"In a strange way," a male inmate said, 

"I am glad to be in prison. I met Jesus here and HE changed my life ..."

What is Heart Renewal Prison Ministry?

The Heart Renewal Prison Ministry is a cross-church effort sponsored by the Kirkland Chinese Church of the Nazarene. It is dedicated to bringing Jesus’ love into prisons in Seattle. The ministry is founded on the premise that the elimination of crime in society is not a matter of punishment, segregation or behavioral modification; it is a matter of heart renewal.

The Heart Renewal Prison Ministry started in May 2000. We began by serving the Chinese illegal immigrants housed in the SeaTac Federal Detention Center near the SeaTac Airport. Many of the prisoners came without any background in Christianity, but we have seen amazing responses and openness to the Gospel. Gradually, inmates of many different nationalities started to join in. God shines bright and warm in this cold place that is otherwise without hope.

What we do?

"Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (Hebrew 13:3)

Currently, there are a number of ministries going on – Religious services, music ministry, English as a second language (ESL), General Education Diploma (GED), sports, community projects and special events.

Religious Services

The religious team goes in every Sunday from 5 pm to 9 pm. We hold religious services inside the units. We usually go to about five to six units each Sunday. We share God’s love. We hug them. We pray with them for the humanly impossible. We laugh with them and cry with them. They get strengthened and in turn they reach out to others in the units during the week. We share with them God’s words and they teach us what is possible in God.

ESL & GED

Can you imagine being in prison and not being able to understand the instructions of the officers? Can you imagine the kinds of conflict that can occur when you cannot communicate with your fellow inmates? Can you imagine that you have certain critical medical or legal issues and you do not have the language ability to even begin to express it? The ESL team goes in every Saturday afternoon to help them bridge this gap. We are blessed to have a group of talented teachers who teach them English in fun and creative ways. Starting 2004, we even started to tutor those who want to make best use of their time in prison to acquire a General Education Diploma.

Sports Ministry

All ESL and no play makes Jack a dull boy. We have to have some fun sometime. The sports ministry team goes in several times a year to play volleyball and ping pong with the inmates. They want us to play basketball, but we are still praying for strong arms and tall bodies. Through the sports ministry, we can touch many more people who otherwise would not join our religious or ESL programs.

Special Events

A couple of times a year, we organize special activities in prison for the inmates. Sometimes, we organize games or music programs for them during special festivals. Every Christmas, we bring many brothers and sisters to the prison for Christmas caroling. This is one event where we minister to almost all 400 plus inmates in the detention center. To them, this is the only live music program in the whole year. To some of them, this may be the only time that anyone visits them at all.

Community

In August 2003, a new project was started. One day an inmate showed us some beautiful origami products that she had made. Then we dreamt about taking these products to nursing homes and hospitals as gifts of encouragement. Well, this is no longer a dream. A production team in prison has been set up for this. The production team consists of almost all the women in a unit of 40 or more.

Music ministry

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:15-19) Our music team brings healing and celebration to the inmates through the music in religious services and any other special occasions. Together we make music in our heart to the Lord. Wouldn't it be good if one day, some inmates can join together to form a praise team to minister to their fellow inmates and even produce CDs to encourage others in the community?

How can I help?

Get on our prayer distribution list and pray for the inmates and the volunteers. Prison is a tough environment to be in. We need every single word of prayer that lifts up all who are involved in the ministry.

Send us your suggestions or notes of encouragement. You can even send general encouragement notes to inmates, though you cannot go into prison with us. You would not be able to send to one person specifically; they would not be able to keep your notes; they would not be able to send replies back to you. However, we can read your notes to them in a group

The Heart Renewal Prison Ministry is in need of helpers. We need people to teach ESL and to help organize religious services and other activities. We are looking for people who can commit to go there at least twice a week for religious services and at least once a month for the other activities. Knowledge of Mandarin or Spanish is helpful, but not required

We do not have a lot of financial needs. We are mostly offering our time. If you did want to send us financial support, we would apply it to some of the projects - mainly books and supplies.

Contact us

This web site is made possible by Kirkland Chinese Church of the Nazarene