Social Reform

Rehabilitating Jail Convicts 

Every person is made in the image of God. No life is beyond His reach. exists to serve all those affected by crime and incarceration, and to see lives and communities restored in and out of prison—one transformed life at a time.

Once the judgment of a prisoner has been made, many a time the matter remains closed for the general public and the judiciary but we cannot forget them. God hails the profound dignity of every human person, despite his or her cruelties even those condemned to death. Prison Ministry India, a national voluntary organization attempts to bear witness to the Truth that the worth of a human person is not measured by usefulness or talents, health or sickness, age or creed..

We shall help prisoners to pick up the bits and pieces of his broken life to make a whole that is perfect and holy, his moral life. Prison Ministry India aims at reconciliation of the offender with the person he / she has offended the offended child with his / her family and the prisoner with God who hates the sin but loves and forgives the sinner. Therefore in prison, we want to in still hope for a prisoner without hope, to meet his creator who believes in him and created him in his image.

We want to make the prison, a place where men and women pray. We shall make the prisoner know that they are not alone, without friends but we are their friends who truly love them. In order to achieve this we seek the collaboration of all, to make some worthy whom society has judged worthless, consider useful whom society has judged useless.

You and me are directly involved in changing the society and forging India’s tomorrow. “ It is better to light a candle than to curse darkens.” You lit a small candle for the prisoners. You will notice the difference that this little candle has made in our society and to pass on the Good news to others. So the present situations in prisons such a human ware house overcrowded by 3 times, breeding ground of criminals instead of reformation, disease prone areas, idle mind workshops due to less entertainment and occupations, sluggish judiciary, breeding of corruption, get a change. No one is free while their Neighbours are not free.

The mental resetting: it is the most important factor during this period. Old lifestyle is mostly the sum total of negative attitudes. Through mental resetting, released prisoner is motivated to inculcate positive attitudes towards life. They are instructed to use new vocabulary instead of old, which has always been negative like, tit for tat, revenge and hatred.

Letter writing: a released prisoner who undergoes the renewal process is motivated to write letters to those whom he/she hates. It is indeed a tough task. Gradually, a prisoner understands hatred is like poison in their life. Hence this attitude should be eradicated. After forgiving in imagination, one has to ask for forgiveness by writing letters to those concerned persons.

Visualizing good in others and self: often a prisoner tends to be pessimistic towards oneself, life situation and persons associated with it. A released prisoner has to be taught that every human being is an embodiment of positive elements and optimism should be emphasized. A simple method that could be used to induce such attitude is, each person is encouraged and motivated to express minimum three good qualities of his/her fellow beings.

Work therapy: is another important factor in the renewal process. Persons grow only when they use their energy for creative things. Criminals or prisoners use most of their energy for destructive activities. In order to counteract such tendency, work is very effective, where one expresses his or her creativity and gets involved in constructive activities.

Prayer: plays a vital role in the renewal process. The awareness of the effectiveness of prayer is to be experienced in the life of a prisoner. Personal prayer for at least half an hour daily is a highly encouraging and sustaining factor. The idea that the saints’ are not perfect human beings, but reach perfection through struggles and challenges of life is an impetus for it. Such thought and example of life histories are highly motivating source in the life of a prisoner who is struggling in hope for a better and decent life. God’s grace does wonders in one’s life. God experience diverts a person to speak, see, and do good things in life. One begins to dream new life with a new vision and perspective.

Living in the present: living in the past is the basic nature of a prisoner. Living in the present means “face the reality as it is”. Through play therapy and awareness therapy, every released prisoner gets a chance to get in touch with oneself and the reality of the given moment. This method helps better to face the challenges of life situations as they are.

Community Transformation among sex workers
SIM works with a village where sex workers, who have been holding on to prostitution as a profession for generations together lived in order to  bring about a wholesome transformation. The villagers now have understood the good intention of and are willingly taking part in the program where their kids are under the SIM’s care Also villagers themselves are opening up for counselling and better ways of life.