Introduction
Overall the forum was a great success. We had great fun and a huge amount of content was shared!
For the first time we held a combined forum between ECA and MENA. This made sense for a number of reasons:
- MENA consists of only 4 NMs and hence they get a greater sense of being part of something bigger when combining with another region.
- Due to massive migration, MENA is increasingly integrating with ECA on a socio-political level. In relation to prison ministry, there is a steep rise in migrants and people with a migrant background in ECA prisons.
- As ECA becomes increasingly secular, we can learn from MENA how to incorporate preaching and presence with an unchurched prison population.
Combining the two regions brought a fresh wind into the forum and helped elevate the discussions to be more future focussed and strategic. I felt that this forum took us to a new level of professionalism.
Theme:
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- Title: Equipping for the future.
- Bible verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing
Subject areas, (for full agenda, visit forum webpage):
- The changing landscape of incarceration, probation and parole. Hybrid forms of prisons, prison sentences and community-based sentencing.
- How might Prison Fellowship take advantage of emerging opportunities?
- Examine entry points for victim empathy and restorative justice programming.
- How might we increase emphasis on community involvement, particularly with reference to victims.
- The internationalisation of crime and justice. The world is becoming increasingly connected and to affect change is requiring increasing levels of sophistication in honing our message and programs.
- How might National Ministries become more connected, leading to sharing knowledge and supporting cross border cooperation?
- What does it mean to be driven by our Christian vision and mission within a post Christian or Christian minority society?
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- How do we express our faith through preaching and presence?
Presentations can also be found on our forum webpage.
