2

THE COALITION

& MORE A Publication from COPE

Victory in the House ..................... 2

Brainstorming ............................. 2

Thankful ....................................... 3

21st Century Cures Act ................. 3

18 Months .................................... 4

Save the Date ................................ 5

Get Involved .................................. 5

..................................................... 4

#COPEUNITES #COPEGIVES #REACHINGBEYONDBARS #COPE2017 NEW MEMBERS

NEW President ORLANDO - This has been a very different year for me and my family. There was great blessings and also sorrow at the loss of my brother. I was blessed with the opportunity to go to

Armenia and Estonia to minister in June and Cuba in November. God is so good and meets our every need and blesses us abundantly.

This year I was elected President of COPE. God is full of surprises. My late husband Frank was one of the founders of COPE. COPE was founded in 1983 so it’s been a big part of my life for 33 years. I made some wonderful life time relationships through COPE. People who love the Lord and are willing to do the will of God.

The Coalition of Prison Evangelist is an organization made up of many ministries; it is not run by any one ministry. We want to share and see what other ministries are doing. It helps us clarify and learn what direction our own ministry is going in.

We can learn so much from one another, new ways of doing things to make our ministries stronger from our peers and what God is saying to us. As our fellowship grows we become stronger individually and corporately.

Speaking on behalf of the Board of Directors of COPE I invite you to join us in Daytona Beach for our International Conference on September 13, 2017. It will be two blessed days of fellowship and growth.

Let us work together so we can better do the work God has called us to. I pray your New Year is full of God’s blessings. May He strengthen your ministry and you as you bring the gospel to a hurting world.

See you in Daytona Beach!

Bunny Greenwood President of COPE Board of Directors

Cheryl “Bunny” Constantino-Greenwood, author of Lady in the Shadow, is the co-founder of Servants of Christ ministry, and a very popular speaker in prisons, conferences and women’s retreats. She is married to Bobby Greenwood, has six children, 12 grandchildren, and one grandchild.

Individual Members Matt & Connie Cookman, Pendleton IN

Harlan Moss, Sioux Falls SD

Ministry Members Rosalind Willis Birthing Process Ministries International

Bill Corum Prison Power Ministries

Rosemary Blair Prison Christian Ministries

Dr. Dawn Knighton Radical Restoration Ministries

Tami Weissert Servant’s Oasis

Mario Leijin, Ricky Lopez Western USA Salvation Army

Don’t miss out on a tax deduction; pay your COPE membership dues today. www.copeconnections.org

COPE Votes for 2017 Officers, Int Conference, & Cruise Location

fel·low·ship: to come into association with people who share one interest

THE COALITION & MORE |A PUBLICATION FROM COPE | Volume #3 Issue#2 2

Victory in the House HEBREWS 6:10

INDIANAPOLIS — Jesus House is a 46 bed men residential re entry facility for just released prisoners, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was Founded by William Bumphus, a Cope Board Member since 1996.

Jesus House grew from a three bedroom home to its current location. We moved into our current location in 2006. For nine years we operated with a 90% success rate.

Last year (2015) we decided to put up a privacy fence and a neighbor complained and we found out that we were not zoned properly. Over the next year, our petition was denied, requiring us to go through the appeal process. Many friends prayed with and for us. Several submitted letters of support. Finally the nine-panel Metropolitan Development Board voted unanimously to grant our petition.

To God be the glory!

I want to thank all who prayed, sent letters of support and finances. – Pastor Bumphus n

The three things I am thankful for… By Ben Smith, Camp of the Ozarks

1. My amazing wife grace who has been my partner in ministry for over 13 years through the good times and the hard times.

2. I am thankful for COPE and all the great people we have known there who have been such a blessing and an encouragement to us.

3. I am also grateful for our five children who have helped us in ministry most of their lives and who love God and love others.

Our favorite family Thanksgiving traditions include going around the table and saying what we are grateful for, shooting guns, and playing Ultimate Frisbee. n

Compiled Notes from the ECRC Brainstorming Session …

COPE Gets 5-10 As presented by Evelyn Lemly

Greeting: Welcome! And, I also want to welcome all of our guests who are joining us on live stream. What an honor it is to be here on the lovely Caribbean island of Jamaica for the 2021 COPE Regional Conference. Haven’t our guest Speakers and Presenters just been amazing?

Audience: Yes! [Clapping and cheering]

Thanks: Let me take just a moment to offer a special thank you to our event host and newest Board Member, Rev. Right.

Audience: [Clapping and cheering]

And we must take a moment to recognize our record breaking group of interns. This weekend we have 20 student volunteers from all over the globe who are partnering with our staff, Smith, our Executive Director and Jones our new Office Administrator, to assure that you have had a flawless week. How are they all doing so far?

Audience: [Stands, clapping and cheering]

We are in unprecedented times, witnessing the fulfillment of the Christ’s word, “the last will be first”. Just five years ago our nation had the highest rate of incarcerated persons in the world (20%), despite only having 5% of the nation’s population. Today however, with the nationwide shift to a focus on creation that has been taking place by our government and non-profit organizations, added to their strong support of aftercare, that’s no longer true. More and more people are coming out of prison and staying out.

Because chains have been broken, there’s an army rising up from within those walls and that very army is getting out. It is that army who is making the difference. What we are seeing and experi-encing first hand is the direct result of you and I collaborating together in mission and purpose.

Membership – I’m not sure who or what is responsible for the influx of new “younger” members, but if you look around, I believe you’ll notice that over half of the room is under the age of 35.

Audience: [hooting & hollering]

Whatever the reason for the momentum, we have experienced a consistent upturn in the area of paying memberships over the past five years, empowering this collation to not only grow, but unify in vision and impact. The sharing of resources has increased, growth in event attendance, and celebrated learning from one another through collaboration and mentoring programs.

So, what’s coming up?

We have added a new conference to our schedule this year.

We’re actually sponsoring our very first Youth conference as a coalition.

Impact – We have broadened our scope of influence to include a stronger aftercare focus while still being inside the prisons.

We’re working with the youth to break bondages to addiction and cycles of family incarceration.

We are succeeding in advocating for prison reform, and it’s happening through the use of Christian principles.

Our very own Lobbyist Committee is directing that advocacy and leading the call on Washington.

We are seeing laws changed that are making a difference on what’s transpiring behind bars.

Continued on page .4

2016 COPE East Central Regional Conference REACHBeyondBars to prepare for KINGDOM Legacy

2016 COPE East Central Regional Conference (ECRC) REACHBeyondBars to prepare for KINGDOM Legacy

THE COALITION & MORE |A PUBLICATION FROM COPE | Volume #3 Issue#2 3

COPE Gets 5-10 Cont’d from pg.3

Resources – COPE is now providing training resources for chaplains.

We are not only providing the jails and prisons with volunteer Chaplains, we’re training them right here at our conferences and throughout the world by way of webinars.

We’ve partnered with churches to ensure that Released not only to have a place to worship, but a home in the Body of Christ.

With the help of our Partner Churches and Corporate Sponsors, we are leading the work of restoration, recovery and redemption.

COPE is actively equipping & engaging the previously incarcerated, many whom you’ve heard from this week, and seeing to it that the words of Christ are carried out. Ensuring their success lasts and their testimonies are what is making the difference in people’s lives.

International – We are experiencing an unprecedented collaboration between our own ministry members and our growing International Chapters. Every effort to foster international relations is being met with growth in our own back yards. For example:

Over the past 5 years, Kairos has managed to add ten new countries, doubling their international scope of influence.

The AOG Chaplaincy Department has had to add a new staff position, simply to provide support for the specific needs of their new younger recruits.

Prison Christian Ministry has opened two new youth facilities. The latest is their home in Africa modeled directly after their Canadian facility.

Kingsway just hosted their first statewide job fair and were recognized by the city mayor for their Christmas program which reached 1,000 children and 7,500 inmates.

We have been blessed to be in more countries and see God at work as these Chapters are coming together and growing in strength.

Closing: These are just a few of the fundamental things that you’ve witnessed here this week in 2021 in Jamaica. God goes before us and he can make it happen. Let’s claim His victory. Amen.

Audience: Amen. [Clapping and cheering]

Reminder: Don’t forget to stop by the back table to sign up for your copy of conference recordings and be sure to pick up a copy of our new music CD. It’s a great mix of praise & worship by our own ministry friends & special guest musicians. n

The three things I am thankful for… By Manuel Cordero,

AOG Chaplaincy Department

1. Salvation in Christ

2. Family, and my

3. Staff

And My Favorite Family Tradition Is …

Our family eats Hoagies (sub-sandwiches) on Christmas Eve. Why?

One year I was transferred from the US Penitentiary in Marion, IL to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Allenwood, PA during Christmas. Because of the move, we found ourselves at a hotel on Christmas Eve.

All of the restaurants were closed because of the holiday, so we ended up having to eat Hoagies for dinner. We had no Christmas tree. We were bummed out and thought this was clearly the worst Christmas ever.

However, as I was preparing to go to the institution for services a group of people from a local church we had visited the previous Sunday showed up at our door singing carols. They brought cookies, a small tree and gifts. The Lord turned our meager hotel holiday into the best Christmas ever.

So now we eat hoagies every year our children now adults have adopted this practice with their families as well. n

U.S. Senate Approves 21st Century Cures Act

December 7, 2016 By CSG Justice Center Staff

CuresNow was passed by a bipartisan vote of 94-5. The $6 billion public health and medical research bill is an umbrella for a variety of health initiatives, from authorizing money to combat the nation’s opioid crisis to funding the “Moonshot” project to cure cancer.

Included in the omnibus bill’s range of initiatives are several criminal justice reform measures related to the issue of mental health, including the enactment of the Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act (CJMHA) and the reauthorization of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA).

Five Key Impacts of the Bill

1. Reauthorizes essential MIOTCRA funds for mental health responses in corrections, courts, and by first responders.

Through its incorporation of CJMHA, the bill includes reauthorization of MIOTCRA, an essential funding mechanism for mental health resources within or intersecting with the justice system. The bill extends MIOTCRA for four years at $50 million per year, updates the legislation to provide new commitments to training first responders on responses to people with mental illnesses, and gives additional resources for veterans’ courts to help those with behavioral or post-traumatic stress disorders.

2. Expands successful federal, state, and local models of mental health diversion.

3. Advances mental health as a key part of reentry.

The bill brings new or expanded behavioral health resources into the package of reentry services provided to the millions of people that are released from prison or jail each year.

4. Expands training in effective mental health responses for law enforcement and police officers.

5. Prioritizes data collection, accountability, and policies, programs, and practices proven to work in mental health and criminal justice.

READ MORE — for the full article and to learn more about the 5 Key Impacts

THE COALITION & MORE |A PUBLICATION FROM COPE | Volume #3 Issue#2 3

Has it really been 18 months? By Chandra Adams

DALLAS — In my past life as a Corporate Marketing Professional it was understood that it takes 12-18 months to “wrap your arms around a new organization”. In other words, no matter how good you are, it is understood that it takes time to learn the preferred business practices and adapt to the cultural environment of your new employer.

Today’s professional climate is quite different, and so is the 12-18 month theory.

In today’s market if you haven’t received a promotion in 12-18 months, much less a raise, your peers are shouting “it’s time to move on!” Sadly employers even begin to question the legitimacy of your skill set if you aren’t being pursued by their competitors. Never mind what they think if you’re at a post for more than three years.

What happened to loyalty? Could it be our local business leaders are taking their cues from larger markets who have shaved their expenses and increased their profit margins by “going elsewhere” (i.e. overseas)?

Society tends to look at the profession of Ministry through a different set of lenses.

All over the globe we invite passionate, highly talented, individuals to “serve” in churches, non-profits, and the mission field for far less than a comparative secular post would dare to pay. In many cases these talented individuals are invited to pay their way, or raise their support, in order to “share” all of their “talents” in order to “serve” on the “team”. Notice how the language of the non-profit (ministry) world selects more palatable terms to justify the expectations.

COPE Is No Different

Never have I worked so hard at so many different types of tasks, for so few dollars and so many hours, for a part-time position.

Peers want to know why. Friends get aggravated at, and for me. The Board wants to change it. Most members don’t know it.

Why do I do it? Because God said! At least that’s what I heard 18 months ago when I said, “Yes!” to the job”.

After “serving” COPE for 18 months, I can say I have never witnessed an organization, secular or non-profit, that operated on a smaller budget, much less produced such a quality product.

Our Products Fellowship - friendly association,

especially with people who share one's interests. Acts 2:42

- teaching and prayer - shared labor, goals, concerns, privilege

and responsibilities “We are stronger together.”

Resources – a stock or supply materials, in order to function effectively. Luke 6:38

- Information, access, promotion, materials, and speakers

Unity – oneness of sentiment, affection or behavior (Ps. 133); close junction of parts, constituting a body

- shared vision - power and advantage in numbers “Those that play together, stay together.”

Equip – a bringing to a condition of fitness, perfecting, for service against a need. HELPS

However, I would say that I see the #1 product is Opportunity…the opportunity to network with amazing talent, due to access.

Our Truths

Membership has a strong value add. Whether you consider the quality of the intangibles or the money saving tangibles, membership benefits support your mission.

COPE is a tithing organization.

Each member of the Board of Directors is accessible to you for your mission purposes.

Each conference is designed with you in mind. From the price to the location, the meals to the give-a-ways, and the speakers to the worshippers, every aspect of planning a conference considers your needs.

Growing Needs

We recognize the necessity of a regular review of vision, mission, and the goals that achieve each. As a result, during the East Central Regional Conference (ECRC) we held a brainstorming session.

Participants shouted with excitement as they shared ideas, suggestions for change, and future needs based on growing trends.

See pg. 3 for the compiled report.

Our Members On average, COPE Members have chosen to work in ministry, leaving secular, well paying positions behind. Why? That he, or she, might serve others for Kingdom purposes.

I Timothy 5:18 (msg)

Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay.”

How Do You Measure Up?

Annual Salaries – National Average

Position Salary Range Median

Pastor $60,000 - 120,000 $90,000 Missionary* $17,000 - 52,000 $30,000 Non-specified $69,000 Christian $35,000 Non-profit Executive Director $36,137 - 117,558 $63,866 Non-profit Administrator $39,127 - $68,214 $49,209

* The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes Missionary with Others

Sources: Salary.com; Thom Rainer; TBLS; EFCA; Simply Hired; Payscale.com

Now What? Ask. Pray. Forgive. Receive.

If you don’t have what is needed for mission, which includes provision for the worker of the mission, we are told to ask.

James 4:2b (niv) You do not have because you do not ask God.

Mark 11:23-25 (msg) Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake…and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything … and you’ll get God’s everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it’s not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins.”

Matthew 10:8b (niv) Freely you have received; freely give.

ex·cel·lence: possessing moral goodness & honor; superiority in virtue; uprightness

THE COALITION & MORE |A PUBLICATION FROM COPE | Volume #3 Issue#1 5

2016 SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL CONFERENCE

Pictured above, Chaplain Vance Drum,

Manager of Chaplaincy Operations for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was one of the plenary speakers for the South Central Regional Conference..

Below, Johnny Moffitt greets Evangelist Okafor and his wife Pastor Odoziaku Okafor from Lagos, Nigeria. COPE is very excited to see the progress this dynamic duo have made over the last year to

establish the COPE Nigeria International Chapter.

Feedback from the Attendees

Q. Three most important factors in your decision to attend?

A. Workshop topics; opportunity to learn more about COPE; opportunity to learn about industry news & trends. – EL

Opportunity to network; speakers and presenters; workshop topics. – JH

Q. What are the benefits for attending?

A. Networking. - RA

Bar-b-que, fellowship, and pens. Not necessarily in that order. - RM

WWW.COPECONNECTIONS.ORG

COPE: A coalition established to provide fellowship, promote excellence, share resources & encourage unity among those called to criminal &restorative justice ministry.

PO BOX 740843 DALLAS, TX 75374 682-292-8009

Social Media Support

Do you “Like” us?

Can you “Comment”?

Are you a “Tweeter”?

Do you know the best all-In-one social tool for message scheduling, and managing social media?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we need your help!

This volunteer opportunity is wide open. Whether you simply want to post news once a week, tell us about your favorite scheduling tool, or develop a year-long campaign of encouragement, it’s up to you!

For more information, post to our FB page, tweet using @copeconnections, or send a text to 254-214-4685.

Creativity welcomed. Fun a must!

Volunteers Needed

Are you looking for a place to volunteer where you can make a difference worldwide?

Do you like event planning?

How about helping with the 2018 East & West Africa Regional Conferences?

Do you have fundraising experience or enjoy campaign development?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then

you are the

PERFECT voice & hands

for our new & developing

committees.

If that’s you, simply email office@copeconnections.org and one of our Board Members will be in contact.

2017 SAVE THE DATE…

January 22-26 ReNew Hope - MONTGOMERY, TROY, BIRMINGHAM, & ATMORE, AL

March 11th Restorative Justice Ministry Awareness Conf. – DALLAS, TX

May 5-7th CMCA Correctional Ministries Summit – PHILADELPHIA, PA

September 13-15th COPE 2017 International Conference – DAYTONA, F

November 13-18th COPE Fall Fellowship Cruise with Friends– GALVESTON, TX

ATTENTION COPE MEMBERS

Did you know your ministry events can be listed on COPE's website? Simply send your email to

office@copeconnections.org. Include the event name, date, and location. Feel free to include a

website link, event photo, and even your twitter hash tag.

GET INVOLVED