Nearly 1.5 million prisoners in Europe and Central Asia are locked away and forgotten. See how Prison Fellowship International is serving them prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims of crime through national ministries in Europe and Central Asia.
Prison Fellowship International currently operates within 27 countries throughout Europe and Central Asia. The region, which stretches from Portugal, across Europe and into the Russian Federation, represents a complex tapestry of ethnicities, cultures, and subcultures.
Here, atheism and pluralism have emerged as dominant against the fading backdrop of Judeo-Christian tradition. Even among the most developed countries in this region, standards for prisoner care often begin and end with humane physical treatment in compliance with international law, while spiritual needs are neglected. In poorer areas, justice systems often fail to achieve even basic standards, and prisoners are exposed to harsh living conditions while their families and victims’ experiences ostracization and disadvantage.
Our Regional Directors have a front-row seat to the transformational impact your support makes possible in prisons in their region.
Many of the prisoners we work with come from very broken backgrounds. They come from backgrounds where they've had very little opportunity to develop all of their God-given talents. So, it's an incredible opportunity to reach out to those institutions and through showing love, with the good news, give them an opportunity to have their hope in life restored. It's just amazing that it actually happens.