"If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed." John 8:36
To serve, teach, love, and empower inmates (current or recent) as they strive for spiritual freedom through strong faith by providing Biblical teaching, personal connection, and ministry.
To create a system to support pastors as they minister to current or recent jail inmates (as a group and as individuals) by providing spiritual guidance through jail church, aftercare program, and Christian connections for the purpose of increasing inmates connection with God, mentors, congregations, and Christian churches; and thus, to reduce recidivism rates among the inmate population.
We are a Kansas Not-For-Profit Corporation and 501-C3 non-profit organization. We are non-denominational.
We are governed by a Board of Directors with 7 board members. In selecting Board members, we were seeking individuals that have a strong passion for sharing the Gospel and a unique perspective of the people that we serve. Our Board includes:
Please review our statement of faith to learn more about our core Christian beliefs. We are non-denominational.
Our story begins in the summer of 2018. Melissa’s daughter was 21 and drugs were rapidly taking over her daughter’s life. As Melissa interacted with her daughter and peers, she had her first up-close and personal interaction with addicts. Her first response was to look away, but God had a plan. She began to see addicts as flawed individuals that desperately needed God - much like herself. After her daughter went to jail, her heart ached for her daughter and the other female inmates as she realized that the collective church was not helping the inmates with their spiritual needs.
Over the next five weeks, God’s call became overwhelming. She enrolled in school to become a pastor for addicts and inmates. Four weeks later, she entered a neighboring county jail for weekly jail ministry, learned from an experienced jailhouse pastor, and jail ministry quickly became the highlight of her week.
God had a bigger plan. Inmates needed more than Biblical lessons while incarcerated. They needed those same Biblical lessons outside of jail, so she decided Bible studies would be offered to recently released inmates. They needed a mentor / pastor, so maintaining relationships with recently released inmates would be vital. Inmates were released with nothing but the clothes on their back - no food, no resources, and no support; therefore, they needed care packages with essentials and a pastor to meet their short- term needs, but they needed a local church family to meet their long-term spiritual needs.
God had an even bigger plan. Melissa could serve the ladies, but what about the men? Melissa could serve two Kansas county jails, but what about the other counties? Who would tell the collective church about this important ministry opportunity? Who would work with possible pastors in other areas to recruit and support them? Thus, Freedom and Faith Ministries was created to develop a process and system to meet the spiritual needs of current and recently released inmates.
In August of 2019, the Board of Directors was established with the first organizational meeting. As they say, the rest is history; but more importantly, we are blessed to be part of “His Story”.
The primary cost of our ministry is the care packages with basic hygiene, a few days of food, and a local resources guide.
Do you have a sincere desire to share the good news? Ready to walk into a dark place to share God's light and love? If you are called to jail ministry, we'll support you.
We are seeking people to share the Gospel and the hope of Christ in a jail setting. If your church would be interested in helping us, we’d love to talk with you.
PO BOX 473 Lebo, KS 66856