The last 2 months with God Behind Bars

God and me. Together.

It’s been a crazy couple months filled with LOTS of meetings, training (to go into prisons) and learning the new culture of this thing called God Behind Bars.

It’s been great so far! I get to work with some fantastic people who are on fire for the Lord and have a deep passion to bring God into the lives of prisoners world wide. But for now we are focusing on Las Vegas (and Oklahoma, and Denver, and Alaska… Why stop at one, when you can change the world!) :)

We are serving over 1000 individuals a month in 4 prisons with our worship experience. For the past 2 months I’ve been running the service at a transitional housing location (Casa Grande) with up to 50 inmates per service. I LOVE them! They are so fun, so hungry for God and so humble. For the past 3 weeks we have been running small groups as well and it's been so fun getting to know some of the girls on a more personal level. 

After Care

But the real heart of it all lays in After Care. So we are working on getting programs set up inside the prison, that will help the inmate get ready for when they are released.

Once released we meet them at the gate and connect them with mentors and churches that will help them get housing, get a job and stay on the outside. It’s amazing!  Just today we were able to help a former inmate get one step closer to getting a job.

The youth

There are lots of things I really love about this new ministry, but I especially love that they invited me to dream with them for the youth and are now backing me up in making it happen.

We are in the process of getting into 2 youth prisons with our worship experience and the youth after care mentorship program we have set up.

That after care mentorship program will also serve those kids and youth who have one or more parent in prison and are at risk of ending up on the inside themselves.

We will be working with professional athletes and artists to create a 1 year mentorship experience for the students that will help them stay on the straight path. The heart of it is of course introducing them to Jesus and helping them understand how important a relationship with Jesus will be in their life.

Sobering fact: Over the past 2 months I have met TWO fathers who met their sons for the first time in the prison yard… Shocking!

I’m excited for where God is going to take me in all this.

As for what’s going to happen in the next 2 weeks… I will be in Germany, visiting my Mum and celebrating her 70th birthday with her! So excited.

Things God Behind Bars does, but I am not directly involved:

-Starting a new campus in Colorado and Alaska in 2012

-Opening a 2nd hand store to create jobs for former inmates

-Fresh Start Kits: Greeting the former inmate at the gate upon their release with the Fresh Start kit, that includes clothing, sheets, pillows, prepaid cell phone, toiletries and more. This also includes their first meal on the outside that they got to pick out themselves. (This is apparently a conversation that can take a while, because as an inmate you're not used to making decisions anymore. Making a decision about their first meal is sometimes overwhelming, but necessary to get them used to life on the outside again.)

-Media art studio: God Behind Bars is teaching inmates in one of the prisons how to be a graphic designer. This serves to help them create income for themselves upon their release. 

-Celebrate Recovery (CR) meets at least once a week in all of our prisons. Upon their release (if former inmate stays in Vegas) they can join Celebrate Recovery at Central (our partner church). It's a Christian 12 step program that doesn't just focus on addiction, but rather hurts, habits and hang ups. It takes 1 year to 'graduate' from CR and we have well over 100 inmates who have graduated. 

Linkage you should check out here, here and here! Oh and you can follow me here!

new and exciting things

Life has been CRAZY…. How was your summer? Have you had some time to relax, reconnect? I find that sometimes summer can be the time where things either get so busy or so relaxed that I have a hard time staying connected with God.

Luckily this summer was an exception, as I HAD to hang on to God for the crazy ride….

Mission Adventures:

I had the great privilege to work with Mission Adventures this summer. It’s one of those amazing programs where you work with young people who are passionate about God and get them to be passionate about sharing Jesus with others… And especially sharing people with complete strangers on the spot!

And you know what? It works!!! We saw over 20 people come to Christ this summer. Many others were prayed for and heard about Jesus’ love; sometimes for the first time. It was amazing.

The next step:

So what’s next after Mission Adventures? A question I really had to wrestle with since I quite honestly didn’t know. After much praying and talking with people who know me, love me and are wiser than me I came to the (sad, but exciting) conclusion that it is time to finish here at YWAM Las Vegas.

It was one of those really hard decisions, as I have been with YWAM for more than 15 years.

But once I knew that, I also knew that I still felt called to Las Vegas. So the question still was ‘What’s next?’.

Insert lots of prayer and talking.

So, my next step will be with a ministry called ‘God Behind Bars’ here in Vegas. It’s a ministry that brings God to prisoners and brings life change to them.

My specific job will be to help pioneer a part of the ministry that is called ‘Project 22’ and works with kids of inmates.. That’s a very broad description, but you can read a little more about it here.

I will still be sponsored by people like you (THANK YOU) and am excited about where God will take me next! If you have any questions, please feel free to email, call, message…. Whatever it takes!

New and important things:

New Email: jackiegotmail@gmail.com
New address for support: God behind bars, c/o
support for jackie/frauke, 129 W Lake Mead Parkway, Suite 21, Henderson NV 89015
(do not put my name on the check, but rather attach a sticky note with my name
on it)
New online giving: If you would like to set up
online giving, you can do that now! :) Go to http://www.godbehindbars.com/ and
find the 'donate now' button on the bottom of the page. Click it and fill out
the required information. Please make sure you put my name in the comments and
questions box to ensure it goes towards me.
You can set it up for one time, weekly, monthly
or yearly giving. Pretty cool eh? And you will receive an email every time it
gets taken out of your account. All donations are tax deductable.
New websites to check out:
http://www.godbehindbars.com/



Mission Adventures Staff :)

Getting ready for Intercession at the strip

Kitchen Work Duty: Peeling potatos

Praying at the strip

Hanging with the MA staff

Day off at the lake! :)

Merry Christmas to you! I hope you're having a good Christmas season.

I just wanted to give you a quick update on what's been going on with me...

We finish up this year with some great reports:

• grocery assistance is going strong, serving up to 120 individuals a week with various groceries such as meats, eggs, veggies and juice.
• one of my clients gave me a little Christmas present which blew me away. This is huge for this neighborhood and I was so blessed by her.
• we have been able to give away about 200 pounds of new and gently used clothes over the past 4 weeks to families in need. Some walked away with one bag, others with a trunkful of clothes! All according to their need.
• my time at the boys and girls club in our neighborhood is getting to be more and more fun and I'm starting to learn more names. The kids like to hang out with me and we play loads of games in the gym.

Some exciting changes for the next year:

• I will be working with Mission Adventures again, at least for the Spring. I am very excited about this opportunity, as this means I will have more contact with young people, get to challenge them to step out of their comfort zone and share the Gospel with people in Las Vegas and the world. It's one of those amazing programs that God uses to bring people closer to Him and I'm so glad to work with MA again this year.
• I will still be overseeing parts of the Pier ministry such as grocery assistance, clothing and the general running of the Pier. There will be new staff coming on to Pier staff and I'm sure we will come up with some exciting ministry opportunities for this neighborhood together. Our desire is still to see our neighborhood (the 8th worst neighborhood in the US) transformed and changed for God.
• I've got my OWN car!! Since December 17th, I am the proud owner of a 1998 Mazda 626 (in gold). So thankful to God for His provision and faithfulness.

Prayer Points:

• I was praying about New Years Resolutions and if I should do one again this year. (this past year I spent an extended time with God every 2nd Sunday of the month). So it's still fairly nebulous, but would you please pray that I would be able to be the closest I've ever been with God in 2011. I'm excited.
• Pray for Mission Adventures: The students that will be coming between February and April. The people we will talk to and share with. For impacted lives.
• We need new and strategic ideas for this neighborhood. Please pray with us to strategically impact our neighborhood.
• I've got a few financial prayer points:
  

I still owe $400 for the car. Thankfully the guy who helped me get the car is nice enough and I can pay it off over the next few weeks. It was too good of a deal to let it go.. (I got a $4000 car for $2200). I will also need to pay registration and license plates very soon.

I need to see financial provision and breakthrough for me personally. Like a lot of people I've had a decrease in income (support) over this past year. I need to see $200 more a month come in to be able to cover all my bills. On top of that comes, that my laptop is starting to really pass out on me on a regular basis... Something I really don't need! Please pray for me!

Thank you so much for being part of my team. I love serving Jesus and I love doing it in Las Vegas. But without you, I wouldn't be able to. So thank you.

I pray you have a very merry Christmas.


Frauke


PS:
If you want to follow my life, there are a couple different ways:
Facebook.com/jackie.doyle
twitter.com/jackie_doyle
jackieinvegas.tumblr.com
frauked.blogspot.com

or email/call me
frauked@ywamlasvegas.org
702 273 7166

Real quick

A new update will be up soon. Til then I just wanted to say that

the car fund is now at $1600!!!
Looks like I will be coaching a Basketball team with the Boys and Girls Club starting soon!!!
Please pray for our grocery assistance program. We've had some problems with the food bank and it affected our volunteers. It's been a roller coaster ride for the past 2 weeks. We feed more than 70 individuals each week, so I really want this to be sorted soon.
I still want to have an open mic night at the Pier, but it has not worked out so far at all. Would you please pray?

Thanks!

My very sensitive relationship with my car

The car I drive right now is not mine. I just would like to preface this post with that fact…

I love the fact that someone is lending me and has been lending me their car for over a year! It’s a huge blessing and I don’t know how to even thank that person.

The car is a 1995 Saturn, stick shift with no AC. So summers have been a struggle, but better than not having a car at all.

This is the story of the car and me:

-Last year every now and then the car would just cut out. Especially annoying when you’re going 65 mph down the highway and suddenly your engine dies and you have to get it going again… (4th gear, clutch in let it come slowly). It worked every single time and I didn’t say anything before because, when I did, people seemed to freak out about my safety here and there… Thanks, I guess.

-This year the car started to overheat whenever it was not going a solid minimum of 45 mph. I started to find out how amazingly convenient the Las Vegas Freeway system is. It was just a couple times that I got stuck in traffic and was yelling at others to ‘KEEP MOVING’. By the time I got to where I was going I was completely drenched in sweat and had to actually sit down for a minute to avoid fainting. Plus I was pretty grumpy! LOL Real story! Only happened once that bad tho.

-My clutch broke. But since I didn’t have any money I kind of learned to live with it for a while. So I parked only in spots where I didn’t need to back out of (the use of reverse was pretty limited). I only learned to start driving in 3rd gear, since that was still working fine. Then, through the incredible generosity of my friends I was able to fix the clutch and can now back out of parking spaces again.

-My latest fun thing are the windows. Since I have no aircon I greatly appreciate the use of the windows. All windows in this car are automatic, which makes it hard (aka expensive) to fix.A few months ago the passenger side window stopped about 4 inches down. that was it. Then a couple weeks ago, the driver’s side window stopped working all together. Now I drive a sweat bucket, with 4 inches of air coming through. And the saddest thing is: the passenger side window doesn’t even go up all the way anymore. It stops 2 inches short.

Ready for a new car… Any chance you want to join me in prayer to get a new car? I got $1400 towards it right now and need at least $600 more before I can really look for something that would work.

Now, if you have a car standing around and would like to donate it, please let me know! :)