When Broken and Beautiful launched our reentry program in 2022, we acknowledged the challenges women face post-release and the loss of the Christian relationships they cultivated in prison. Our aim was to continue supporting them as an after-release Christian family by providing ongoing Christian programming and counseling, and connecting them with like-minded local Christian organizations such as transition houses, treatment centers, and churches. Currently, we’re implementing the third phase of this program, which involves connecting women with local churches that understand and embrace their challenges and support their journey with Christ. This initiative is called the Sanctuary Church Program.
The Sanctuary Church Program begins by understanding the hardships these women have faced and the profound transformations they experience as they find and embrace Christ in prison. We foster this understanding through published prayer requests, our pen pal program (Pen2Pen), quarterly newsletters, and opportunities for the women to share their stories with church members. This approach helps build a meaningful relationship between the church and the Broken and Beautiful ministry, aligning with our shared vision.
Post-release, we encourage our clients to connect with a Sanctuary Church in their area. We’ll reach out to a designated contact at the church, providing information about our client and their release date. Our goal is to help our clients engage with the church’s services and programming immediately after their release. We always recommend that our clients participate in Celebrate Recovery or a similar program, and we hope the church will support this participation. We’ll work alongside the church to address any difficulties our clients might face, ensuring they always feel God’s love and turn away from their old ways of dealing with problems.
We’re actively seeking churches to join our Sanctuary Church Program, especially in the Kansas City area (West region), Springfield area (Southwest region), and Cape Girardeau area (Southeast region). If you’re interested, please contact Dave at daveb@brokennbeautiful.org. Together, we can make a difference in these women’s lives by supporting their walk with Christ.