Who We Are

New Life Prison Ministries (NLPM) began in 1980 in London, Ontario, founded by Gerrit and Susan Blok. What started as a film ministry at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre quickly grew into one-on-one visitations and, by 1982, a Bible correspondence program for inmates. The growing interest in spiritual support led NLPM to expand across Canada, offering structured Bible studies by mail. Under the Bloks’ leadership until 2014, the ministry became a trusted source of hope and guidance for incarcerated individuals.

Today, NLPM offers over 90 free Bible courses to inmates, ex-offenders, their families, and chaplains. New Life Prison Ministries has been dedicated to sharing the message of hope and transformation with inmates across Canada. Each inmate is paired with a dedicated volunteer who personally guides them through our curriculum, reading every letter, offering encouragement, and responding with thoughtful, compassionate feedback.

Bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to Prisons for Over 45 Years

A person with brown hair seated with their head bowed and arms extended forward, surrounded by others touching their shoulders and back, on a dark floor.

Our Mission

Bringing transformation and hope through the Good News of Jesus Christ to those in Canadian prisons.

Through God’s empowerment, we will:

  • Provide support to prison chaplains in Canada

  • Provide every person in prison the opportunity to know the Lord Jesus through Bible correspondence courses

  • Connect every interested person with Christian resources upon release

Our Vision

A person holding pamphlets about forgiveness, showing a close-up of hands stacked together with text that reads 'FORGIVENESS' and 'Moving Beyond Your Past'.

What We Believe

Statement of Faith

Missional Statement

At NLPM, we believe our calling is to equip others to see the Kingdom of God in ways they never imagined—and to reach into places they never thought possible. Every day, we ask ourselves: How will those behind prison walls know there is a seat at Jesus’s table unless someone shows them? Who will reveal to them the invitation to a banquet overflowing with grace, love, and radical transformation if we do not go?

The Great Commission is the heartbeat of our mission. We don’t just go—we empower others to go further, to see wider, and to love deeper. We train and inspire people to extend the invitation of Jesus into the darkest corners, believing that no place is beyond the reach of His love and no life is beyond the hope of transformation.

By equipping others, we expand the boundaries of the Kingdom, bringing light and hope to those who need it most. Together, we are opening doors, changing destinies, and inviting all to the table of grace.

People praying together in a dark room with string lights in the background.
A diagram showing the cycle of church ministry with sections labeled 'Prayer Partners,' 'Church Partners,' 'Donors,' and 'Pray Partners,' surrounding a circle of icons representing free resources, chaplains, inmates, volunteers, and arrows indicating the flow between them.

How We Reach Inmates

The Team

A young woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a black sweater, smiling against a gray background.
Portrait of a young woman with long brown hair, smiling, wearing a black sweater, standing against a gray background.

Mackenna Gonyou

Church Partnership Coordinator mackenna@nlpm.ca

Ava Hamilton

Marketing & Event Coordinator ava@nlpm.ca

A woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, wearing a black top and cardigan, smiling, posed against a plain gray background.
A smiling woman with long light brown hair wearing a black blazer and black top against a plain gray background.

Renee Corless

Volunteer Coordinator & Student Care renee@nlpm.ca

Jessica McTaggart

Outreach Coordinator jessica@nlpm.ca

A smiling man with dark, curly hair and a beard, wearing a black V-neck T-shirt, standing against a plain grey background.
Portrait of a young woman with long brown hair, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, smiling against a gray background.

David Macdonald

Print Shop & Inventory Coordinator david@nlpm.ca

Natalie Mackie

Student Care natalie@nlpm.ca

A smiling middle-aged woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and glasses, wearing a black top, standing against a gray background.
A woman with brown hair, wearing glasses, in a black jacket, smiling against a gray background.

Linda Jones

Director of Student Care & Chaplain Outreach newlife@nlpm.ca

Nadia Zeversenuke

Executive Director nadia@nlpm.ca

A woman with short, light brown hair wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a silver heart-shaped pendant necklace, standing against a plain gray background.

Shirley Wesselson

Bookkeeper shirley@nlpm.ca

Board of Directors

Dave Steenburg

Sami Sappong 

Delores Mackey 

Ruth Hanna 

Peter Bolton 

Members

Chair

Rene Kooistra 

Vice Chair

Carl Wake

Treasurer

Doug Holt