News from the Field - March/April 2023

“When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

– Matthew 25:39-40

Open Arms’ Project Zadok – Youth Corrections Mission

In Brazil’s state of São Paulo alone, there are roughly 20,000 adolescents and teens, 96% boys, in correctional facilities. Project Zadok has a two-part mission: (1) to engage these youth within the correctional facilities with a combination of Bible Study and mentoring; and (2) to support their reintegration into society.

Wise Choices & Wise Friends

“If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.” (Proverbs 9:12).

The focus of each Project Zadok team is to introduce these young men to Jesus and give them the tools to live disciplined and successful lives upon their release. Through teaching, testimonies, object lessons, Bible study, activities and one-on-one counseling, our team is helping enable these young men to discover a different path, one toward hope and a futu

A Life-Line on the outside

According to Project Zadok founder and former inmate Eduardo de Mello Ribeiro, the most critical period for these youth upon release is the first three months. “After about three months of resisting the temptation of returning to drugs and crime my so-called ‘friends’ stopped coming around. Had it not been for my new-found faith and friends from Open Arms, I don’t think I would have made it.”

To help in this transition, Project Zadok provides a “life-line” by being available to youth upon release and encourages them to become involved in Open Arms’ community-based projects and other programs, where they can begin living a new, Christ-centered life.

Doors Opening

This past January a team from the United States joined Project Zadok staff for a visit to one particular Correctional Facility in the State of Sao Paulo. For several years we have been limited to just 2 people at a time serving there due to an uprising that occurred during a visit from a church group not associated with Open Arms. We had been unable to get an exception until we let them know of our visiting American team. The Lord used their visit to re-open a door that had been closed. Our visit went very well and provided opportunity for the boys to hear testimonies, have a time of leisure and sport with our team, and be prayed for. It also gave us a chance to speak with the new Director of Education for the facility. This gentleman controls who enters and what is taught. Turns out he is an old friend of Open Arms and has now thrown the doors open wide and wants to work with us more closely. God moves mountains and the doors He opens no one can close.

While you couldn’t be there in person, there is a way you can be present in spirit. It is people just like you who pray and give generously that allow us to continue investing in these young lives, in families, in the Kingdom. On behalf of our Agents of Hope and those they serve, we invite you to join us. GET INVOLVED TODAY