He disagrees, publicly, with the way the prison system attempts to "rehabilitate" the incarcerated, and he feels the system that compelled prisoners to work was far more viable before lawyers intervened and determined such work to be in violation of prisoners' rights.

During his 18 year stint as head chaplain at the East Gaston Prison complex in Dallas, NC, he developed and instituted one of the most successful programs, previously untried within prison communities, that enabled wives and parents of inmates to attend chapel services with their incarcerated family member.

He studies the workings of the system with an unwavering desire to understand its strengths as well as its weaknesses.  He's studied the laws as they've fumbled and failed in such areas as identifying the habitual criminal whose successively violent crimes eventually culminate in the commitment of the unthinkable act that nets him a life long sentence.

He compares the system to the Book - the Bible - that he knows contains the secret to change, even for the most hopeless (statistically) of cases.

Ferrell's knowledge and dedication have led to increasingly larger outreaches to the families of inmates - the children of inmates --  and those children living within the housing projects that have proven to be one of the most high-risk groups (for criminal activity) identifiable.

As founder and president of Faith Prison Ministry (now known as Faith Ministry) in Mt. Holly, Ferrell is well known for the successes of his various programs, and the ministry continues to thrive.

"We hope to develop a school for kids that will teach some basic skills ( woodworking, for example) and provide some alternatives for some of our teens," Ferrell explains.  "It could benefit so many people."