STORIES OF FAITH From a HISTORIC PRISON

Around the world, volunteers among Jehovah's Witnesses visit penal institutions in order to assist inmates who sincerely want to draw close to God. For more than 20 years, we have successfully conducted such a Bible educational program in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Studying the Bible in a prison environment is challenging.  As volunteer  ministers, we have dealt with bank robbers, extortioners, murderers, drug dealers, con artists, and sex offenders. How are such individuals helped?

FIRST, you may be interested to learn when and how Jehovah's Witnesses originally entered this prison. It was July 4, 1918.  A group of eight distinguished Christian ministers were escorted up 15 granite steps  of this federal penitentiary. If the common practice of the time was followed, they were handcuffed to  "belly chains," with their legs shackled.  The newcomers were spiritually qualified men who took the lead among the International Bible Students, as Jehovah's Witnesses were then known.  Those men could not have guessed that it would take less than a year to establish that their imprisonment  was a gross miscarriage of justice. In March 1919,  the eight Witness ministers walked down those same prison steps, unshackled and free.  They were later exonerated when the authorities decided to withdraw the prosecution.

During their imprisonment in Atlanta, those Christian men conducted Bible study classes. One of the eight inmates, A.H. Macmillan later reported  that the deputy warden was hostile at first but was finally moved to exclaim:  "Those lessons you are having there [with the prisoners] are wonderful! 

Today, over 80 years later, productive Bible study classes continue to make lasting impressions on individuals in that very prison. On several occasions prison officials  have singled out members of our team for special recognition and honorary awards. The effectiveness of Jehovah's Witnesses' educational programs has also been featured in Volunteer Today, a national newsletter published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons.

One of the benefits of the program of Bible study with inmates is a remarkable improvement in their conduct. As a result, some have gained an earlier release from prison. Cynical observers might assume that convicts only study the Bible with us for such a reason. While that has been true in a few cases, our experience has often shown otherwise. We are thrilled again and again to learn that our students are still maintaining good Christian conduct many years after their release from prison. The following are a few of the many experiences we have enjoyed behind the towering walls of this historic prison facility.

Next time: STORIES OF FAITH From a HISTORIC PRISON

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