On The Wing Is Blessed To Be Included In The Pilot Of...

The Olive Tree Restorative Justice Course!

While it is good to reach out to prisoners with the gospel message and encourage them to receive Christ, we must never forget the victims of crime. There is a great need for offenders to be confronted by the ramifications of their actions and how they have affected the lives of those against whom they have offended. The Restorative justice course ‘Sycamore Tree’ sought to address this issue but it has been halted after 25 years. ‘Sycamore Tree’ was a victim-awareness program for prisoners to gain more of an understanding of the effects their have had crimes on their victims, but it was deemed by the prison authorities to not meet the required standard for a course to be recognised officially.

However, this has now been replaced with ‘The Olive Tree’ course. This is a similar course with the same aim, but it is now being administered solely by prison chaplaincy. Designed by Prison Fellowship, ‘The Olive Tree’ course is structured as a six-session guided group learning journey focused on restoration, remorse, and rebuilding broken relationships. This is being piloted in several prisons across the UK, one of which is HMP Forest Bank in Salford.

Please pray for this course to be attended by prisoners and well received by the prison service.

Nick Stirling MCM prison chaplain.

Supporters can learn more at https://prisonfellowship.org.u...