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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:
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