Prison Chaplain Releases Devotion Successfully Used to Introduce Gospel to Inmates

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – After years of working with marginalised groups in the community and in prisons, Suz Foley  has provided a vital resource for adults in an effort to help them engage in faith – even though most of them lack confidence in reading, knowledge of the bible and church life.

Her results working in the prison system as a Senior Prison Chaplain to date have been amazing. Those that learn visually have been coming to Christ in reading her devotion, Beloved One, and she is now releasing it to the general market in an effort to share the Gospel with a much wider audience.

Beloved One is a unique visual devotion of the Gospel of John for adults who are exploring faith and seeking a new life. “People that I meet are spirituality thirsty, but struggle to navigate the bible, church and sermons,” Suz stated.

“They don’t feel comfortable or welcome in the typical Middle-Class church. They need something more accessible to them when they’ve had a hard life, so they can feel they belong and can understand God. They need examples that reflect the kind of struggles they have, and not sanitised examples from people who haven’t experienced trauma, disadvantage, incarceration, or marginalisation, which is most of the general church world.”

Developed from her own season of exploring the Bible by painting one chapter at a time, Suz realised that the thought-provoking paintings could be used to engage readers. She wrote accompanying devotions on the Gospel of John that are informative and inclusive, with language that welcomes people to have their own opinions and reflections that lead them on a journey.

Suz states, “I knew I had to publish the book when one person said to me, ‘Why can’t the whole Bible be like this? I can understand it when I read your book.’ Though the reader was in her fifties, she was praying for the first time after she realised that hatred and bitterness had controlled her life for too long and she needed to do something different.

“She read Beloved One, and her relationship with God grew as she understood what he was like and what Jesus had done for her. God has turned her life around, allowing her to gradually forgive the people who wronged her, and to enjoy life. This is one of many stories people have told me, so I’m confident that the visual devotional is a useful tool, and helps people come closer to God.

“I’m committed to providing more resources for this group of people who have been ignored for too long.”

Suz previously worked as an Occupational Therapist, Pastor, and Community Centre Director, and has wide experience of working with people with disability, mental health issues, addictions, homelessness and poverty. The book has been trialled at South Australian prisons, where it was warmly received, and Beloved One has now been published as a resource to professionals working with marginalised people, and for people looking for a relevant gift for friends and family.

If you’re looking for resources to engage people with the Bible who haven’t found it an easy read, or struggle to see how it’s relevant to them, then Beloved One is a must read. The paintings have a naïve style and are expressionist, conveying the emotional responses of the characters to the events that are happening in the text. The pictures convey context, without needing to explain it in words.  It is useful for people exploring faith, finding their feet as Christians, or going deeper in their relationship with God.

For more information about Suz Foley and her work, visit www.onsolidrock.com.au. Beloved One, published by Ark House, is now available globally.