We want to make sure they know the Lord. We've started the Inmate Family Outreach program to provide support to family members with loved ones behind bars. We’re also launching a program to make sure Bible studies are available for all members of an inmate’s family. In order to increase the chances that an inmate will stay connected with the Lord, they need to come home to a family that’s walking the same walk.
Facing Addictions
We also teach people that we’re not nearly as concerned about their addictions to drugs or alcohol as we are about their addiction to their old lifestyle. Unless we do all that we can to provide a loving, accepting, secure place for them to return to, they’ll go straight back to that old lifestyle. So we're working on gathering information about other reentry programs which we can recommend to those who need them.
Connecting to Churches
We need to quickly get our newly released students into a church or Christian fellowship that will accept them, love them and include them as part of that church’s family. We are also working on creating connections with churches that support what we are trying to do and who we can trust to reccommend to our students.
Recommended Resources
We’re developing partnerships with other local re-entry programs dedicated to helping find jobs, housing, and jobs. We look forward to a day when we can successfully create a pipeline to connect alumni from our courses to the programs and resources they need when they are released
A welcoming Christian fellowship group whose goal is to create a new circle for a new life.
