A January 2013 article by Jessi Strong, written for Bible Study Magazine, examines the unique perspective that incarcerated men and women bring to the study of God’s Word.
Prison Fellowship Ministries CEO Jim Liske told the magazine, “You don’t have to spend time talking to an inmate about how their life is not working out. It’s painfully obvious to them. In the free world, we have appearances to keep up, and there are a lot of ways we can fake it.”
The article explores how inmates frequently approach the Bible with a profound sense of need, but also a history of pain and distrust to overcome.
“Inmates who’ve hit rock bottom usually respond from a place of deep pain: ‘Does God really love me? Is God like my earthly father who beat me, who left my mom? Is God like my earthly father who didn’t care if I ate or not?’” Liske also says in the article. “These are the basic questions that those who grew up in fairly healthy homes don’t always understand. More people than not have these questions about life—wanting to know, ‘Can God forgive me?’ and ‘Can I forgive myself?’ ”
To learn more about how you can get involved by facilitating a prisoner Bible study, or welcoming former inmates to your church, visit www.prisonfellowship.org/get-involved. To access the full text of the article, subscribe by visiting www.biblestudymagazine.com.