Debra Germany and her late son, Raymond

Debra Germany stands before a small crowd at the Allegheny County Jail. Her hair in tight curls, her voice soft, her message powerful, she is a mix of tenacity and timidity. A tale of loss and sorrow pours from her lips—one from which most mothers would hide in shame.

Not Germany. Summoning strength and godly conviction, she states the truth: "My son was a drug dealer."

The crowd hushes.

"It's not easy for me to get in front of people and say that," she admits, "but he was. In spite of me giving him everything, he still made a conscious decision to sell drugs."

At 15, Raymond Germany didn't heed his mother's pleas to leave the "thug life." He became a successful drug dealer, sometimes making $1,000 a day. Then, in July 2001, his career in crime ended abruptly. Shot in the back of his head, he died alone on an empty staircase in a housing project. He was 23.

An opportunity for change
At first Debra could only cry. Then she became a mother on a Christian mission.

In March 2002 she co-founded Divine Intervention Ministries along with Valerie Dixon, who also lost a son to gun violence. "If I can save one person by talking about what happened to my son, it's worth it," says Germany.

The ministry began by using billboards to bring attention to unsolved murders and find community solutions to crime. It also seeks to soothe grieving family members who have lost a loved one to violence. These days, Divine Intervention Ministries is changing direction to focus on restoring incarcerated young men, giving them opportunities to rebuild their lives when released. This IMPACT Program (Interceding Making Positive Actions Come Together) was launched in the fall of 2006.

Germany believes if more funding was dedicated to education and rehabilitation while young men are incarcerated, the nation would not have to keep building bigger prisons.

"We have to find out what caused them to turn to a life of crime and violence," she says. "We must get to the root of the problem before it can be resolved."

Today, Germany is a popular speaker to inmates, teenagers, and youth groups. She's traveled across Pennsylvania, and to New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles—cities that have modeled programs after Divine Intervention Ministries.

Sitting in Central Baptist, her home church and one of Pittsburgh's oldest black congregations, Germany says she's been called to help others find restoration. "God is using me to expose tricks the devil uses to destroy our young men," she says. "He stole my son, but I'm going to stop him from stealing others."

Candice Butler, who works with Adult Basic Education for inmates in the Allegheny County Jail, vividly recalls Germany's presentation to incarcerated teenagers.

"The young men hung on every word," recalls Butler. "She can make a difference so that they don't have to follow the street life when they get out."

A rocky beginning
Germany is her own best example of how God can turn lives around. She was born in 1961 to a working-class couple who lived in the Hill District, a once vibrant, predominately black Pittsburgh neighborhood where musician George Benson and playwright August Wilson lived. Her parents divorced when Debra was 3, and she was sent to live with her father's parents, Frank and Sophie Heard. Both Apostolic ministers, the Heards sowed young Debra's Christian roots in the small storefront church where they worshiped.

At age 6, Debra returned to live with her father, visiting her mother on weekends. By the time she was 16, she'd graduated high school, given birth to her son, and was out on her own, a single parent working two jobs.

But in 1989 her life "took a left turn." She fell into drug use to ease the stress of caring for her sick father and raising a child alone.

In 1990, at 29, while Germany was working as an aide at Mercy Hospital, she met Andrew L. Scott Sr., a kind, elderly man who became her guardian angel. Where all her other friends took her to parties, Mr. Scott took her to church.

It was a refreshing, trusting relationship with a man who wanted nothing except that her soul be saved.

He invited Germany to his church in spring 1991. By November, she was walking down the aisle, rededicating her life to the Lord.

Even with her conversion, Germany's life, both past and present, seemed an impossible burden to bear. In 1975, her older brother, Robert Maloney Jr., was shot eight times and killed in front of a Hill District nightclub. Then his 21-year-old son Terry was murdered in 1995. And while Debra struggled to escape her pain with drugs, her own son drew closer to the street life. Increasingly, his dark decisions cast shadows over their family. Debra feared for his life, and for her own.

When Raymond committed a robbery, some streets thugs found out where Debra lived and "promised to kill my whole family," she recalls. "They even came to the house looking for Raymond."

Germany was so frightened that the police had to pick up her family in the middle of the night—their belongings in garbage bags—and arrange shelter for them in a local hotel. She remained in that hotel for two weeks at $100 a night until all her credit cards were maxed out.

She moved in with relatives for an additional five weeks, still too afraid to go home. While Raymond continued a life of crime, Germany contacted his probation officer and had him arrested. It was a desperate move to get him off the streets before the people he robbed caught up with him. During this tormenting time, all Debra could do was pray, cry, and pray some more.

Freed from fear
Down to her last $28.48, God led Germany to read Proverbs 3:23-26: "The Lord will protect you from harm." Only then did she find the courage to return home. Still afraid, she would rush to complete all her tasks during daylight hours. When night fell she read her Bible by flashlight, afraid to turn on her lights for fear the people Raymond robbed would know she had returned home.

That was then.

With time and prayer, Germany's fears began to slowly subside. After her son's death, she even felt led to reach out to inmates. Still, she struggled, crying out to God: "You called me to do prison ministry, but how can I help these young men when in my heart I'm afraid of them?" He answered, lifting the strong hold of fear that was paralyzing her.

Today, happily married for nine years to John Morrison, Germany is convinced God is preparing to raise up a nation of men on fire for Him.

"These men will do things that are unheard of in the realm of rehabilitation after incarceration. Who better to tell us how to stop the violence than the young men committing the violence themselves? As we help restore them, they in turn will reach back and help restore each other."

So, she continues to speak out—in prisons, boot camps, schools, and churches all across the state of Pennsylvania.

"I'm an ambassador for Christ," she says with a smile. "Whenever God gives me a platform, it is my pulpit."

Ervin Dyer is a writer living in Pittsburgh. For more information about Debra Germany's ministry, visit www.divineinterventionministries.org.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Read more from 'People of Faith'

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help