‘What does a murderer look like?’ I have often been asked that question. My reply? ‘Look in a mirror!’
Many look like ‘ordinary Joe’ (or ‘Josephine’!), having committed just one crime. It might have arisen from an apparently ‘ordinary’ drunken punch-up, or jealousy about a wife’s relationship with his ‘friend’. You could have reacted similarly.
A starting point?
Many prisoners admit that they have ‘messed up’ their, and others’, lives. They have direct victims and indirect ones — friends and relatives of those victims. So, it is easier to talk to those ‘inside’ about Christ. This falls short of Holy Spirit conviction of sin, but it is a good starting point from which to share the need to turn from sin and to trust only in Christ’s sacrifice for sinners on Calvary’s cross.
