The Light of Christ Ministry
This site is a companion site to our Light of Christ Ministry Connections Facebook group.
-We are a 501c3 non profit ministry committed to walking alongside the men at Keystone as they transition from incarceration to their new life on the outside. Our mission statement and community partnership photos are on this page, as well as descriptions of some of our outreaches . -We are a GuideStar approved charity. GuideStar reviews charitable organizations for transparency and legitimacy.
-We are an Amazon Smile eligible non profit organization.
Amazon will donate money for every purchase made through our Smile page and it doesn’t cost anything. Please consider sharing this link with anyone you know who makes purchases on Amazon. Amazon will donate money to our ministry for any Smile eligible purchase. The Amazon Smile page can be bookmarked then for further purchases.
Our Mission Statement
Our mission: We are committed to “walking” alongside the residents of Keystone Correctional and those men who are transitioning into the Central Pennsylvania area from Keystone. We do this by sharing food, clothing, books,hygiene items and other items donated to us by individuals, churches, agencies and businesses. We also share information about community resources that support reentrants. We walk beside one another and the residents, on the Jesus walk, as Jesus lights the path. We do this by meeting in community, with the residents, for prayer, worship, service and social events. We seek, together, the Light of Christ and the grace that He offers us.
The Light of Christ Ministry consists of a ministry team of four people, a very active Board of Directors of three people and other committed volunteers. One of our ministry team is an ordained minister, who can provide pastoral visitations, as needed.
Services
The Light of Christ Ministry is thankful for the opportunity to visit Keystone Correctional Work Release. We are thankful for the opportunities to grow and worship with the men, as they transition. We are enormously blessed for all the donations that folks give us to deliver. We could not have this ministry without the guidance of our Father in Heaven, the support of the men at Keystone, who welcome us, pray and worship with us, the staff at Keystone Correctional and the help of our family, friends, local churches and community members. We hope to expand and grow, with God's guidance.
First Day Bags: When men leave the facility they are given a bag with food,hygiene items, toilet paper and other items that are helpful on the first day out. Starting in May, 2019, we will begin providing First Day In Bags for men entering the facility. These will contain needed hygiene items and an invitation to join us for conversation and fellowship.
Ministry: Devotions, faith talks, worship services, private visits, collections of clothing, socks, coats, gloves, hygiene items for men in the facility. We also provide a website and Facebook page for the men, with a list of resources to support them as they leave.
Special Events: Guest speakers, movie nights, holiday meals and art events are some of the special events we have for the men. We also sponsor a holiday collection for the men's children at Christmas.
We are thankful for the love and gifts of community !
We are very thankful for all of the people and organizations in the community who help support the men at Keystone and our ministry. We are truly blessed to partner with others, to bring more to the men during their walk in transition. Thank you so much!
Please take a moment to go through our pictures to see the blessings of partnership we have experienced and all those who have helped to support the men at Keystone. Please click the "see more" button to see all of the photos. If you move over the photos, you will see information about the photos.
As we have grown and expanded, we became a nonprofit public charitable organization to share our journey with people and businesses. We also realize we can do more for the men, with the help and support of community and friendships. First of all, we ask you, please, for your prayers, as do the men. To help facilitate our ministry goals, we are in need of financial support, items for First Day In and First Day Out bags, new shower shoes, gently used clothing and Bibles and devotionals. We are a volunteer organization. One hundred percent of donations go directly to support the men in some way. Please prayerfully consider joining us in our ministry to support the men at Keystone. For those who would like to donate, we value and appreciate any help for these men in transition. Every single donation matters and is a blessing. All donations will go to direct service or supplies for the men. We can always use hygiene items, gently used coats and gloves (in Winter), food, toilet paper, hygiene items for First Day Bags, Bibles for worship times, clothing items (all year long) and monetary donations to help with printing, purchasing needed items for the ministry, special programs and Bibles and devotionals in English and Spanish. If you wish to donate any items, if you contact us, we will come and pick them up. Monetary donations can be made by mail to our PO Box, using our PayPal button or through Venmo. Venmo does not deduct charges off of donations, like PayPal does. All donations are tax deductible and a receipt will be sent to you. We thank you for your consideration.
The Ministry Team met with a Community Aid Representative to expand our partnership. This will bring more gift cards to the Community Aid store, for the men and help fund our First Day Bag Program.
We are so thankful to the staff at Keystone for all that they do. We delivered donated coats,clothing, gloves, hats, homemade scarves, and hygiene items gathered at churches and from members of the community.
Donated hygiene items are always needed for the men IN Keystone, as well as those leaving Keystone. We deliver donated hygiene items to the center for men staying there, and also place them in our First Day Bags.
The Bridge Faith Community in Annville has been very generous in allowing Community Aid to put a box at their church. We receive gift cards for the Community Aid stores for the men to use and we also receive a quarterly check for our Ministry based on the pounds of clothing placed in the box.
We are thankful to Community Aid for the quarterly monetary donation that supports First Day Bags and events at the work release and the gift cards for the men leaving the facility.
We collected stuffed animals from communities in Dauphin and Lebanon County and one in Hawaii. Over 700 stuffed animals were collected to be given to the children of the men at the work release!
Members of the Light of Christ Ministry team sorted the animals so that they could be wrapped for the children!.We are thankful to the Bridge Faith Community that they allowed us to use the church.
We are so thankful for all of the animals donated! Some folks shared beautiful stories of what these animals meant to them and why they donated them for the children!
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To make a donation with Venmo, please use the app on your phone, or click here for the website. Once on Venmo, search for DeanMay@lightofChristMinistry. Thank you for your consideration.
Light of Christ Ministry
PO Box 6432
Harrisburg, PA 17112