Support our Ministry

Watch the evening news and it seems like crime is everywhere. Chances are either you or someone you know has been a victim of crime. You may even know someone who is or has been incarcerated. In 2014, almost 3% of the adult population in the US was in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. In 2018, about one in four American adults lived with a criminal record. While the US represents only about 4.4 percent of the world’s population, it houses around 22 percent of the world’s prisoners. In 2015, nearly one third of working age adults had a criminal record.

According to the US Department of Justice, over 95% of all state prison inmates complete their sentences and are released to go home — and become your neighbors. State budgets for prisons have been decreasing of late, and prisons have fewer rehabilitation programs than they used to. Recidivism is a constant problem: anywhere from 25 to 75% of released prisoners are rearrested for parole violations and/or new offenses within five years of release.

Is there any hope? We say YES!

Just Another Ministry (aka JAM) is committed to the belief that reform is indeed possible, and that reform begins within the individual him/herself. JAM goes inside the prison with Bible studies and life skills courses to help inmates change their lives and learn to live a better life when they are released. JAM provides resources for inmates and their families while incarcerated, resources for planning as the inmates come closer to release, and resources for newly-released inmates.

JAM believes that this is true crime prevention, true prison reform.



Who Are We?

Our team is headed by executive director Mike, an ordained minister and former part-time pastor of a Lao (refugee) Baptist church. Mike is also a retired software developer who has committed to full time prison ministry. Mike holds the BA in Biblical Studies from Criswell College (1986) with further study in theology and missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister (1988). Mike is associated with Homprakhoun Baptist Church in Dallas and the Narrow Trail Cowboy Church in Sachse.

Mike became an approved and trained TDCJ Chaplaincy Volunteer in 2013, though he has been active in prison ministry in one capacity or another for over 20 years. He was laid off from his job as a software developer in late 2015. After two and a half years of job search, which resulted in exactly two job interviews (probably due to his age), Mike surrendered to full-time prison ministry in February of 2018. Mike says, "You've heard the thing about God closing doors? Well, I think God not only closed that door, but also chained it, padlocked it, and welded it shut!"

Mike is a CVCA at the Hutchins Unit, Dallas TX, and a member of the Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association.

Mike was awarded a Governor's Criminal Justice Volunteer Service Award in 2019.
      

The above video is a snippet edited from the Full Video (here)


Jim and Susan are retired accountants in Wyoming. They serve as members of the board, managers and advisors to JAM. Jim is active in nursing home ministry, and Susan is the treasurer of the Meals on Wheels Foundation in Casper. They are also trained and approved TDCJ Volunteers. They are associated with Grace Lutheran Church in Casper.



Our Budget Goals

Your financial support of JAM will make a BIG difference in the lives of inmates and their families, and in the communities to which they return. Our monthly budget is $2000 for Mike's salary, plus materials and expenses for the ministry. Please help us make our — and your — community and neighborhoods safer!



How to Donate

There are several ways to donate funds to Just Another Ministry. At the bottom of this page you will find buttons for a number of fundraising sites that support JAM.

If you use PayPal regularly, you can designate Just Another Ministry here as your favorite charity. This will allow you the easy option of donating a dollar each time you use PayPal for a purchase.

Click on Legal Notices below for information about tax deductibility.