From women standing up in a crowded prison room and professing their faith in Jesus Christ to babies residing with their mothers inside prison, Prison Fellowship volunteer Bronwyn, has seen the highs and lows of prison life up close. When speaking with me recently, Bronwyn shared that she feels honoured to be able to visit inmates in Western Australia. ‘I’ve had the privilege of going to Israel and walking in Jesus’ footsteps. I’ve had the privilege of attending a wonderful local church. I’ve had the privilege of visiting huge, ornate cathedrals around the world. But the most holy ground I’ve ever stepped foot on is in prison. It’s not in those so-called “spiritual” places; it’s in prison. That’s because Jesus always turns up, and there’s such a strong sense of his Holy presence in prisons in a way that is sometimes lacking in these other “spiritual” places. I think Jesus weeps for these women, and when we visit them and offer what support we can, Jesus shows up and shines His glorious light. I feel Jesus’ deep heart for these women, and when we’re sitting in that bland, basic room – that room without icons or decoration – it feels like you’re in the throne room of grace. In that room with these women, it feels like heaven comes down to join us. When you get that sense of being on that holy ground in prison, you can’t wait to come back!’
So how did Bronwyn first decide that prison was where Jesus wanted her to be, and what was it like to enter a prison for the first time? Bronwyn says, ‘A number of years ago, I went through the experience of having a family member sent to prison. That was something I never expected to experience in my life. And one day, when I was visiting him in prison, God spoke to me very clearly and said, “This is where I want you.”’ But that wasn’t the end of it.
‘I wrestled with God’s call for 5 years,’ she explains, ‘I didn’t think I had anything to offer inmates – I felt that I couldn’t relate to them, and I just couldn’t understand why God would even think it was a good idea. But when you wrestle with the Holy Spirit, you never win,’ she laughs. ‘I thought I had a better idea, but one morning, I just fell to my knees and said, “Okay, God.” I gave up fighting, and it gave me peace in my soul. I made enquiries and met with the Prison Fellowship team in Perth.’
Initially, I thought I wouldn’t go into a prison, but rather support inmates post-release or write letters to inmates. But the team suggested I visit a women’s prison with a group of existing volunteers, and that’s when it all changed. As we walked out of the prison, they asked me how I felt and I said to them, ‘What an honour and a privilege to be trusted and to walk alongside these precious ladies. That was 15 years ago.’
But visiting in prisons can be challenging. As Bronwyn says, ‘Sometimes, it’s very dark in prison. I remember one time we visited, and there was an oppressive darkness over the place. It felt like God was absent. But every other time we’ve visited, it’s as if there’s a light in the prison, outshining the darkness. As Christians, we know Jesus is always with us, but when he shows up in prison, the women can see it, too. They recognise that there is something special here, and they can see the love of Jesus through us. My prayer is that it wouldn’t be me who turns up in that place, but Jesus who turns up to love them in that space.’
‘When we’re open to Jesus’ will, and we commit the day to Him, He comes in and pours His love out through us, so we can listen to the inmates’ stories and feel such compassion and love for them. These women have a brokenness that’s been there since such a young age, and that brokenness has been band-aided with drugs and alcohol – and that’s how their spiral begins. They can’t pay fines, they are abused and can become an abuser, and sooner or later, they end up in prison. Their stories can be pretty heavy, and when they see the love you have, that’s what they’re attracted to. That unconditional love is generally what they’ve been seeking their whole lives. In prison, so many of them are in the most horrific situation – all is dark, often family has deserted them, and they’ve lost children. When we continue to visit them and pour out that love from Jesus, something breaks in each of them, and there’s room in their hearts for God. That’s when you get a flood of women giving their lives to God!’
As Bronwyn explains, ‘Last year, on Easter Saturday, an officer I’d never seen before or since (he may be some sort of angel!) greeted us as we arrived at the prison. When we asked to access our usual room, he told us the women were out at recreation. He then walked out to the yard and asked the women to come inside to the room where we were waiting, “because it’s Easter”. A few minutes later, twenty women were in the room, many more than we’ve ever had before, and the officer joined us, too. Obviously, they had a lot of respect for this officer, and he had a lot of respect for the women because at one point, one of the women got up to leave, and he gently stopped her and said, “No, stay – you need this.”’
‘We then had the chance to share a salvation message with the women and this one officer. We read the Easter story in the scriptures and discussed what it would have been like to be there with Jesus, in particular, considering the two men who died next to Jesus. The whole message was centred around the cornerstone of our faith, and even the officer was spellbound! We hadn’t planned on reading the Easter story however, we find that if we let Jesus lead, there is much more fruit.’
‘In the end, eight of the women said they wanted to give their lives to Jesus! We prayed with those eight women, and there was sheer joy for us all. I believe there was a massive party in heaven welcoming those women. Jesus knew that the harvest was plentiful, and he opened the way for us to have that interaction with all the women and the officer. Of those women, two have come back, and others have moved on to different prisons.’ Sometimes, that’s the nature of prison – inmates come and go for different reasons, and as Bronwyn says, ‘Sometimes you see someone a few times in a row, but then they’re moved on, and you may not have the chance to continue to build the relationship. But it’s not about us; it’s about what Jesus is doing, and He will provide someone else to walk with them if that’s in His plan.’
Abby* had never been into a church building before and was only in the room that day because the officer told her to come in. She knew she needed to change her life, but she felt stuck. After a broken marriage, her children were taken away from her, and she found herself in prison. She felt a lot of shame and was grappling with the legacy she had given her children.’
As Bronwyn explains, trusting Jesus is a journey. ‘Abby is still on a journey of forgiveness, primarily forgiving herself for her past. When any of the women we meet accept Jesus, they then need to do the hard work of forgiving themselves and others. Forgiving yourself tends to be very challenging, so it can be very difficult to come to terms with a Holy God who forgives you. Forgiving the person who perpetrated crimes against them in the past is also hard, but it does seem to be self-forgiveness that is the hardest part. That day, we were able to encourage Abby that she could now leave her children a new legacy. It’s early days, but she’s got a sense of hope that she’s never had before – hope that things can be different and she can build a new life with her children. She’s got that hope that things will be different now.’
‘The moment any of these women give their life to Jesus, there are floods and floods of tears. It’s authentic because they have nothing else; they’ve had everything taken away from them, they’ve got nothing left. Jesus’ love breaks all barriers, and you just have fruit falling off the tree. Some seasons are hard. We’ve always had what I call “God’s favour” in the form of boundless opportunities that we haven’t had at other prisons, and it always seems like God has his hand over the prison, but that doesn’t mean it’s all been roses. We’ve had really dry seasons, including staff shortages when they won’t let us in to visit. Two months ago, we had a run of not being able to get in; we showed the women the studies in the front of the Bibles we give out to them and said, “You can do these yourselves if we can’t get in to meet with you.” That gave them something to centre on during lockdowns, and I think it really empowered them. We’re always running out of Bibles! Some of the women aren’t highly literate, but they hold onto that Bible we give them like it’s gold, and God can work through any situation, whether they’re literate or not.’
‘Each week, the room is full of women who all come from different backgrounds, with different ideas of faith and Jesus, so it’s very hard to do one-on-one follow-ups during that time. We have lots of discussions with the women, exchanging ideas and experiences with each other. We talk about forgiveness a lot, especially about forgiveness of self, and we often talk about our own stories. We once talked about the Ten Commandments and I had the chance to share, “Before I gave my life to Christ, I had broken every single one of the commandments. So if He can forgive me and turn my life around, then he can do the same for you, because He loves you and was willing to go to the cross for you! When we have the chance to share that our stories are not very different from their own, when we can talk about our own brokenness and disobedience, it’s powerful. God is not a conditional God, and I know he has no hierarchy of sin. We try to make it clear to the women that we’re all equal at the foot of the cross, and we have no righteousness ourselves, but we all stand on the righteousness of Jesus, and that is what makes us right with God and free of our past, and that our futures can be radically different with Jesus at the centre. That’s a big part of our ministry. We share the stories of Job and Ruth – they’re powerful stories of what God can do in anyone’s life, from the powerful and wealthy Job, to the poor and isolated outsider, Ruth. These women love coming to our sessions because they see Prison Fellowship and know they will be loved.’
What about the officer Bronwyn had never seen before? ‘On that Easter Saturday, that prison officer spoke to us and said, “I’ve never heard that story before. Where can I read more about that?” I recommended the Gospel of John. He said, “I’ve got a Muslim mate who’s always talking to me about God, but I think this is the God I should follow.” We are witnessing to everyone we see in the prison – to the officers, gatekeepers, and families that are visiting, not just the women we visit. If you have an evangelical heart, why not go? It’s a powerful ministry. I hope this encourages more people to get involved in this ministry.’
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons
