MMATG House Overview
Local Post-Prison Ministry House
The full Koinonia House® National Ministries (KHMM) model. This is the option that KHNM suggests, where it can be accomplished, and we hope some ministries that begin with a non-residential model will work up to this level. Under this option, one to four residents live in a local post-prison ministry home under the auspices of a church or consortium of churches, with a Discipleship and Resident Director (DRD) couple, applying the following ministry components:
Basic physical needs (initial basic wardrobe, essential transportation)
Biblically based life-skills training (12-week curriculum of 1 to 2-hour sessions)
Active participation in a local church
Two mentors (spiritual and financial)
Host families for Sunday afternoons
Ministry to the Christian neighbor's family
Providing job-seeking assistance.
The vision of Koinonia House® is three-fold: to participate in breaking the cycle of crime, to reconcile and restore families of former inmate, to reflect the multi-cultural diversity of the body of Christ. The purpose of Koinonia House® is to create bridges enabling Christian inmates to go from prison to the local church through biblical discipleship.
The Local Koinonia Houses® all have one common thread – the 5 foundational elements:
- Christian family home.
- Provision of two mentors – one financial and the other for personal Christian growth.
- Biblical discipleship.
- Connection to a local church.
- Suitable employment.
Each home is run by the Discipleship & Resident Director (DRD) couple appointed and governed by a local board of trustees. DRDs will go through extensive formal and hands-on training and will temporarily relocate to the Batavia Koinonia House (BKH) for a minimum 3 months training before being released into a ministry setting of their own.
Each Koinonia House® can house up to 4 residents, who will remain with them for a minimum of 15 months. The program is completely voluntary on the part of the resident and they may leave or be asked to leave the program if they fail to maintain basic covenant criteria.
The covenant is a promise made between the resident and Koinonia House, that promotes biblical discipleship and a Christian family home environment. A strict schedule and high levels of accountability are a part of that covenant and these elements are a challenge for the resident – particularly at about the 3-month phase. For this reason, the provision of suitable employment is not permitted until after the first 3 months.
Past graduates of Koinonia House® have returned to their families, been restored to their spouses and children, have gone into business for themselves, went to serve on ministry and community boards, became pastors and enjoyed scholarships to such places as Wheaton College through the Charles Colson Scholarship Program for ex-prisoners.
Possible Scenario for Implementation
An association of churches has had contact with KHNM. They have been involved in jail or prison ministry, but they feel called to participate in ministry that would help Christian neighbors re-enter the Church after their release from prison. The association includes one person who takes a leadership role in making such a ministry happen. The association wants to start two houses - one for men and one for women.
At the earliest convenient time, perhaps when KHNM staff is traveling in their area, the association arranges a time for us to present the seminar, "Effective Post-Prison Ministry," to representatives from all the churches in the group.
After the seminar, the association makes a final decision to go ahead with the project. They establish a Board of Directors and a Selection Committee, using the 14-step process described in "Post-Prison Ministry Steps to Start Sequence" to get their program set up effectively. They work with KHNM to establish the covenant agreements between the association and KHNM. After finding the locations for the local houses and finding DRD couples to direct the houses, the Board and its Selection Committee begin the selection process to identify Christian neighbors to bring into the houses upon their release from prison.