Reaching A Rebellious People

What if the vast population of prisoners all over the world were viewed by God as one nation of rebellious and obstinate people, much like the nation of Israel in the Old Testament?  That is how Tobias Merckle, of PF Germany came to see prisoners one night 13 years ago. 

 He was reading Ezekiel 2 when he was struck by an astonishing similarity between God‘s description of the nation of Israel and how one would describe prisoners of today: “…a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.  The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn.”  (Ezekiel 2:3-4)  These verses, combined with his recent memories of a prison tour in the U.S., convinced Tobias that God wanted him to serve prisoners.  He had been shocked at what he saw at a prison in Tennessee.  “They had nothing to do all day long,” he recalls, “except watch TV, talk about their crimes and deal with each other.  I thought to myself, ‘this can‘t be.‘”

 Tobias devoted himself to prison ministry and now serves as the executive director for PF Germany/Prisma where he was an integral part in the recent launch of a faith-based youth farm as an alternative to prison for juveniles.  The Youth Farm, Seehaus, is run by Prison Fellowship Germany and will eventually house 15-18 juveniles at a time.  When Prof. Goll, the former Minister of Justice of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, permitted the youth farm, it was the first time in Germany that an alternative prison could be run by an NGO (Non-governmental organisations associated with the United Nations), a major feat for this country.

 The selected juveniles enter the programme at the beginning of their sentence, thus they are protected from the negative influence of the adult prison subculture.  They stay at the farm complex and are enrolled in classes to help them achieve their high school diploma.  Participants are given vocational training and are taught restorative justice principles to help them see their crimes through the victims‘ perspective.  Bible studies are a daily part of the programme.

 Recently the state government foundation provided start-up funding for the project, and after much media publicity the public is very much behind the idea.  “Community involvement is crucial for the effectiveness and for the reintegration of the juveniles and therefore the community support is a great blessing for us,” explains Tobias.