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During the past year, I've had 
the privilege of serving as an 

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inside volunteer for Jumpstart. 
Every week. 

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I continue to be tremendously 
inspired and awestruck by the 

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radical transformation that 
occurs when the incarcerated 

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truly surrender their lives to 
Christ. 

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Jumpstart provides a very 
rigorous Christ based curriculum

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inside the prison and when 
participants successfully 

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complete the course upon their 
release, they are provided the 

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necessary outside resources that
enable them to reenter society 

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and fulfill their newly found 
Christ Center purpose. 

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I'm truly blessed to be part of 
the Jumpstart organization and 

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personally witness the life 
changing results of their 

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ministry. 
Welcome back to another episode 

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of the Grace Church Members 
Podcast. 

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You just heard Craig Nowikunski,
A Jumpstart volunteer and Grace 

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Church's Travelers Rest Campus 
member, talking about the impact

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he has experienced serving with 
Jumpstart. 

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Jumpstart is a strategic partner
with Grace Church and on this 

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episode my goal is to introduce 
you to this partnership and how 

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God is using this ministry to 
advance His Kingdom. 

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At the table we have Kerry 
Sanders, who is the Chief 

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Executive Officer at Jumpstart. 
Kerry, welcome. 

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Chris, super excited to be here.
Yeah man, I've always enjoyed 

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our time together and grateful. 
Why don't you maybe just jump in

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and tell us a little bit about 
your story and the history of 

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Jumpstart? 
Sure, Chris, It's a little 

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surreal to be here to church 
sharing on a podcast because my 

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life didn't look like it was 
headed towards being at a church

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sharing on the podcast. 
I'm kind of jump in. 

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At my darkest moment in May of 
2005, I was. 

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Facing a life sentence and the 
only thing I was thinking about 

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was suicide. 
I didn't believe in God, I 

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didn't believe in heaven or 
hell, and I couldn't quite grasp

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how my life had come to that 
moment. 

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I had grown up in a good family.
My family had cared. 

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My mom had tried as hard as any 
mother ever had, and I had a 

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good childhood. 
I remember playing sports with 

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my brothers outdoors and 
throwing the football and the 

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baseball around the yard. 
And remember, one year we got BB

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guns for Christmas and. 
You know, playing Cowboys and 

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Indians and shooting one 
another. 

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You know it hurt and but it was 
a lot of fun. 

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But as I entered my adolescent 
years, I started seeking 

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attention for the outlandish 
things that I would do. 

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One story I remember, our 7th 
grade formal dance party was 

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held at a pretty girl's house 
and the pool at her home had 

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been declared strictly off 
limits and but a friend of mine 

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dared me and under the influence
of stolen booze, marijuana and. 

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Some other things. 
I went off that diving board and

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those cold waters in the middle 
of April, and only my Whitey 

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tidies and my friends cheered 
loudly, and that made getting 

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thrown out of that party 
worthwhile. 

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You know, those square 
chaperones didn't know what a 

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good time was. 
And as I would get attention for

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things like that, I had to do 
increasingly crazier things to 

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get the same kind of attention. 
And that led me to being 

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arrested 17 times by the age of 
17. 

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And I spent three different 
sentences in the Department of 

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Juvenile Justice. 
But I learned next to nothing, 

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even though I experienced a lot.
Soon after my 17th birthday, I 

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shot someone during an armed 
robbery that went bad, and I was

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apprehended a year later in 
Canada as an international 

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fugitive from justice and 
brought back to Greenville by 

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the Department of Homeland 
Security. 

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So they're in that jail cell. 
I had a I had some God size 

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problems. 
I. 

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Bet you did. 
And but I thought he was a fairy

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tale. 
And the very night I was 

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planning to commit suicide, I 
met Jesus Christ. 

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And 2 1/2 years later I was in 
prison. 

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I had matured some in Christ and
was actually working for the 

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chaplain. 
And he said, Hey, Kerry, this 

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program's starting and I think 
you should check it out. 

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And I didn't really want to go 
because I'd heard about prison 

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programs and had participated in
some that were nothing but a 

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joke. 
But because I respected that 

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chaplain and he had been 
discipling me, I said I'm going 

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to give this program a shot. 
And that day Don Williams, the 

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cofounder of Jumpstart, came in 
and said, hey, I was the most 

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wanted man in Spartanburg 
County. 

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But I have found a pathway out 
of the cycle of crime. 

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And he said, I'm here today to 
share with you all that plan. 

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It's called jumpstart. 
And the acronym Jumpstart stands

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for just using the Masters plan 
to stay true after release time.

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Chris. 
The the hope that was ignited in

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that room that day was palpable.
Because you see, the narrative 

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at that time could be kind of 
captured in a friend of mine who

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I was incarcerated with. 
His name was John. 

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John had been in and out of 
prison four different times. 

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Each time he got out. 
He didn't have a driver's 

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license, and he couldn't get one
without a birth certificate or 

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Social Security card. 
And so he couldn't get a job. 

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He didn't have anywhere to live,
and in a couple of days he would

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be hungry and desperate, and he 
would do something stupid to go 

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back to prison. 
That doesn't excuse his actions,

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but what I'm trying to convey 
there is that that spark of 

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hope, that learning to follow 
Jesus combined with tangible 

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resources after release. 
Really sparked the 

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transformation that is Jumpstart
because the national narrative 

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on what's possible for those 
that are involved in the 

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criminal justice system, it 
began to change that day. 

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And so for the next six years, 
while I was incarcerated, I got 

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to participate in Jumpstart and 
be discipled by people from 

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local churches like Grace coming
in and saying, hey, with Christ,

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your future can be greater than 
your past. 

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And through people like Craig, 
who you heard at the beginning, 

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people like that poured into my 
life to help me see and know 

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what it meant to follow Jesus. 
And that's so good. 

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And then you ended up coming on 
staff. 

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What did that look like? 
How did that happen? 

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Yeah, I've been out of prison 
about two years and was working 

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hard and Jumpstart called me and
said, hey Carrie, do you you 

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want to get involved with our 
team? 

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And I was like, absolutely not. 
Like I've been incarcerated half

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my life. 
I don't have, I don't want care 

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to have anything to do with the 
prison. 

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So I was reluctant like maybe 
like some people listening to 

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this today about getting 
involved with prison ministry. 

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And I was coming at it from a 
reluctance from a different 

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standpoint. 
I knew what it was all about and

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knew the challenges faced. 
But as I began to pray about it,

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I knew that it's what the Lord 
wanted me to do. 

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So I joined the staff team in 
2015 and. 

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Was a part of developing the 
partnership with Grace Church 

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and Jumpstart in 2017 and was 
actually on the Grace Church 

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staff part time for about three 
years. 

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OK. 
Yeah, maybe unpack that and then

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the partnership, how all that 
came about? 

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Jumpstart believes that with 
Christ, anyone's future can be 

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greater than their past. 
We believe that because the 

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Cross of Christ is sufficient to
justify anyone, regardless of 

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what they've done. 
And we believe the Spirit of God

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is powerful enough to transform 
anyone, regardless of their 

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behaviors. 
That result in things like 

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criminal activity. 
So we believe Jesus is 

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sufficient to transform. 
And we also know that those 

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coming out of incarceration face
insurmountable obstacles that 

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they must have helped to 
overcome if they're going to 

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have a pathway towards 
flourishing in the community. 

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So we combine discipleship with 
tangible reentry services. 

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It's kind of the core of what we
do. 

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Yeah. 
So there's an inside program, 

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and then there's an outside 
program. 

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Can you unpack that? 
Yeah. 

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The inside program, we have a 
year long program in 19 of South

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Carolina's 23 prisons. 
So we have a statewide presence 

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here in South Carolina. 
It's a year long program and our

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methodology really combines the 
best of theological scholarship 

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with social science research. 
So participants are working 

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through curriculum every week 
that we've developed and then 

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volunteers come in from local 
churches and participate in 

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small groups. 
So think of a community group. 

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Like most Grace members attend, 
but it's actually occurring 

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inside of a prison. 
And the neat thing about our 

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community group is nobody's 
there is really pretending that 

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they've got it all together. 
And it takes 2 years to kind of 

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unpack some things And that 
setting, it's like, hey, I'm 

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desperate for Jesus and I'm 
desperate for help. 

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And so there's a lot of 
transparency and vulnerability. 

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And then one of things that most
people are interested to hear is

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that kind of our competitive 
advantage in the prison ministry

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space, one of our distinctives. 
Is that we're using a assessment

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tool that peers are completing 
on one another to help identify 

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who is pursuing Jesus and who's 
showing up the class talking a 

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good game. 
And so it really helps us 

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identify who is living out, what
they're learning and who's just 

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talking about it. 
So of 1000, people every year 

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participate in our program 
across the state, men and women.

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Only about 400 complete it 
successfully and we believe 

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that's a good thing. 
Rigorous intentionally, if they 

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complete that inside program 
successfully, they're eligible 

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for our transitional program 
upon the release. 

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That transitional program is 
designed and has all the pieces 

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in place for them to go from 
prisoner to homeowner in a 

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period of two years. 
And that's critical because with

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that criminal record, no one 
wants to rent to them. 

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So we have to start from 
scratch. 

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Getting their proper 
documentation, workforce 

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readiness, training, partnership
with an employer, transportation

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to all of that and then helping 
them learn financial literacy, 

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learning how to save home 
buying. 

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You know, all of those things. 
Wow. 

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So it's clear that you have 
created an army of volunteers 

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that help make this happen. 
Can you unpack some of the? 

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Serving opportunities like what 
Greg shared. 

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I mean, he's clearly passionate 
about this, but talk to us about

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how people have got involved at 
Grace. 

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What does that look like? 
Ongoing. 

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Yeah, I'm gonna name drop a 
little bit as I tell. 

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The story. 
If you want just so people 

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listening to this will know some
of these people that they can go

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ask them as well. 
I think of a Paul Gato who goes 

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from the downtown campus and he 
goes into Tiger River every 

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Tuesday and helps facilitate 
classes on the inside. 

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I think of a John Beard, Doctor 
John Beard at the Pelham campus.

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He's doing that every week in 
three prisons. 

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Now that's not, it's not 
possible for most people because

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they're working, but he's 
retired and he's found meaning 

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there. 
I think about Craig Nowikunski 

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from the Travelers Rest Campus. 
There are members from the 

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Spartanburg campus involved in 
that in prison ministry. 

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Another cool opportunity is 
Taylor. 

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Brown from the Spartanburg 
campus leads him and Jay Bliven 

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lead a 33 series in the morning 
with our transitional program. 

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So that's a version of men's 
round table authentic manhood. 

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So they're going in and helping 
facilitate that. 

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Taylor is also leading a group 
that goes over and exercises the

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F3 group couple mornings a week.
You know they're doing 

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calisthenics out in the rain and
the cold or the heat and just 

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good fellowship and exercising. 
We have volunteer like Mary 

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Flair from Spartanburg who at 
our restoration village, she's 

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for free helping curate 
materials for the homes, you 

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know, furnishings. 
She's helping do the interior 

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design on those homes. 
So it's not just a place to 

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stay, but it's designed as a 
home to to really help the 

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people feel safe and secure and 
loved and dignity. 

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So there are numerous serving 
opportunities with Jumpstart, 

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and probably the best way to 
find out which is good for a 

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member of the church if they're 
excited about this ministry, is 

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to just sign up for a tour. 
Someone can visit our website 

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and sign up for a tour, and 
they'll get to meet some of the 

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team and see the space where 
we're working and have all of 

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their questions answered. 
And we can. 

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Identify an opportunity that's a
good fit for their skill set and

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their schedule. 
Yeah. 

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Well, it's clear the mission is 
transforming lives in prison. 

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Talk to me a little bit about 
your strategy for helping the 

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incarcerated. 
They come out of prison like, 

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what does a life look like 
within Jumpstarts Ministry? 

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Yeah, I love to tell the story 
of Kimberly. 

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Kimberly ended up incarcerated 
because she was in a domestic 

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abuse situation that she didn't 
know how to handle and she 

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wrongly took matters into her 
own hands and and killed her 

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spouse. 
She was incarcerated for 25 

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years and so by the time she was
released, her parents had 

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deceased and she had lost all of
her personal belongings over 

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those 25 years. 
So without jumpstart she would 

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have been homeless. 
The day of her release she gets 

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to us and we have to help get 
her her identification, so we 

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got to get her a birth 
certificate again, a Social 

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Security card again so she can 
get an ID. 

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She has no clothing, so that's 
needing to be provided. 

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She has no transportation. 
Nothing. 

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And so we're able to to come 
alongside her and help her 

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journey. 
And now today she's a lead on a 

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shift at a company and she's a 
homeowner. 

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And so really there's a lot of 
puzzle pieces there. 

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But I think most importantly, 
she's a sister in Christ who's 

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living for the glory of Jesus. 
And she has seen her brothers 

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and sisters in Christ come 
alongside her and provide her 

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with opportunities that she 
didn't have access to on her 

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own. 
That's good. 

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You've clearly made an impact 
since becoming the Chief 

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Executive Officer there. 
Share a little bit about this 

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project that you guys have been 
working on. 

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Yeah. 
So a number of years ago, we 

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realized that we could serve 
people better if we consolidated

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into a central location. 
And so that central location is 

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Restoration Village that we're 
building. 

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Couple of Grace members were 
instrumental in that Chris 

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Urban, Tommy Moore, Mike 
Carrocketes and James de Mint. 

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They were very key in helping 
kind of master plan a 

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neighborhood that's designed 
specifically for people coming 

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out of incarceration. 
So think of a subdivision. 

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We're building a subdivision for
people coming out of 

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incarceration and we currently 
have five homes on site there 

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that people are living in. 
And in that community we're 

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building an Opportunity Center. 
Yeah, the opportunity center, 

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Chris is going to allow us to 
provide. 

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Incredible onsite case 
management support for those 

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going through our program. 
We're going to have all kinds of

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classroom space to do everything
from conflict resolution classes

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to financial literacy and other 
kind of classes designed for for

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those that we serve. 
It's going to have a culinary 

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arts training center in it to 
provide workforce development 

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opportunities and and revenue 
for our mission. 

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And then it's also going to have
Chapel space for events and 

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Chapel services and things of 
that nature. 

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One of the the reasons Grace is 
behind this right now is 

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Jumpsort has been identified by 
Truest Bank as the top nonprofit

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in South Carolina for impact 
delivered And so we are eligible

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for a $900,000 grant if 300,000 
of which would be paid out this 

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year and we can use that funding
for our Opportunity Center. 

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If we have 65% of the 
opportunity funding in place, 

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gotcha and so Grace's gift, 
they're matching challenge gift 

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is going to help get us over 
that threshold, yeah. 

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So this is good, Carrie. 
I think just piggybacking off of

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what you said earlier about 
Restoration Village and the 

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money that you're trying to 
raise this 8,000,000. 

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So the Opportunity Center is 
going to be smack dab right 

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there. 
So are the people that have 

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these homes. 
They'll be able to walk to work 

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if they're doing culinary or 
they're doing a class. 

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What are some of the classes 
that you guys will be providing?

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One of the favorite classes will
be providing as a workforce 

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development opportunity where 
the residents will wear these 

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virtual reality training goggles
and they can learn over 50 

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different trades without the 
need to go on site. 

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This makes them better prepared 
to be good employees for 

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employers in the area, and it 
provides them more of a living 

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wage for them to save for their 
future. 

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So for those of us that there, I
mean, you've named so many 

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people that are already 
volunteering. 

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What does it look like 
financially? 

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00:16:11,580 --> 00:16:13,980
I mean you we need to raise 
money for this. 

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How much money are you trying to
raise? 

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Are there types of givers that 
could jump in? 

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What are you looking for? 
Yeah. 

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To finish the entire project of 
Restoration Village and meet our

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operation needs over the next 
two years, we need to raise a 

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little over $8 million. 
Each home and restoration 

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village cost $250,000. 
That's a steal when you think 

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about, you know, it's $110 a 
square foot to be able to 

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provide that kind of opportunity
to someone to go from prisoner 

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to homeowner and have a clear 
pathway to get them there. 

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00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,480
And so that's kind of big 
picture what we're doing. 

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00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,520
Yeah, that's good. 
What do you feel like this is 

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going to allow Jumpstart to be 
able to do? 

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When this is finished and you 
have all this, you have the 

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funds raised. 
Yeah, I think one of the the 

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things that we're most excited 
about is that a lot of times in 

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ministry organizations think 
about, well, what how, what can 

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00:17:06,010 --> 00:17:09,810
we do to just get by? 
You know, how can we just just 

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provide a meaningful 
opportunity. 

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But we're trying to provide a 
world class opportunity so that 

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men and women can be reunited 
with their families, they can be

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pillars in the community and 
that they're living for the 

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glory of. 
King Jesus. 

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00:17:24,510 --> 00:17:27,230
Not that they've just got out of
prison and haven't relapsed into

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addiction and committed another 
crime, but they're actually 

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pillars in the community because
of this opportunity that's been 

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afforded to them by God's 
people. 

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And they're able to be living 
proof of what God can do, and 

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that his ability to rescue and 
restore is unprecedented and 

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00:17:44,950 --> 00:17:48,830
unparalleled. 
Well, this is a incredible 

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00:17:48,830 --> 00:17:52,270
opportunity for us as a church. 
I think we should be on the hook

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for this. 
This is our, these are our 

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00:17:53,950 --> 00:17:57,670
brothers and sisters. 
And so I'm excited that you have

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00:17:57,670 --> 00:17:59,830
given us this opportunity. 
I'm glad that we're partnering 

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00:17:59,830 --> 00:18:04,270
with you and it seems like you 
have a great process and I think

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our church can help scale that 
with money and resources and 

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00:18:08,830 --> 00:18:11,070
people. 
And so it's exciting me. 

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00:18:11,070 --> 00:18:13,590
Is there anything else you want 
to leave us with as we close? 

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00:18:15,190 --> 00:18:17,630
You know, I'm a Grace Church 
member and my wife have been 

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00:18:17,630 --> 00:18:19,750
covenant members of Grace Church
for five years. 

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00:18:19,750 --> 00:18:22,910
And we lead a community group. 
And and I would just say for 

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people, whether they're involved
with jumpstart or front porch 

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00:18:25,550 --> 00:18:29,110
housing or one of the other 
missions partners, if they are 

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not experiencing deep abiding 
joy in Jesus Christ, I would 

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encourage them to get involved 
in an opportunity like this. 

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00:18:37,210 --> 00:18:39,890
Because as they go make 
disciples, they're going to get 

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00:18:39,890 --> 00:18:44,370
discipled and they're going to 
find joy, satisfaction, and 

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00:18:44,370 --> 00:18:47,930
fulfillment in this in a way 
that they can't find at Haywood 

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00:18:47,930 --> 00:18:50,330
Mall or down on Woodruff Road by
buying something else. 

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00:18:52,050 --> 00:18:56,810
So that would encourage them to 
just take that first step and 

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00:18:56,810 --> 00:18:59,930
see what God will do in their 
life as they put themselves on 

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00:18:59,930 --> 00:19:02,980
the hook to serve other people. 
Thank you so much. 

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00:19:03,020 --> 00:19:05,620
As we wrap up today's 
conversation, we want to thank 

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00:19:05,620 --> 00:19:08,940
you for joining us and we also 
want to challenge you to give to

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00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:13,900
this, be it your time or your 
financial resources, we feel 

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like this partnership is is 
something that we want you to be

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00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:19,620
involved in. 
So if you have questions or you 

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00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:22,340
want access to additional 
resources to help you move 

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00:19:22,340 --> 00:19:25,260
towards Jumpstart, be sure to 
check out our podcast page 

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00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:28,340
located in the show notes. 
Thanks for joining us today and 

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00:19:28,340 --> 00:19:30,380
we look forward to joining you 
on the next episode.