Youth Corrections Outreach
There are roughly 19,500 youth who go through the juvenile detention system in the state of São Paulo per year. Anywhere from 5,000-7,000 are being held at any given time throughout the state. 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 give youth in these correctional facilities the tools to live disciplined and successful lives upon their release. Through teaching and mentoring, these young people are encouraged to avoid and resist the temptations that threaten to lead them back into a life of crime. The Project helps them to understand what is right, just and fair, and choose that narrow path in the future.
Training and Mentoring (while in custody)
Through teaching, testimonies, object lessons, Bible study, activities and one-on-one counseling while youth are at the correctional facility, Open Arms seeks to impart insight, knowledge, and discernment to youth who have lost their way.
A Life-Line on the Outside
Eduardo, a 16-year-old recently released from a correctional facility, was immediately confronted with the temptation to fall back into his old life of crime, drugs, and toxic friendships. Feeling isolated and powerless to break free, his life took a transformative turn when a mentor from Open Arms Worldwide reached out to him. Through their guidance and support, Eduardo discovered faith and found a new sense of belonging within a caring community. Today, he is the founder of Project Zadok, a powerful initiative he created with the help of his Open Arms family. Project Zadok is an Open Arms Worldwide program dedicated to offering hope and a brighter future to the thousands of teens who pass through Brazil’s correctional facilities each year.
How Can You Participate?
Each Bible costs Open Arms only $5 and includes contact numbers, and a reading plan, to encourage these youth to stand strong.
The correctional facility is a 45 minute drive from OA’s headquarters. Your gift of $40 per month allows our team to make those trips.
For $4,000 ($333/month) you, your church, business, or civic organization can fund a Zadok Project over an entire year, either through expansion of an existing Project or establishment of a new Project at an additional correctional facility.
The joy and love that I have witnessed from the missionaries heaped upon the children is truly amazing.