Welcome to New Directions Ministries
Our Beginning Photo

Who We Are

We Are Humble Heroes led by the spirit of Christ to give of our time and talents to inmates and the elderly.

Humble Heroes, Thank You!

What We Do

We are an inter-denominational Prison Ministry that seeks to serve God by reaching the lost, wherever they may be with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By training loving Christian volunteers (Humble Heroes) to go into facilities and teach and preach God's everlasting love to prisoners and their families.
Our Beginning Photo

Our Beginning

The story of our beginning traces back to a gentleman from the Detroit area whose name was Ronnie Coon. Mr. Coon was a member of the Purple Gang in Detroit and had been to prison twice by 1948. In 1948 he drove to Lansing, Michigan and robbed a bank. The police caught him and he was lodged in the city jail that night. His testimony was that as he was in the jail that night, he was kicking raging and cussing. As the night wore on he said there was a book laid on his bunk open and there was part of a page that had a red neon pulsing lighted area. Ronnie said he would ignore it while he was kicking raging and cussing but finally he became curious enough walk over and look at the book which was a Bible and he tried to figure out where the light was coming from shining on that page.

He looked out the narrow window in the wall and then to a narrow window in the door and could see no cause of the lighted area so he picked it up and read, "for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever would believe in him would have eternal life." He realized he held a miracle in his hand and laid face down on the floor and invited God into his life. Ronnie said that every time he started to get up he would remember more sin and crime and that night totally gave his life to God. His wife Ruby was home while this was happening and had been praying for Ronnie's salvation.

He went to prison for the third time from 1949 to 1954, took correspondence courses in Bible topics and became a student of the Bible and a follower of Christ. In 1954 he moved his family to Lansing, Michigan. A neighbor invited them to attend Mount Hope Church.

In 1984, he began the prison ministry program at the Eaton County Jail and at the Ingham County Jail.

What we do as a ministry: we train individuals how to function as volunteers with integrity for the love of the Lord God to flow through their lives. We teach men and women how to operate within policies of state and county and other institutions and then help them get opportunities to serve through assignments such as offering church services, Bible studies, topical studies and mentoring opportunities.

You may want to assist with our Pen Pal ministry and volunteering in our offices to assist in administrative functions. An important part of this ministry is gathering donated Christian materials such as Bibles, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, etc. We ship materials to chaplains and administrators in facilities both in Michigan and other states. Volunteers often take shipments of materials with them to a facility is to help us save shipping costs.

Volunteers serve in state prisons, county jails and youth offender facilities. We train people to function as mentors both inside facilities and to the returnees coming back into the public sector and rejoining their families. There are many opportunities of different types for people to serve. Our Lord Jesus Christ stated in Matthew, chapter 25, "I was in prison and you visited me." He did not say you visited them, he said you visited me and his presence is there for the people.

Humble Heroes Testimonies

  • An Inmate In California
  • Pen Pal Program Participant
During this lock down we received a phone call from an inmate in California who we had been writing to several times a month. Through our correspondence and reading the books from Pastor Dave Williams and Pastor Kevin Berry he had received Jesus as his Savior. He told me that he had been a Muslim and had found his Messiah in Jesus. Because of this his family had disowned him and he had no one to call with his once a week free call provided by the California Department of Corrections. He had found our phone number in a book he had read with our address in it and called us. Even though we aren't in the office every day, because of the shut down, we were here that day and I was able to talk to this gentleman. He relayed how lonely it was with no contact from his family but how much he looked forward to the letters we wrote to him in response to his letters. He told me that he had been able to connect with other Christians in the prison he was in and that he was growing closer to Jesus every day. I was able to pray with him and to urge him to pray for his family's salvation. About a week later we received a letter from him thanking us for talking to him and for the prayers. He also stated that he was now praying fervently for his family to receive Jesus and to be freed from the bondage they were in.
A lady who corresponded in the pen pal program over the last three years. She received Christ as her personal Savior through the pen pal program. Here is what she wrote: "Thank you for leading me to the Lord Jesus Christ through your letters. I have learned to walk a beautiful past in the right direction toward Christ. I am addicted to Jesus more than I was ever addicted to drugs or drink. I know I will have to stay close to Jesus when I am released next April or May but I wake up everyday to a clean slate because of what Jesus has done for me. I had the opportunity to talk to my 2 year old grand-daughter for the first time and was brought to tears when I heard her say "I love you Grandma"!! God is so good."

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