“This is the best thing I have ever read,” said a prisoner in remote Western Australia after learning that Jesus died for his sins.
He was stunned to read Romans 5:8 and find that: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Our chaplain in Wickham, Matt Warth, visits Roebourne Prison weekly to hold a regular Bible study for up to 24 guys and says it is the highlight of his week.
Last year we spent 12 months going through Mark’s gospel. Mark is not a big book nor a hard book but the guys wanted to really understand it and so we studied it at a good and consistent pace.
‘’I tell them they are here to do business with God, not business with God through Matt. “And the power of God’s Word is amazing. There is one young man who has undergone such a remarkable transformation in attitude and outlook that even his acquaintance can‘t believe he’s the same guy.
“Sure, the discipline of prison has helped him, but as he has sought to understand God’s word, the Spirit has changed him.”
After release, Matt says, the prisoners tend to keep their distance. However, recently a fellow asked if he could visit and ”talk Bible” together.
“It is so encouraging to see God at work drawing people to his son Jesus. The guys usually come to Bible study the first time because it’s held in the only airconditioned room in the prison.
”But then they keep coming and happily spend up to two hours each time reading the Bible. ”It blows them away to learn that no matter what they have done, God forgives and loves them unconditionally.”