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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.

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.

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