Prison Fellowship International and Bible charity Faith Comes by Hearing have announced a strategic partnership to make audio Bibles more accessible in prisons worldwide.
According to Prison Fellowship International (PFI), 15 million people are imprisoned annually around the world and, in many cases, the prison systems are not capable of providing proper rehabilitation methods or offering prisoners the tools to improve themselves.
PFI and Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH) hope to provide 100,000 audio Bible programs across 65 countries, hoping to reach one million inmates by 2027.
"This partnership takes God's Word directly into dark places, bringing hope to men and women; equipping those who have lost all hope to return to their communities and families, with light," said Jonathan Huguenin, vice president of global partnerships and language recordings at FCBH.
PFI believes that having access to religious content is highly beneficial for inmates. Early findings from a Baylor University study of PFI's 'The Prisoner's Journey', an eight week course, and its influence over prisoners have lead researchers to believe that increasing prisoners' religious engagement "inspires their increased motivation for identity transformation, helps them grow in virtue and gain a sense of meaning in life."
Prison Fellowship International is the ministry founded by Chuck Colson in 1979 to provide prison reforms and spiritual transformations to prisoners across America and the world.
Faith Comes By Hearing is a ministry dedicated to ensuring that "everyone on earth has access to the Gospel in a format they can understand." FCBH is currently partnering with 400 different organizations to record Scripture in every language of the world by 2033.
