ChristianWeek

TORONTO, ON—In a striking array of Christians unified in a common cause, cutting across denominational, national and socio-economic boundaries, 850 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox delegates from 120 countries took part in Prison Fellowship International's World Convocation in Toronto.

Prison Fellowship Ministries was founded in the U.S. by Charles Colson in 1976 after he was released from prison for Watergate-related charges. Other countries, including Canada, developed their own ministries under the umbrella of Prison Fellowship International (PFI). It is the world's largest criminal justice ministry, a global network of indigenous organizations that mobilizes more than 100,000 volunteers.

Colson, now 76, took part in an award presentation to Ron Nikkel, the Alberta-born president and CEO of PFI. Nikkel previously worked with young offenders for Youth for Christ Canada. PFI has grown from five to 110 member countries during his 25-year tenure.

Nikkel, who periodically retreats to his Cape Breton, Nova Scotia home to recharge after his extensive travels, reflected on the unimaginable pain and poverty he has seen.

"My job is working in an incredibly challenging environment on an incredibly challenging problem that is beyond my control," he told delegates. Throughout the convocation, reports revealed the grim realities facing PFI's staff and volunteers.

A video filmed in Benin, Africa, showed typical conditions of 120 men crammed into one cell, so crowded that they cannot lie down to sleep. Lack of food, hygiene and medical attention cause many to suffer from sickness or oozing sores; some die while waiting for their cases to be heard.

PFI's Benin branch provides professional legal aid; scholarships for prisoners' children; and income-generating projects to teach inmates job skills such as barbering, tailoring and soapmaking. "We want to be a model to authorities and prove that what we do works," explained the local PFI worker.

Delegates told ChristianWeek about an array of issues in their home countries. Juana Ambrocio explained that in Bolivia, inmates' children up to age 12 live in prison cells with their mother or father. Many become victims of violence and sexual abuse or are used to smuggle alcohol and drugs into prison.

In Syria and Jordan, two-thirds of the population is under 21. Boys as young as nine are school drop-outs and street kids, either sent out to work or involved in gangs, juvenile delinquency and substance abuse, said Roy Moussalli, PFI's regional envoy for the Middle East. Prison Fellowship provides mentoring, vocational training and micro-loans, to "mainstream" the youth back into society.

B. V. R. Rao, executive director of Prison Fellowship India, said their most difficult challenge is raising money to meet inmates' needs—such as medical services or teaching literacy—due to the fact that 94 per cent of India's financial resources are controlled by six per cent of the populace, of whom a tiny percentage are Christian.

Lee Fen Goh explained that while Singapore's prisons are well-managed, the stigma and family's shame prevent many ex-offenders—most of whom were incarcerated on drug-related charges—from getting jobs and re-integrating into society.

Ukraine has 180 prisons but no full-time prison chaplains, said Viktor Iatsenko, an Orthodox priest from Kiev. Priests must find time after their own parish work to go as volunteers for services, confession and counseling.

For many delegates, a conference's highlight was Jean Vanier, 79, the founder of L'Arche International. L'Arche, which creates family-style homes for people with intellectual disabilities, is a federation of 131 communities in 34 countries.

Vanier said both L'Arche and Prison Fellowship are called to minister to marginalized, broken people who are in pain and carry guilt.

"People in prison have all been hurt and are crying out for relationship and the assurance that they are important," Vanier told the crowd. "The poor and the weak and the broken bring us together. We are called to be people of compassion and forgiveness," he urged.

Other plenary speakers included best-selling author Philip Yancey, and the preacher to the pope's household and Franciscan Capuchin priest, Raniero Cantalamessa. Canadian musicians Steve Bell and Glen Soderholm led worship.

PFI's last World Congress in 2003 was also held in Toronto. Organizers averted disaster by booking the Sheraton Centre Hotel after the original conference venue went bankrupt during the SARS crisis.

The hotel's willingness to offer cost-effective pricing for re-booking, the help of key local volunteers, and Toronto's multi-cultural setting convinced PFI to hold the 2007 event at the same site, although problems obtaining Canadian visas meant that some delegates were unable to come.