Stand in the Gap connects people in need with people who care in order to set the prisoners free and defend orphans and widows.
You are invited to learn about Stand in the Gap’s three focus programs and our work in Oklahoma! Over lunch, you will hear directly from clients and staff about the impact of Stand in the Gap’s volunteer-driven methodology. Lunch will be provided.
Stand in the Gap Ministries’ Life Launch program focuses on meeting the relational needs of at-risk young people, age 16-24, many of whom are aging out of the foster care system. Each young person is partnered with 3-4 adult mentors, who become friends and help them on their journey to become independent and self-sufficient.
Every year, approximately 300-500 young adults age out of the foster care system in Oklahoma. These young adults may or may not have a high school education, a job, or a place to live.
Stand in the Gap has partnered with several organizations to meet the “whole person” needs of these young adults. Read more
At 20 years old, Women in Transition is Stand in the Gap’s longest running program. We decided to celebrate this important milestone with a deeper look at the program and the people we serve.
Stand in the Gap Check out this video for Stand in the Gap! Posted by Celebrate Unity OKC on Thursday, March 1, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2018 Oklahoma nonprofit recognized for meeting the needs of the community’s vulnerable populations
So you’ve deciding (or you are thinking about deciding) to host a table at one or both of Stand in the Gap’s annual fall events…
First of all, THANK YOU! Your participation is crucial to Stand in the Gap’s ability to serve Oklahoma’s orphans, widows, and prisoners. Your willingness to share our mission with your friends and family will empower this ministry for 2018 and beyond.
As you know, there is no cost to host a table! Read more
On March 25, 2015, Jena Barnhill emerged from the water at Crossings Community Church. Looking into the crowd, she saw her roommates and Stand in the Gap family. The women were on their feet cheering. They had come in spite of the spring storm and tornado sirens outside.
Jena looked down at her ankle to the symbol of her past. Unwrapping the tight layers of plastic trash bags and tape from her leg, she could tell that her Department-of-Corrections-issued GPS ankle monitor had suffered no ill effects from it’s submersion in water. Two years later, Jena tears up at the memory. “The monitor wasn’t supposed to be underwater, but I knew God would protect that ankle monitor for my baptism,” she says.
As your small group gets to know each other, it can be helpful to balance out your regular “highs and lows” conversations with some fun, social activities. But then there’s that pesky question… What should we do?
From celebrating milestones to attending weekly church services, click through the photo gallery for 7 great ideas of how to spend social time with your Stand in the Gap small group.
Wanda (center) with her son and his girlfriend (left), her daughter, and her mother (right).
As a staff, one of our biggest passions is seeing families reunited. Whether it is a young adult in foster care finding a forever home, or an ex-offender finding her footing in the free world and restoring her relationship with her kids, we cannot celebrate these moments enough.
Wanda wrote her story as an encouragement to other incarcerated moms. In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, here’s Wanda’s story…
In September 2016, a group of strangers met at a coffee shop near downtown Tulsa. On his way to the meeting, Isaiah Wright felt the nervous energy that often accompanies walking towards the unknown. At age seventeen, Isaiah was about to age out of DHS custody in a state he had only called home for a few months. He had no family in Oklahoma and little support left even in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
Weeks before, Isaiah had been introduced to TJ Warren, Stand in the Gap’s Life Launch Program Manager in Tulsa. TJ met with Isaiah at Youth Services of Tulsa, where Isaiah was living at the time, and told him that through Life Launch, Isaiah could be paired with a small group of mentors who would spend time with him as he transitioned from foster care to independent adulthood. Isaiah was immediately interested.
