Read the latest news and activities of Prison Fellowship in Queensland.
Download Unchained Summer 2012
The world’s largest and most extensive criminal justice ministry, Prison Fellowship International (PFI) is a global association of over 100 national Prison Fellowship organisations. Watch the amazing videos from around the world.
10.19Upcoming Events
PFQ Conference 2012
9am-4pm Saturday 24th March
Broadwater Road Uniting Church
481 Broadwater Rd Mansfield Qld 4121
SBS DATELINE: A moving story of forgiveness… imagine confronting the person who tried to kill you. That’s what happens with a bold justice program in the state of Wisconsin. It brings victims and offenders together for an emotional healing that the legal system doesn’t always deliver and as Dateline’s Aaron Lewis discovered, in one unique case it’s led to remarkable results.
Sycamore Tree on 96.5fm Talking Life
Peter Janetzki interviews Martin Howard and two crime survivors from the Sycamore Tree Project. Download Podcast
The recent STP pilot has been featured in the Courier Mail Saturday Magazine.
Download Article from Courier Mail Magazine PDF
“A year later, as the van turns onto the Bruce Highway ferrying Queensland’s first group of Sycamore Tree Project volunteers to Woodford, Howard has every reason to smile.
“The project is about restorative justice,” he says. “Instead of the alternative idea which is retributive justice – a crime happens, we find the perpetrator, punish them by putting them in jail and that’s the end of the process.
“That process ignores the fact the crime has a lot of impacts across the community,” Howard says. “It starts with the immediate people involved in the crime. It affects the victim. It affects the victim’s family. It affects the offender. It affects their families and on it goes. Instead of one thing that one person did wrong we look at all of those elements. What impact has it had on the victim’s life? Have there been medical repercussions? Are there practical financial repercussions? How does it affect their relationships?”
It’s a faith-based project, but it’s not preachy. It’s about sharing stories. It’s about empathy. Putting oneself in another’s shoes.”
