The SIAFU Guidebook

Welcoming Brothers and Sisters Home Ex-Offenders and Your SIAFU Chapter

At the very heart of the SIAFU Network’s mission is a deep passion that urban folk, those whom the Lord has redeemed and transformed, will be used of the Lord to win the city. Those considered both unlovely and unlikely will be those whom God equips to be used of him to advance his Kingdom! Our desire and purpose with the Network is to help mobilize urban churches to equip urbanites – men, women, boys, and girls – to serve Christ in the city. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they can get this done! The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) and Prison Fellowship have partnered together and have established TUMI Satellites in prisons around the country. Over time, hundreds of ex-offenders will be released from prison having been equipped with TUMI’s seminary- level training. All of these unique and dear brothers (and sisters!) in Christ will certainly need a church home when they are paroled or serve their sentence. Each one will need the kind of welcome and acceptance deserving of any disciple of Christ, and will need the pastoral care and personal mentoring and friendship that will help them discover and use their gifts for Christ. Each one will need to be integrated into a healthy, functioning assembly of believers where they can be known, loved, and where they can serve and grow with others who love the Lord Jesus. We are convinced that our SIAFU Chapters can be that kind of welcoming, empowering community for these dear men and women. Our intent is to receive information from Prison Fellowship regarding the parole and release of our TUMI students, and we will seek to share their release information with churches hosting SIAFU Chapters in their area. Our SIAFU Chapters can become welcoming centers, the kind of places that receive these dear disciples of Jesus without suspicion or shame. Our Chapters can be the kind of places that incorporate them into a Christian

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