Ministry Opportunities

We lead worship services, teach bible studies, topical studies and lead inmates in prayer meetings with an average of 1,500 inmates per week!

Volunteer Assistant, Assist the Administrative Assistant by:

1. Keeping the Volunteer, Intercessor, and Chaplain list up to date by checking with the Executive Director and the Administrative Assistant for any corrections to the lists, then updating and printing the corrected lists.
   
2. Assist the Pen Pal Volunteer by printing the letters.
3. Help with mailing of quarterly schedules.
4. Coordinate the Ministry teams that do two day topical seminars at facilities all over the State.
5. Contact with both Jail and Michigan Department of Corrections Chaplains offering them the different topical studies.
6. Be available to help either the Executive Director or Administrative Assistant with any additional projects.

Our Pen-Pal's write to inmates here in Michigan and as far away as California and Florida each month. We respond to the inmates with encouraging words directly from the Word of God.

Pen Pal Volunteer:

1. Prayerfully respond to letters written by inmates and sent to New Directions, Inc.
2. Use the pseudonym Chris Johnson instead of your name and the address of New Directions, Inc.
3. Pen Pal letters maybe written in a loving manner to respond to this person.
4. We will teach you the policy guidelines to respond with integrity and clear purpose.
5. Retain a copy of the Pen Pal letter that we mailed with the letter we received to be placed in our filing system.
6. If a book is sent, write the title of the book in our response letter.

We collect and distribute Bibles, Christian DVD's, novels, enrichment book to Chaplains here in Michigan and all over the United States. In 2017 we shipped 35,035 lbs.

Shipping Volunteer:

1. Receive Christian books, tapes, DVD's, magazines etc.
2. Go through each piece of the materials checking for names, phone numbers, contraband, etc.
3. Contact Chaplain here in Michigan and across the Nation, volunteering to ship materials and Bibles to them free of charge.
4. Box and ship materials documenting the Chaplain, Facility, number of boxes and weight of the boxes being sent.
5. Be available to assist the Executive Director or Administrative Assistant with any additional projects.

We work with Prison Fellowship to provide gifts at Christmas to children of incarcerated parents.

Children of incarcerated parents are more than two time more likely to commit a crime than children who don't have and never did have a parent in prison. Our vision is to reach these at risk youth and give them a positive Christ Centered experience through camping and through the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Program.

Camping: We provide transportation as the 7 - 12 year olds attend a local camp for five days. We also provide scholarships for teens to attend 2 weekend retreats each year.

Angel Tree Christmas: Each fall we work with Prison Fellowship giving Christmas gifts to approximately 150 children of incarcerated parents who have requested gifts for their children. We contact the caregivers of the children getting the sizes, favorite colors and what kind of toy they want. We then wrap them and deliver them to the children just before Christmas.

Angel Tree Christmas and Camping Volunteer:

1. Collect information on Children of Incarcerated Parents from Prison Fellowship.
2. Set a delivery date and time of when we will deliver the gifts to give to the Caregivers of the children.
3. Develop a team of volunteers to contact by phone the Caregivers of the Children asking if they want to have the children participate and verifying the children's name, ages, sizes and any other information that will help provide the child with two gifts at Christmas.
4. Verify the Caregiver's contact information.
5. Set up the Angel Tree with Angels on it for the Congregation at Mount Hope Church to take and purchase the gifts and then return them fully wrapped to.
6. Verify that all gifts are received.
7. Pack all of the gifts for each family in one bag to aid in delivery.
8. On delivery day give all of the volunteers delivering the gifts a map to the different family's homes and include the pamphlets provided by Prison Fellowship with the Gospel message for each child.

Angel Tree Camping Volunteer:

1. Contact Youth Haven Ranch and the Youth Pastor at Mount Hope Church requesting the necessary forms needed for the Children of Incarcerated Parents to attend the camp or retreat.
2. Contact the Caregivers of Angel Tree Christmas children and ask if they are interested in sending the child or children to camp.
3. Send the Caregivers the forms needed to enroll the child/children in the camp and follow up to make sure they have received them and if they have any questions.
4. Arrange for transportation to take and retrieve the child/children from the camp.
5. Provide follow up information to the Executive Director or Administrative Director.

Chaplains request Christian music events on a regular basis for the inmate population. We schedule with Chaplains to present special events with Christian music groups from around the state to present the Gospel in music form.

Music is a gift from God. Music is designed to nurture the human spirit and it ministers to the soul of mankind with its message. Christian music reaches into the inner person with the message of God's love through the gift of His Son for humanity. Many men and women will attend a music event who won't go to a church service so this type program brings an audience who needs to hear and enjoy the spiritual message of God's love and salvation for mankind. Those who love the Lord are thrilled to have you give your musical message and appreciate the opportunity to listen and take part in your program.

We are seeking groups, quartets, single musicians or any mixture who may be willing to have us send them into a prison, jail, youth offender or nursing home facility. If you can offer a program even once or twice per year, that will be wonderful. We make all the arrangements for your entrance, programming and complete cycle so that you are comfortable and can enjoy your program. Please, consider the impact of your message of God?s love in your music and allow us to help you get the message out to others.

Musicians and interested persons may contact us for information at the ministry offices.

Music Volunteer:

1. Contact Chaplains asking them if and when they would like to have a music group at their facility.
2. Contact Music Teams asking them when they are available to go into the facilities and matching them up with the facility closest to them.
3. Collecting Law Enforcement Information Network information for clearance purposes provided by the Music Volunteer Teams and the manifest of equipment that will be carried into the Correctional facility by the Music Teams.
4. Contacting the Chaplains and supplying them with the Law Enforcement Information Network information at least one month before the scheduled event.
5. Giving the Music Teams all of the needed information regarding the time they should arrive at the facility, the length of the service, the contact information of the facility in case of an emergency.
6. Getting the count of the number of attendees at the event and giving that to the Volunteer or staff person collecting the statistics for all of the services we cover.
7. Be available to assist the Executive Director or Administrative Assistant with any additional projects as needed.

Mentoring The Gift of Friendship

What do you think of when you use the word, "mentoring?" How about, "coming along side," or "giving a hand of friendship?" We are seeking people who will take an interest in helping men, women, youth and children by being their friend, offering encouragement, kindness and the right hand of fellowship.

We can help you find someone to mentor, to share life experiences, be a listening ear and help others find direction for their lives. Men and women who may be leaving a facility to rejoin family and society, need that key person to share with. Imagine the challenge of re-entering society, having been locked away for a season and now being on the path of restoration, getting a job, transportation and so on. Just being a friend in this trying time is priceless and precious.

Children of the incarcerated parent need someone to keep them on the life path of success and excellence. Traditionally, these children have a high statistic of becoming incarcerated themselves over time, lets help them to mature into accomplished individuals who won't live a life of crime and violence.

Will you help make a difference in someone's life? If so, contact us and we will help you, help someone else.