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V O L UME 1 4 , I SSUE 1
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
PERMIT NO. 1045
1501 NW 24th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
WINTER 2013
THE NEW GATE
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
From the Director:
405/530-2015-Rev. Adam Leathers, Director
E-mail: aleathers@okumc.org
405/530-2014 -Lesa Rhoads, Asst. Director-Admin
E-mail: lrhoads@okumc.org
Greetings in the name of Christ!
Calendar of Events 2013
We’re on the web
www.cjamm.org
NEW DAY CAMP 2013
Not only monetary donations are needed and appreciated but we also have the
need for the following items:
Hairs Brushes and combs—varied kinds and sizes
Pillow cases—new or gently used
Wash Cloths—new or gently used
Knit boxers—boy’s size medium and large, adult size small and medium (no
briefs please)
Insect Repellant—pump type, no aerosol
Sun Screen—pump type, no aerosol
Shorts—girls’ sized 8-16
Deodorant—men and women
Sample sized lotion, shampoo and conditioner
The suggested scholarship amount is $300 but donations of any amount are
appreciated and tax deductible! AND this year we are also asking for
UMBRELLAS! Any shape or size or color!!
All donations can be dropped off at the United Methodist Ministry Center in
Oklahoma City or call Lesa Rhoads at (405) 530-2014 for further details.
CJAMM Volunteer Luncheon
Mar 16
11 am—1:30 pm
First UMC, 131 NW 4th, OKC
New Day Camp I
June 10-14
8 –11 yrs old
Camp Cross Point
New Day Camp Too
July 15-19
12-14 yrs old
Camp Cross Point
Inside this issue:
Tulsa Redemption
2
Tulsa Exodus House
2
OHPM
2
OKC Redemption
3
OKC Exodus House
3
New Day Camp
4
Contact Info
4
For those of you whom I have not met, my name is Rev. Adam Leathers and I have
been blessed with the opportunity to serve as your new CJAMM Director. I have been
working closely with Rev. Dr. Stan Basler for two years and have also served on the pastoral
staff at Penn Redemption UMC since May 2011. I have seen the transformative power of
God’s grace for those who are incarcerated and their families as well as the hard work and
dedication of our volunteers and all those who make this ministry so wonderful. I give
thanks to God for the passion of my mentor and friend Stan Basler and am looking forward
to expanding his vision for this ministry.
I have outlined three objectives for Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries as we
proceed into the future, and I hope you will join me in making these goals a reality.
#1 Develop more partnerships with local United Methodist Churches and Annual
Conference Ministries.
#2 Increase the CJAMM volunteer base.
#3 Develop more financial and structural efficiency and transparency.
With God’s help I believe we can achieve these goals and make this already great
ministry even better.
And now a little about me—I was born and raised in Colorado and graduated
Adams State College with a B.S. in Marketing and B.A. in Advertising. After receiving my
call to ministry I attended Saint Paul School of Theology, in Kansas City, and earned a
Master’s of Divinity. While in Kansas City I served as student pastor at Grand Avenue
Temple United Methodist Church; a congregation comprised of mainly homeless
individuals. While serving there, I developed a passion for working with the marginalized.
After graduating, I was blessed with an appointment to Wellston, OK where I served for
four years. During that time I began to work with CJAMM. I am happily married to Virginia
Leathers, the Coordinator of Operations for Admissions at Oklahoma State University. We
live in Guthrie, OK and enjoy fitness and rock climbing.
I look forward to continuing to work with our CJAMM Board and all of our
volunteers and pray God’s blessing upon each and every one of you.
In Christ,
Rev. Adam Leathers
Volume 14, Issue 1
Volume 14, Issue 1
TULSA REDEMPTION CHURCH
Greetings from Tulsa!
Christmas is over and the stockings,
lights and tree are now stored safely
in the garage; however, in February
we were blessed with a very special
gift. Thanks to Sherry Clark Director
of Volunteers at RSVP, Corporation
for National and Community Service
volunteer grant and Williams
Companies technology volunteers,
our computer lab has been updated
with ten new computers!
For nearly eight years, RSVP
(Retired Senior Volunteer
Program) and Redemption Church
have partnered in teaching a basic
computer class. It's hard to
navigate this "brave new world”
without at least a basic understanding of computers. This
class, Power Up! Plus+, helps
prepare our residents to function
in today’s world. We appreciate
Sherry Clark and volunteers:
Dean Atteberry, Janice Shannon,
OKC REDEMPTION CHURCH
Amanda Lewis, Tammy
Boggs, Angela Jackson, Becky
Robertson, Darren White and
all the fine folks at Williams!
As always, we are blessed
with so many dedicated
volunteers. Continue to keep
us in your prayers as we serve
Christ in this unique ministry!
Brantley Tillery
TULSA EXODUS HOUSE
Tulsa Exodus House residents Eddie,
Kristy , Bethany and volunteer
Amanda show their excitement for
the upgrade to the computer lab at
Redemption Church Tulsa
Winter might bring a blast of stormy weather but it doesn’t cool the hearts of our residents. They are anxious
to begin their new lives and will not let a little cold interfere with their progress. What a joy it is to have
Exodus House full again, with each and every resident a blessing in his or her own way!
We would like to congratulate Rusty Cook and his apartment sponsors, Boston Avenue UMC (Pilgrimage &
Cornerstone Classes). Although Rusty has graduated and moved to Claremore, he continues to drive back to
Tulsa to help facilitate his CR class at Redemption. He also serves on support teams for Kairos when ever
needed. We are very proud of him!
We are delighted to welcome, Al & Nalani Nordean, Lloyd & Paula Applegate, Paul & Ester Vana and Pastor
Randy Mitchell to our Exodus House/Redemption volunteer family. They coordinated with our E-Team (Tom
and Janice Shannon) to provide Exodus House residents with a wonderful Christmas party at Redemption
New Volunteers, Nalani Nordean
Church,
as well as help out with Rusty Cook’s Graduation Celebration. Al & Nalani not only provided a
and Paula Applegate celebrate with
Christmas meal at Exodus House, but they drove from Bixby in the snow to serve the meal to those who had
residents at the Exodus House
nowhere to go for the holiday! All seven of our newest volunteers are from First UMC in Bixby.
Tulsa Christmas Party
We would also like to thank James and Marilyn Mullins and Jimmy and Kathy Shadden for bringing Exodus
House residents and staff a New Years Day feast! Sisters, Clara Perkins & Karen Hicks have once again brought everyone at Exodus House a
beautiful Holiday Tray filled with goodies. Broken Arrow UMW continues to astonish us with the wonderful handmade wreaths that delight
our residents and brighten our campus. Gloria Ivy amazes us with all she does, from helping the E-team with Graduation Celebrations, to
bringing treats to Exodus House residents and so much more. Her latest indulgence was bringing Valentine’s Day cupcakes and candy bags
for each of our residents and decorations for our Community Room.
Exodus House has been so often and richly blessed, it’s sometimes impossible to express how grateful we are to our volunteers and
supporters. Without them we would not exist. Please call us for a visit or tour.
—Darlene Lorenz: 918-231-4013
OPERATION HOPE PRISON MINISTRY
2012 AWARDS: Certificate of Recognition for Volunteer Group of the Year was given by JESS DUNN
Correctional Center, a Certificate of Appreciation from Prison Fellowship ANGEL TREE and OHPM
became a Partner in Education with Carver Middle School.
2012 STATS: Total Clients Seen: 3,836 Total Volunteer Hours: 7,814 Total Volunteers: 124
2012 HAPPENINGS: OHPM coordinated and Tulsa Jr. Urban League sponsored a trip to the
Tulsa Space Museum. (See pictures on the right.)
2013 program expansions: Juvenile Program at the Tulsa County Jail, OHPM has begun a
new “Cage the Rage” class. At Hominy, OK, at DCCC, OHPM volunteers are beginning new
Victim Impact Classes and Bedtime Stories.
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We are blessed beyond measure with God’s hand on this ministry! It is such an honor to be a small part of the work Christ does
through CJAMM and OKC Penn Ave Redemption UMC. A huge thank you to each of you for your positive influence and the spirit and
heart that you bring to OKC Penn Ave Redemption.
We are making plans for the 3rd Annual New Day Camp fundraiser. It will once again be at Sherry Miller’s home in Wellston.
We will let you know as soon as the date is set. Thank you, Sherry for your generosity and the wonderful use of your home for this fun
and awesome event.
We also spent the evening at Sherry’s for the annual Exodus House/Redemption volunteers white elephant party in December.
We had a great time —fun fellowship, great food and a lot of laughter! Thank you for this very special time, Sherry.
The Mary/Martha Circle from Chapel Hill UMC blessed our congregants with chips, sandwiches and the best homemade desserts.
We so enjoy having all you at Redemption. Thank you so much for all you do for us and for the wonderful outpouring of care and love.
We were blessed with the musical talent of Larry Jack. He is a member of the Harrah UMC. Harri Williams had been telling him
about the church (Harri teaches a women’s Bible Study each week). Larry sang and played the guitar with his original music. Thank you,
Larry for sharing yourself and your awesome heart with us.
We have a gently used ping pong table with the accessories that go with it. If your church, youth ministry or ? would like to have
it, please let me know. We would love for it to find a great home! WE also have several pieces of a starter drum set, so if you know of a
young one who would like to learn to play , please let us know. The church number is 405-5280963.
Our volunteers are so faithful and generous in giving of their time, talents and love. We
so appreciate all you do. I say this often and will continue to tell you: THANK YOU for your
faithfulness, commitment, your heart and your presence! We would not be able to provide the
level of ministry we do but for YOU. You definitely bless us, but most importantly you bless
those we are here to minister to. God bless each of you.
With a grateful heart, Marcia Manning
OKC EXODUS HOUSE
Exodus House Staff and residents would like to thank everyone who contributed their time, their gifts and
their service to make our holiday season a true success. It was such a joy to share a Christmas Dinner with
some of our apartment sponsors and CJAMM board members. Thank You all for being a part of our holiday.
We were all very touched and overwhelmed by your love, acceptance and for taking time out of your busy
schedules to be with us. What a success it was!!
We would like to welcome Rev. Adam Leathers as the new Director of
CJAMM. We want to thank you for blessing Apt. # 14 and to welcome
our new apartment sponsors: Penn Avenue Redemption “Sunlight of the
Spirit “ group; Estelle Turbyfill, Jackie & Jeff Kiser, Maria Manning,
Jeannie Wintersmith ,Teresa Owens, Linda Stoltz and Lisa Burns.
We would like to thank all our apartment sponsors: St. Andrews UMC,
Choctaw UMC, Seminole UMC, Yukon, New Covenant UMC, Church
of the Servant, and New Hope UMC for your ministry to our residents and your continued support. We still have
an apartment available for sponsorship if interested, please call Robin at the number below!!
We would like to wish Stan Basler much thanks for all he has done for our ministry and pray for you to be
blessed beyond measure in your new journey. We could not do what we do here without all the time you spent
and your passion and devotion to ex offenders, their children and too many others to name.
Our thanks to Pathfinder’s Sunday School class, New Hope New Beginnings Sunday School class, Dan and Linda Trammell and many others for your
continued donations to our bus pass fund. It is such a blessing to our residents. Our thanks to Jidge Verity, Church of the Servant and General Board of
Church and Society, for your support of our ministry and the people we serve. We could not be who we are and do the work we do without ALL of your
support.
We would like to thank Amy Graves and her confirmation class from Moore UMC for touring the Exodus House and to all of those who have invited
our residents to speak on the Exodus House. We would like to thank Shirley Leonhardt and the United Methodist Women’s OKC North District for
your love offering to Exodus House and for inviting us to speak at St. Matthews UMC for your UMW Conference.
We are always in need of furniture, household items and hygiene’s, towels, washcloths and linens for twin and full size mattresses, dressers, T.V.’s,
convertor boxes, microwaves, washers, dryers, end tables, coffee tables, couches, etc.
For all those who I may have left out Thank You so much all for your continued support, your prayers and your many gifts to us. God Bless You!!
-----Robin Wertz, Case Manager, 405-525-2300 -----Doyle Hines, Donations, 405-417-1189
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