relationships with people whose lives are different from theirs. This requires sacrificial love and a level of hospitality that we’re not quite at yet (but God’s growing us!). • The most challenging part of this ministry is when someone simply isn’t ready for change. It’s hard to help someone when they seem to be on their way to reoffending. Another hard part is trying to help a family when they think God has deserted them due to the fact that a loved one is about to be sentenced to a lot of time. • The resistance from both the local community and the faith- based community that do not accept and/or recognize the re- demptive nature of Jesus Christ. There is still a lot of stigma, NIMBY’s, and critical judgments facing the most vulnerable in our communities. • Continuing support with unprepared “Returning Souls” • Limited resources • The most challenging aspects of our congregation’s reentry min- istry is dealing with addiction relapse, that is, relapse of dys- functional behaviors, substance use disorder, and the like. How- ever, providing a recovery ministry that provides the structure and a safe space to welcome returning citizens back after relapse has been a strength. • Additional housing is a huge challenge. • Hard to connect with people leaving prison. • Most returning citizens do not have a sense of commitment/ accountability. • I would suggest a group approach including training to ensure everyone is equipped to deal with the trauma of incarceration. In addition, it guards against the person being abandoned if the mentor leaves. Finally, there should, in my opinion, be a time- line where the returning citizen “graduates” from the reentry group. Not that they can’t still be in fellowship, but there is a need to avoid long-term dependence. With maximum resources, what would your dream reentry min- istry look like? • It would look exactly the same but with an appropriate number of staff and a much larger building. • Lots of housing right next to our church • We would have another program like we had before the leader of our rehab ministry relapsed. • I would love to see our success exceed 90% so that everyone
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