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Zoe Sandvig
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 Robbie Robinson arrived in handcuffs for his son's funeral. Then he stood up and told his family and friends about Christ.
His mother hardly recognized the son who stood before her with peace in his eyes—a young man whose life up until that point had been stamped by drugs, violence, and prison time.
Growing up in the epicenter of "small town" America, Robbie quickly discovered that Waterloo, Iowa, wasn't any more immune from drugs and gang activity than the most crime-ridden cities. He wasn't immune either. After dropping out of school at 15 and began attending detention centers instead. He fathered two children out of wedlock, and, at 19, sat in a prison cell on an assault charge. Eleven months later, he walked out of prison holding his second chance, only to trash it and return to prison a year later for drug dealing.
Back at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, Robbie learned that his father had been killed in a tragic truck accident. Grieved and confused, Robbie decided it was time for a change. He applied and was accepted to the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI)®—an intensive reentry program developed by and affiliated with Prison Fellowship—at Newton Correctional Facility 120 miles away. Over the next months, a few key Prison Fellowship volunteers made him feel like he counted for something—him, a dropout, a criminal, a statistic.
"The volunteers showed me that people outside of prison cared about us who were inside of prison," he said. "When you're in prison, you get the feeling that everyone views you as the scum of the earth."
And through the Christian teachings of the program, Robbie came to realize that Jesus Christ was the remedy to his destructive trajectory. But, a year later, his new faith was hurled against the familiar rocks of tragedy.
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