TESTIMONIES FROM INSIDE A SYDNEY PRISON WHERE A NUMBER OF BAPTISMS RECENTLY TOOK PLACE
→ Because of things that happened to me earlier in life, I’ve had issues around trusting others, and I put God in the same category as men. I did not want to place my trust in anyone who could hurt me again.
When my offences – my sins – were exposed and I was sent to jail, I picked up a Bible for the first time, determined to find out what it was all about. But I didn’t really get it or how it could help me. In 1999 I was released from prison and chose, selfishly, to go back to my old life, thinking I’d be okay. I wasn’t.
In 2002 I was back in jail, my life laid bare for all to see. My friends gone, my family deeply ashamed of me… The shame I felt was debilitating.
A couple of years later, I met a chaplain who was able to show me a God that loved me in a way I hadn’t known before. God love prison chaplains! I was to meet many more over the coming two decades as I came in and out of prison, still struggling to hand over control of my life to God.
I am now at number six, for the number of times I have been in jail, and it has been the most devastating and also uplifting in my life.
In April 2025, my cellmate committed suicide in front of me. I was powerless to help him. This messed me up pretty badly. I cry thinking about it. With the help of a chaplain and God’s strength, I was able to endure.
A huge shout out to the true men of God called to be chaplains in the NSW Corrections environment, bringing their knowledge of the Bible and how it applies in this real and broken world we find ourselves in. Through them, we have access to Prison Fellowship Australia programs.
The first course I did was The Prisoner’s Journey in maximum security… A brilliant look at how to live a Christian life, it encouraged me to really read deeply and discuss the Gospels with others. When I was offered the chance to do The Prisoner’s Journey Continued, I jumped at it. We, a group of Christian men, prisoners led by chaplain Tim and Prison Fellowship volunteers, learned that disciples of Christ (that’s us!) are confident, living, one, obedient, righteous, transformed, rejoicing and content IN HIM! Allelujah!
We live in koinonia – fellowship. That beautiful verse in Proverbs 27:17, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’ My fellow brothers and I are living it… thanks to these programs.
Now, as I’m getting closer to my release, I have Jesus and our Father front and centre in my life. But I know, from my own lived experience, how easy it is to succumb to temptation, and am hopeful of using another Prison Fellowship offering of t24 [post-release support] when I leave prison. I know I need all the support available to live a true Christian life.
Thank you – my prayers are with your wonderful, vital, supportive programs and volunteers.
Yours in Christ,
Alex*, recently baptised brother in Christ
→ I had an inkling of faith most of my life… the bare knowledge of who God is. But I wasn’t ready to face myself. This took me further down an already ‘very dark’ path. I now sit here in jail, finally having found God, writing this to you.
Not long after I came to jail, I saw a group of men having a genuine laugh and talking kindly to one another. I asked myself, ‘What could they possibly be so happy about in here?!’ I went over to enquire, and that’s when I felt God truly at work. I started to divide my time between exercise and these men…
I received a 10-year sentence and fell to pieces. Having to face what I had done was too much to handle. Although I had given up on myself, these men of faith hadn’t. They continued to check in on me… Being celled up with one, I had the confidence to ask questions I didn’t have the guts to ask in a group setting.
In the moment when he told me to hand it all over to God, I felt an intense ball of warmth emanating from my stomach. It filled my entire body. I just knew this was somehow God forgiving my sins and accepting me into His family, sharing His true love with me like a father holding his son.
I started The Prisoner’s Journey. This taught me a lot about Jesus sowing the seed of the Gospel in us. Thankfully, that seed landed in the good soil for me. It set the foundation of the life I intend to live. I also took part in The Prisoner’s Journey Continued, a real eye-opener. Some tough but wonderful questions allowed me to grow in confidence and to become the strong Christian I am today.
God first laid the foundation, then the bricks, to build His forever home inside my heart… No more drugs, porn, or clamouring for affection. God was taking over.
My baptism will be coming up soon as I now feel I am ready. I feel satan, desperate as ever, trying to shake my new-found faith… I refuse to falter, as what I have now is just too good to lose.
Not many know that what I did will forever crush me. I will be forever remorseful. But recently, someone I saw as a ‘friend’ chose to weaponise my crime against me… Waiting to cop the absolute beating of a lifetime, I went further into my faith. I remembered Jesus being beaten, whipped, tormented and put on the cross – all for being an innocent, honest man. His words, ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do,’ entered my prayers. I asked Him to help me forgive this man.
God held me close, calming me like a father nurturing his son. Today I sit here, totally enamoured by all Jesus and God have done for me.
God wants a relationship with us. To love us and to be with us.
Know you’re not too far gone to be saved by Christ. Just ask for forgiveness and persevere. I know God’s purpose for me now… to carry His message forward, to help those who struggle like me. Something that brings me great honour to do.
May God find you too.
Neil*, soon-to-be-baptised brother in Christ
*Names have been changed
