On the Outside - Man on a mission
Published: August 25, 2005
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By DEE DUDERSTADT
Of the News-Register
When the sex offender reached out to McMinnville's John Boersma for help, it changed his life.
Boersma, not related to the family with deep roots in downtown retailing, found his thoughts turning to a favorite biblical passage: "I saw God in you and his works in you."
The man had molested his own child. It had destroyed his marriage and pretty much destroyed him.
But Boersma, a Baptist and a Gideon, saw something worth saving. And he poured his energy into saving it.
The man had been living in a little travel trailer. Now he's living in a halfway house Boersma owns and manages in McMinnville.
"He'll do anything for me," Boersma said. "He pays rent, and he's more than willing to be there in any way he can."
The God-fearing real estate investor has extended his hand to many others with criminal backgrounds in recent years, including other sex offenders. He's offered them housing when no one else would.
"Jesus had only one leper who returned to say, "Thank you,' " Boersma noted.
But he's been thanked a thousand times over. "That's what keeps me going," he said.
"I've let people come whether they have any resources or not," Boersma said. "I've allowed them to make payments if and when they can.
"It helps them to have an investment. It makes them work harder to maintain."
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For nine years, Boersma also has been leading Bible study classes at the county jail. In conjunction with that, he lends an ear to men needing someone from the outside to talk to, and perhaps lean on.
Those who know him call him a man with heart, but he prefers to see himself as a man with conviction. He views his ministry with offenders as nothing short of a calling from God.
That's not to say he hasn't been taken for a ride on occasion. He readily admits that he has.
"We're not playing games here," he says. It happens.
But the high school teacher turned real estate mogul, a Linfield economics graduate, is undeterred. "I don't have much," he said, "but what I have has met the needs of the people."
Boersma has a particular empathy for sex offenders, perhaps for the very reason that few others do.
Due to the nature of their crimes, they are most prone to finding themselves homeless. And that's precisely where he can be of greatest help, thanks to his real estate holdings.
His mission, as he sees it, is to help meet needs that others don't, can't or won't see.
"I saw the need at the jail," he said. "I've been going there for many years, seeing the same old people. I determined there was a need for a halfway house."
There was talk among government officials and social service providers about developing one, he said, but nothing came of it. So he set about putting a system in place on his own.
"I realized I had some places that could be used for shelter, places to be dry and warm, places they could wash their clothes," he said. But it took some adjustments on his part.
"Because of their addictions, they were not experiencing the freedom Christ offers," he said. "No one was holding them accountable. I knew I was going to have to be very involved."
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He has long and deeply held affiliations with two religious organizations - McMinnville's Bethel Baptist Church and Gideon International, known for its work distributing Bibles to hotels, motels, hospitals, schools, jails and prisons. But he's not been shy about reaching out on his own.
Without Boersma's aid, officials working in corrections say, many offenders would not have a safe place to stay. And that would make it all the harder for them to find jobs and successfully reintegrate into society.
It is particularly important that sex offenders have a stable location known to authorities, they say. And Boersma provides that.
Yamhill County Parole and Probation Officer Randy Settell, who specializes in sex offenders, sees Boersma as a working partner in local rehabilitation efforts.
"John Boersma has been a great silent supporter of Yamhill County Community Corrections and the offenders we supervise," he said. "John has provided housing for the offenders we supervise when there appeared to be little or no options in the community short of living on the streets."
Settell said, "The word on the streets of McMinnville, from the offenders we supervise, is this: 'If you are clean and sober, and you have a sincere desire to change your life, but you have no job and you are homeless, you can call Boersma. He will see if he can assist you with temporary housing until you get on your feet.'
"To have a person in the community willing to assist with these difficult issues - and, at times, difficult offenders - is a tremendous blessing. We can't thank John enough for his generosity and his willingness to work with the offenders we supervise."
Clancy Hinrichs, who serves as Community Corrections chaplain, agrees wholeheartedly with that assessment.
"In my mind, John is one of the unsung heroes of McMinnville," he said. "For a number of years, he has gone well out of his way to provide shelter for men and women recently released from jail or prison.
"I can say without hesitation that were it not for John's generous heart, many men and women would be living on the street. Often, he has provided shelter for these individuals at his own expense.
Hinrichs said Boersma has even found work for some of the men. "In addition to providing shelter," the chaplain said, "it is not unusual for him to offer them employment - even when he doesn't necessarily need them."
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There is an element of proselytizing in Boersma's mission, but he keeps it low key.
His faith runs deep, and he's more than willing to share it. But he doesn't force it on his beneficiaries.
"I help them even if they don't come around to my point of view," he said. "It's between them and God."
He prefers to make a statement about his religious faith by example, first and foremost.
"It's amazing how faith works," he said. "I'm just another part of the puzzle. The housing and the job needs.
"Basically, what everybody is looking for is love. Christ showed love and someone believed."
Boersma would like to find a spiritual partner to help him with his daunting mission. It has gotten to be an enormous undertaking, particularly when he already has a full-time job managing properties.
"It's a real challenge," he said. "I am endeavoring to get people to assist me.
"I've had a pretty successful business. And if this were a business, then I'd be pretty successful at it, too."
But he could use some help.
"If churches would set up a benevolent fund to help these people out for a month," he said, "it would demonstrate God's love to anyone, anywhere, anytime. People have to see they can have a better life.
"So many of the people that I've been around have had a religious background. God has been at work in their lives; they just didn't see him. Like Ezekiel says, we need to go and seek out the lost sheep."
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