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At the end of May Dr Ron Nikkel, President and CEO of Prison Fellowship International, visited New Zealand as part of his tour of Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

Dr Nikkel has been to New Zealand some 7 or 8 times previously but on this occasion we treated him to the best that we have to offer in terms of weather !! (it rained for every day of his visit with a maximum temperature of 11 deg C)

A keynote of his visit was his address to the ComVoices gathering at Parliament, within a few hours of his arrival, on the topic “Kill the criminal- Save the person”. The event was hosted by Hon Paula Bennett, Minister of Social Development and Employment and attended by 10 MPs from most political parties as well as a broad range of Government departments and NGOs.

Read the full text of his speech here

Below: Dr Nikkel at breakfast in Parliament with Dr Rajen Prasad (Labour List MP)

Following this presentation Dr Nikkel together with Mr Richard Whaley from the Regional PFI office in Melbourne, Mr Ian Elliott (Chairman of PFNZ) and Mr Robin Gunston (National Director, PFNZ) met with the Minister of Corrections Hon Judith Collins M.P. and following that with Mr Barry Matthews the CEO of the Department of Corrections to discuss topical issues  and how Prison Fellowship is changing its emphasis to meet changing prison needs in some 120 countries of the world. At present there is a growing emphasis on aftercare of prisoners, something PFNZ is already making long term plans for.

On the following day Dr Nikkel was a guest at the Rimutaka Prison Faith Based Unit where we was welcomed by the current team of men with a haka, mihi and time of singing before he addressed them regarding his experience of visiting faith based units in other prisons around the world. The men asked Dr Nikkel if it was possible to have some sort of links between the 100 or so PF faith based units around the world to encourage each other.

Media coverage of Dr Ron Nikkels visit

Three strikes means nothing to lose

Fury over no monsters in jail

Ron Nikkel's response to the last article: