Global Mission Alliance (GMA), a Korean ministry based in Atlanta that focuses on reaching out to those in prison, had a planning meeting on Sunday at Korean Community Presbyterian Church of Atlanta to prepare for their upcoming outreach at Smith State Prison, located in Savanna, GA.
The outreach event is set to take place on August 28 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM, featuring lunch, musical performances, worship, and games.
A brief description of last year's outreach at Smith State Prison, an introduction of the prison itself, items to prepare and consider, and the different parts of this year's program were presented at the Sunday meeting. Though the ministry was initially catered only to the Korean inmates, due to the fact that most of the members of the GMA are more comfortable in Korean, the GMA decided to open the invitation to the event to all of the inmates at Smith State Prison this year.
"We wouldn't have imagined that we would some day be able to have an outreach with the entire prison," said one of the missionaries of the GMA. "We want to focus on sharing Jesus' love through this event."
"Those who were exposed to our ministry previously have not been convicted of crimes again after being released from prison," explained Woo-Sik Kim, who is also part of the GMA. "There are people who ask us why we help criminals, but if these people don't change, they're likely to commit more crimes when they return to society. In a sense, these people are just sinners behind bars -- and we also are sinners. It's essential to share God's love with them."
GMA will be holding another planning meeting on the 23rd at the same location.
