On December 14, 2023 Justice & Mercy - the voice the incarcerated and a catalyst for prison reform, will be going into the Lancaster County Prison, as we have for the last 15 years. 30 Christian friends of Justice & Mercy will gather to give a Christian greeting, a 6” x 11” Christmas card which explains the true meaning of Christmas and a Whoopie pie directly through the bars. This action brings to life what Jesus says in Matthew 25:36 “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”

We would love if everyone felt compelled to lend a hand in bringing hope and shining a light in a place where people typically feel forgotten by society, have little to no hope and don’t know Jesus. Thank the Lord for the fundraising progress launched with the Shady Grove Campground sponsored Save-the-Date post card. Thankfully our Christmas hand out card and some miscellaneous sponsorships have also been fulfilled, however there still remain sponsorship openings in order for Justice & Mercy to meet its goal. For example, we are currently in need of getting the 1,400 Whoopie pies sponsored. This includes all the work it takes to obtain and properly package 1,400 freshly baked Whoopie pies and deliver them to the prison in a secure, safe and timely manner.

Justice & Mercy also hosts a Fellowship Luncheon in the Presidential Room at Eden Resort. The morning's event begins with breakfast selections along with coffee and juice to hold guests over until lunch is served. The 30 friends of Justice & Mercy who participated in the prison visitation will have the opportunity to share their testimonies. We will also have a line up of special guest speakers which includes prison and public officials.

Justice & Mercy extends a heart-felt thank you to all who helped make the Justice & Mercy
Swing for Justice Golf Tournament possible. 

During its 20-year history, Justice & Mercy has served as a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our proactive efforts park long-term changes to an intolerably broken system rooted in our fundamental belief that rehabilitation, not retribution, is one of the essential keys to restorative justice. Our mantra is illustrated ]in our programming and initiatives, which span from widespread education of the facts to public policy making direct service in championing for inmates and victims rights. Because of your firm support, Justice & Mercy celebrates its milestone anniversary with an impressionable, inspired legacy filled with historical achievements, touching stories, and an illuminated, fiery light to continue our work.

Justice & Mercy, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, faith-based organization dedicated to decreasing the effects of crime in our communities, increasing public safety, and ministering to and restoring both criminal victims and offenders, Justice & Mercy achieves these goals through education and the dissemination of information to the public at-large, and advocating cost-effective and practical reforms within the criminal justice system by supporting and encouraging wise public policy. Justice & Mercy also networks and supports other criminal justice organizations and encourages church and community outreach efforts by working to increase knowledge and the understanding of criminal justice challenges and concerns. 

Justice & Mercy, Inc. Swing for Justice Supporters:
Abundant Living Ministries • Ambassador Advisors • AmishView Inn & Suites • Joseph & Sue Annese • Apex Land Improvements • Chet & Sharon Beiler
• Jean Bickmire • Blakinger Thomas Law Firm • Brandt's Farm Supply • Brittany's Hope • Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz • Brubacher • Burkholder Golf Carts •
Charles Enck Contracting • Jim Clymer • Cocalico CPH Plumbing & Heating • Colonial Lodge Community • Convene • Tom & Sandy Creighton • Custom Energy Solutions
• DavCo Advertising • Esbenshade's Garden Center • John & Debra Fileta • George's Furniture • Jeff & Patty Good • Good's Garbage Disposal Service •
State Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf • Marlin & Sharon Harnish • Hatfield • Hawk Valley Golf Club • Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn • Bill Hess • Tom & Janice Hess
• Steve Hodges • Home Improvement Outlet • Brian Hurter • Daniel & Susan Klinger • Kountry Kraft Cabinetry • John E. Landis Co. • Johnston Construction Co. •
Liberty Financial Strategies, LLC • ​Light of the World Foundation • Mar-Allen Concrete Products • Marietta Motors • Gene Martin • Leonard W. Martin Truck Repair
• Miller's Restaurant, Smorgasbord & Shops • Oregon Diary • The Oyster Company • Peaceful Valley Furniture • Leon Peachy • Plain & Fancy Farm Restaurant •
The Potter's House • Pyfer Reese Straub Gray & Farhart PC • Real Life Community Services • Refreshing Mountain • Rohrer's Inc. • Scenic Ridge Company
• Shady Grove Campground • Shady Maple Smorgasbord, Gift Shop, Farm Market • Tree of Life • Simon Lever • Sound Community Solutions • Twin Pine Auto Group •
U Financial • Unruh Insurance Agency • John & Joyce Wagner • Raymond Weaver Excavating 

Justice & Mercy’s faithful year-round supporters:
Allen & Rhoda Carr • Donald & Ginny Good • Don Groff • Heisey Farm Service • Elvin & Helen Hurst • Liberty Financial Strategies, LLC
• Peaceful Valley Amish Furniture • S. Dale High Foundation • Sound Community Solutions

​In November 2015, Dr. Tom Zeager tasked me to carry out a mission that he had long envisioned as being of vital importance to those incarcerated at Lancaster County Prison or those other correctional facilities maintained by other counties surrounding it.

That mission embodied the call set forth in Matthew 25:36, a clarion call, that Jesus Christ enjoined all who would be His flock to answer and live out. Simply stated, His injunction to minister to those who are the least among us.

Justice & Mercy understood that all too often the very least in our society, those whose lives are lived in emotional or mental pain, poverty and despair, are those very same individuals who oftentimes find themselves in trouble with the criminal justice system, resulting in their incarceration. And Justice & Mercy also understood that all too often these very same individuals would experience the divide which exists between having financial means to afford legal representation to effectuate “Justice” or not.

The gap which exists between the “fortunate” and the “unfortunate” has widened considerably over the past decade or more. So many languishing in Lancaster County Prison or other such facilities outside Lancaster County are largely forgotten or ignored by the criminal justice system, left for many months on end without hope or even rudimentary representation delivered in a timely manner. It is this gap or void that Justice & Mercy has tasked Matthew 25:36 to bridge or fill.

To that end, and with Justice & Mercy’s unqualified and unmitigated support, I have become the face of Justice & Mercy to those inmates and administrative staff at Lancaster County Prison and outside it. Justice & Mercy’s Matthew 25:36 ministry has established a significant footprint at Lancaster County Prison, visiting inmates on a Monday through Thursday weekly basis, each week of each month.

Additionally, on any given day of each week, whether during the day or evening, Justice & Mercy’s Matthew 25:36 ministry fields phone calls, emails or texts from inmates, their families or friends. The core principle of its ministry being embodied in Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question, “Rabbi, what is the greatest Commandment of all”, to which Jesus replied, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” And Matthew 25:36’s mission attempts to follow His words by ministering to their needs, whether physical, emotional, psychological or otherwise to shepherd them through both the criminal justice system as well as its penological component.

As benefactors of Justice & Mercy, and specifically its Matthew 25:36 mission, I want you to know that your Christian love and generosity allows us to not only continue our ministry but also to expand it exponentially, reaching out to still more and more inmates and their families who would otherwise have no voice or advocate for them in the legal and penal arena.

I want you to know that your largesse or your sacrifice allows Matthew 25:36 to assist so many inmates and their families in innumerable ways such as providing timely assistance with legal representation, advocating for proper and timely public defender representation, intervening with Lancaster County Prison staff to resolve inmate medical or mental health problems, advocating for improvement of prison conditions or assisting with reentry placement for those inmates to be released. The breadth and scope of Matthew 25:36 is constrained only by its financial ability to sustain its efforts, which is why each of you who so contribute are allowing Matthew 25:36 to have an impact and to make a real difference in the lives of so many among us who are so far less fortunate.

I thank each of you who have already opened your hearts to Justice & Mercy’s Matthew 25:36 ministry and ask that you prayerfully consider to continue your generous support. And I ask each and every other of you who have not yet made that commitment to prayerfully reflect on doing so. Your support is the only means by which Matthew 25:36 can continue its ministry to those who are indeed the least among us.

The face of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is found on the visage of each inmate. Do we look away and go on with our personal lives completely ignoring Christ’s admonition to truly see Him on the faces of our fellow human beings or do we seek to die to ourselves in service to Him and our brothers and sisters so less fortunate? The question is profound but not difficult to answer. We are called to action to love one another and to serve Christ Jesus. By supporting Matthew 25:36’s ministry we can do no other.
Thank you for your support, and God bless you and your families.

Respectfully yours,

Kenneth G. Reidenbach, II

Inmates and families of inmates can contact Ken directly to request visits:
Ken Reidenbach
P.O. Box 187
Hopeland, PA 17533
(717) 823-0326
[email protected]