Ministry Helps Ex-Convicts Transition

By: by Magdalena Wegrzyn (11/20/2009)

Ministry helps ex-convicts transition
By Magdalena Wegrzyn
© 2009 Longmont Times-Call
LONGMONT — After he was arrested 12 years ago for sexually assaulting a female co-worker, Rick Velasquez said his life fell apart.
“I lost my job, my marriage, the house,” he said.
Velasquez served time at the Boulder County jail for the offense and two subsequent probation violations, the latter of which placed in a halfway home.
It was then that Velasquez met Roger Johnson, an ordained minister and director of Shekinah Christian Ministries, a Longmont-based nonprofit that serves those in jails, prisons, nursing homes and youth ministries.
Johnson ran a weekly Bible study at the halfway home and mentored Velasquez.
“They accepted me as a friend,” said Velasquez, whose parole is scheduled to expire in March. “They accepted me knowing I had a past and flaws. They accepted me for who I was — not what I did.”
This spring, Johnson began Living Proof, a Shekinah ministry that helps ex-convicts transition back into society. Sunday afternoon service is geared for individuals like Velasquez — men and women 18 years and older who have been released from jail or prison. The service also is open to the public.
To create a more comfortable environment, children are not permitted to attend the service.
“When you have a new identity, that’s when people need something to help them stay strong so they’re not tempted to fall back into their old ways,” Johnson said.
He and his wife, Ruby Johnson, have participated in prison ministry for 18 years. He said that for many people, the real struggle comes when they are released back into a society that doesn’t always accept them.
“There’s definitely a discovery time there,” Johnson said.
Velasquez said he’s still working through the stigma associated with having to register as a sex offender.
“It’s the label,” he said. “Right away, when people hear sex offender, they think pedophile, and my offense didn’t have anything to do with children.”
But re-connecting with his faith has helped ease the pain, he said.
About a year after Dan Glass was released from prison, a friend recommended that he explore Living Proof.