“Years ago, in a small Australian outback church, Pastor Willy from South Africa spoke as a guest of Bible Society Australia. He preached from the word of God and spoke about the vital work of distributing Bibles to desperate people in South African prisons, carried out by World Hope Ministries with the support of Bible Society Australia donors.
After he spoke, a South African couple approached Pastor Willy and shared with him that their son was murdered in South Africa, and the perpetrator is still in prison. The couple gave Pastor Willy a letter for their son’s murderer, as well as his name. When Pastor Willy returned to South Africa and his ministry, he found the man after a couple of months.
Pastor Willy told the man, “I have a message for you,” and gave him the letter, which he read. The man exclaimed to Pastor Willy, “This is impossible. These people don’t even know me.” Pastor Willy said to him, “Yes, but you murdered their son.” He said, “That’s right, and I’m living in such regret and such remorse.”
“And then we led him to Jesus,” Pastor Willy remembers.
The man began World Hope Ministries Bible Discipleship course, and, after a time, Pastor Willy wrote to the South African couple living in Australia, and asked, “What did you say in that letter?” Eventually, the couple sent Pastor Willy a copy of the letter. He recalls them expressing to their son’s murderer their feeling that, “We want you to know that we regard you as our son around the table, where the space is empty.”
Pastor Willy recalls vividly the impact of that letter and the forgiveness the family offered. “It was running around the prison, that they, the victims, were able to forgive.” The prisoner received a Bible, and he was forever grateful for the Scriptures.
This kind of transformation is seen regularly by those who minister with World Hope Ministries in South African prisons. South Africa has the twelfth highest number of prisoners globally, with over 164,000 inmates across 235 operational prisons, leading to severe overcrowding.
Pastor Willy says of the inmates, “They are spiritually impoverished. They say, ‘You talk to us about God, but then how do we carry on while we’re in here? We’re doing years and years of time … We don’t have a Bible.’” He tells them, “The Bible is the voice of God to the soul.” They respond, very clearly, “Give us the voice … make sure that we can have a copy.”
Pastor Willy reflects on how the Bible brings stability to the prisoners. “You know, the word of God brings stability to their minds, and to their spirits, as they seek the Lord through a relationship, they can have a quiet time. They can share their life with God and live in the hope of what the Bible offers them.”
Roger is one such prisoner. “After I became a child of God, my hope was restored,” he shares, admitting that his life before Jesus was hopeless. “I did not have any direction, and I was filled with guilt, bitterness, anger, hatred and unforgiveness.”
The hope Roger discovered in God’s word has transformed his life completely. He says, “I am no longer walking in darkness. I have been set free from guilt, anger, hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness. My faith as a child of God is growing. I am no longer interested in committing crime but instead want to do the things that please God.”
Roger has started with the Bible Discipleship Course and says, “I am filled with joy because of what I am learning from the course. The course is strengthening my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ … The Bible means life to me because it contains the Word of God that brings forth eternal life.”
Pastor Willy emphasises the need for Bibles among the prisoners. “We came across the idea of letting them do our discipleship course first, and then getting a certificate, and qualifying for a Bible in their own language.” He shares that many ministries provide secondhand Bibles, but “we like to add a little bit of dignity to it, and we like to be able to gift them a new Bible, in their language, and say, ‘this is yours.’”
Once the participants finish the course, they write to World Hope Ministries to receive their certificate and Bible. They use the discipleship booklet during the course, referring to verses without needing a Bible. “They’re hungry by the time they finish,” Pastor Willy explains, “because they look forward to that Bible.”
For Jacob, the Bible he received is now essential to his life. “Every time I feel down, I just open my Bible and read, and I find all the answers I need … When I’m lost, I open up my Bible.”
Jacob’s life has been completely transformed by the word of God. “My life before receiving Jesus Christ was blind, though I thought everything I was doing was right,” he reflects. “It was only for temporary. Money, a good life and fancy cars; they’re only things for this world, and they don’t go with us to heaven.” When Jacob signed up for the 16-week Bible Discipleship course and began studying the Bible, his mind and eyes were opened. “I came to know that I’ve been loved, and all my sins are forgiven. After I became a child of God, I felt happier, because I am a changed man … Now I know and understand that God sent his only son to die for my sins.”
In South African prisons, the Bible is not simply being handed out; through World Hope Ministries and the Bible Discipleship course, prisoners are encountering the word of God and experiencing the transformation the love and hope of Jesus brings. They are truly receiving the Bible, in their hearts as well as in their hands.
The South African couple living in Australia are supporters of Bible Society Australia work. Pastor Willy says, “they donate wonderfully to Bible Society for the Bibles that inmates get.” Their incredible generosity in forgiving their son’s murderer is extraordinary, Pastor Willy acknowledges. Nevertheless, he says, there is an opportunity for every Australian to be involved in this transformational work of Bible distribution. “There are living people who need an opportunity. We are not overlooking their crimes; we know these men were somebody’s nightmare. But I do say to those who give to this work: you are not asking us to lock them in and throw away the key. You’re saying, “Unlock it and give them the key to life. With your donation, that money is exchanged with the word of God, which is eternal life to those who hear and need it inside the prison.”
Pastor Willy concludes, “The only hope we’ve got is that people are changed by the power of the word of God.”
If you would like to support this Bible distribution project, visit biblesociety.org.au/sow.
