My experience with prisons has been rather limited. In some ways I'm thankful for that. Many Christians are in prison because of their faith in Jesus. I am free, and for that I give thanks. In other ways I feel just a little guilty. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to "remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner" – and I don't often "remember those in prison".

Prison is not a desirable place to be. On a couple of occasions I had reason to visit a man in Hobart's Risdon Jail. I still recall the psychological impact of the security check and the prison gates shutting me in – and I was only a visitor. It's still a painful memory to recall a family member spending a brief time in prison.

Some churches are involved in regularly leading worship services in prisons and we should be thankful for opportunities such as that. More than ten years ago I was involved in the setting up of the Crossroads Bible Institute that facilitates prisoners doing a Bible study course. Even though I have trained CBI instructors it's only recently that my wife, Merle, and I actually became CBI instructors. That has been quite informative for me for a number of reasons.

First of all it has helped to correct some stereotypes. It's easy to think of prisoners as uneducated riff-raff who live "on the other side of the tracks" and who therefore end up in trouble with the law and do time in jail. One of the first CBI lessons we received to mark, was from a man who was obviously very well educated. He was very articulate and we were amazed at the insight of this man into both the Scriptures and his own life and circumstances. It's easy to forget that there are some very well educated people in our prisons – people who are there because of what we call "white-collar crime". It's a delight to know that people like that are being challenged to do a Bible Study course and that many of them come a know the Lord through the work of CBI.

Of course there are others there too who do lack even a basic education. Some CBI students are illiterate and someone comes in to help them with their lessons. Many of these folk too are blessed in that the CBI lessons open up for them a whole new world and life view in which Jesus is trusted as Saviour and Lord.

A second thing that has struck me over and over is that the Lord so often uses hardship to turn people's lives around. As someone has said, "He often brings people to such a low point that the only place left to look is up". The most recent lesson we marked was from a man who commented that he had wandered far from God and life had become very dark for him but that in prison he had discovered again the light of God's love and that this was sustaining him during these dark days of incarceration.

One of the wonderful things about the gospel is that it is indeed good news – good news also for prisoners who often struggle to see light at the end of the tunnel. The result is that Jesus has followers who will testify to Him even in our jails.

John Westendorp