Koinonia House National Ministries Inc

OUR MISSION IS TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN INMATE AND THE LOCAL CHURCH BY FACILITATING THE INTEGRATION OF THE FORMER INMATE INTO THE CHURCH, WORKPLACE, AND SOCIETY THROUGH BIBLICAL DISCIPLESHIP.

MEET ME AT THE GATE: SINCE 1997, KHM HAS WORKED WITH CHURCHES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INDIVIDUALS IN MINISTERING TO CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS COMING OUT OF PRISON FOR WHOM NO FAMILY-HOME-BASED PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE. SINCE 2008, IT HAS WORKED THROUGH ITS AFFILIATE, KOINONIA HOUSE OF WHEATON (KHW), TO PROVIDE CHRISTIAN MEN COMING FROM PRISON A RESIDENTIAL FAMILY-HOME-BASED DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM. KHW TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED ITS RESIDENTIAL MINISTRY TO MEN IN 2020, BUT CONTINUES TO PROVIDE HOUSING TO TWO FEMALES WHO HAVE BEEN INCARCERATED. IN 2021, KHM/KHW ASSISTED 12 INDIVIDUALS WITH RE-ENTRY ISSUES. RADICAL TIME OUT (RTO) MET 48 TIMES IN 2021, WITH AN AVERAGE OF 62 PEOPLE PER MEETING GATHERING (IN PERSON OR VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING) FOR PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE LOVE AND GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST, REGARDLESS OF COLOR, CLASS, CULTURE, CRISIS OR CRIME. A HIGHLIGHT WAS WELCOMING HOME BOB, A FORMER REGULAR AT RTO, AFTER HE COMPLETED OVER TWO YEARS IN PRISON. THE RTO COMMUNITY COMMISSIONED BOB TO BE ITS MISSIONARY BEHIND BARS BEFORE HE LEFT. ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT WAS PACKING 1,200 GIFT BAGS FOR INMATES IN THREE PRISONS IN LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI. THE GIFT BAGS CONTAINED NECESSITIES LIKE TOOTHPASTE, TOOTHBRUSHES, SOAP, AND SOCKS, ALONG WITH A BOOKLET CONTAINING THE GOSPEL.

BUILDING BRIDGES, RESTORING HOPE: EXPENSES COVER ACTIVITIES SUCH AS HELPING FAMILIES OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS, EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ON THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE RETURNING TO SOCIETY FROM PRISON, AND MINISTERING TO DONOR FAMILIES. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT AS PRISONS AND JAILS CONTINUED IN 2021 TO BE ON LOCKDOWN DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, MAKING COMMUNICATION WITH INCARCERATED LOVED ONES DIFFICULT. IN 2021, KHM STAFF MINISTERED TO 49 INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SETTINGS. KHM STAFF ALSO SPOKE/TAUGHT AT 22 SERVICES IN 10 CHURCHES AND 2 ORGANIZATIONS, A PODCAST PROGRAM, AND A RADIO PROGRAM. HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR INCLUDE WORKING WITH OFFICIALS FROM THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND CHICAGOLAND'S HIGHPOINT CHURCH TO DEVELOP A CHURCH PLANT IN STATEVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTER, LAUNCHING OUR NEW WEBSITE (WWW.KOINONIAHOUSE.ORG), AND PROMOTING THE NEED FOR MINISTRY TO THE INCARCERATED THROUGH TWO ARTICLES IN THE CHRISTIAN POST. ONE WAS TITLED "KOINONIA HOUSE BRINGS GOSPEL HOPE TO FORGOTTEN PRISONERS AMID COVID LOCKDOWNS"(HTTPS://WWW.CHRISTIANPOST.COM/NEWS/CHRISTIAN-MINISTRY-BRINGS-GOSPEL-HOPE-TO-FORGOTTEN-PRISONERS.HTML) AND THE OTHER, ""PRISONERS LIVE WITH FEAR AND ANXIETY AS PRISONS KEEP VOLUNTEER MINISTERS OUT DURING COVID-19" (HTTPS://WWW.CHRISTIANPOST.COM/NEWS/PRISONERS-FACE-ANXIETY-AS-MINISTRIES-KEPT-OUT-DURING-COVID-19.HTML). THREE WEEKLY BIBLE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED FOR FIVE WOMEN WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY INCARCERATION AND/OR INTERACTION WITH THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN SOME FORM.

IN-PRISON MINISTRIES: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CONTINUED TO DISRUPT MINISTRY INSIDE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES FOR MOST OF 2021, MAKING THE 11 SERVICES WE WERE ABLE TO CONDUCT AND/OR PARTICIPATE IN AT 8 PRISONS ALL THE MORE SPECIAL, ESPECIALLY A CHRISTMAS SERVICE AT STATEVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTER -- THE FIRST ORGANIZED SERVICE THE INMATES HAD SINCE MARCH 2020. IT WAS A PRIVILEGE TO MINISTER IN FACILITIES IN ILLINOIS, NEBRASKA AND TENNESSEE. GOD OUR FATHER SURPRISED US, HOWEVER, BY MORE THAN DOUBLING OUR MINISTRY AT THE DUPAGE COUNTY JAIL. THE CEO ALONE MADE 171 VISITS WITH 25 INDIVIDUALS AT THE DUPAGE COUNTY JAIL, AND DEVELOPED A TEAM OF FIVE VOLUNTEERS WHO ALSO MADE VISITS AT THE JAIL. RADICAL TIME OUT ATTENDEES SIGNED CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR 100 INMATES AND 110 INMATE LETTERS WERE RESPONDED TO IN 2021.

RADICAL PRAYER INITIATIVE: PERSISTENT AND POWERFUL PRAYER IS OUR MINISTRY. WE DESIRE FOR ALL BELIEVERS (BOTH INCARCERATED AND NOT) TO COME INTO A DEEPER AND RICHER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD OUR FATHER, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH PRAYER THAT IS EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (LUKE 11:1-13). AS WE GROW IN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S RADICAL LOVE FOR US, WE WILL THEN GROW IN RADICAL LOVE FOR OTHERS, INCLUDING THOSE WHO ARE INCARCERATED, IN CRISIS, AND/OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS. OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES HOLDS A MONTHLY PRAYER CONFERENCE CALL AS WELL AS REGULARLY MEETING IN GROUPS OF TWO OR THREE TO BRING MINISTRY-RELATED REQUESTS AND PRAISES BEFORE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. A GROUP OF FATHERS GATHERS EACH WEDNESDAY (IN PERSON AND VIA TELECONFERENCING) TO PRAY FOR THEIR CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH THE PANDEMIC CONTINUED TO HINDER US FROM CONDUCTING MULTI-DAY PRAYER CONFERENCES WITHIN PRISONS, WE WERE ABLE TO CONDUCT AND/OR PARTICIPATE IN PRAYER EVENTS AT SEVERAL CHURCHES. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE PARTICIPATING IN "THE PRAYER EXPERIENCE" AT CALVARY CHAPEL LAS VEGAS IN MARCH 2021, THE GOSPEL RESCUE MISSION FELLOWSHIP'S ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN JUNE 2021, A VIRTUAL MEETING WITH A MISSIONARY TEAM IN ITALY TO DISCUSS THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH KHM'S BOOK "RADICAL PRAYER," AND A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP -- CONDUCTED IN SPANISH -- FOR ATTENDEES FROM SEVERAL STATES AND A FEW COUNTRIES. ONE CHURCH REPORTED THAT REGULAR PRAYER MEETINGS BEGAN AS A RESULT OF KHM'S THREE DAYS OF MINISTRY WITH THEM.