From neighbourhood dope dealer to hope dealer Luke Wilson used to bash believers of God who preached to him. Now he thanks prison chaplains for turning his life around and setting him on a path to hope, salvation and fulfilment. Growing up, Luke was loved by his parents – but he hated himself. He started smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol in his early primary school years, before turning to harder drugs by the age of ten. He was dealing drugs at 12.“I hated the world, I hated myself, I was lost and confused and had no hope. I was a failure in every sense of the word. I was expelled from every school and going through the motions of life and battling addiction. I loved the drugs. I was full of anger, full of hate.” Luke said.
Anger and hate manifested into violence. Luke embraced gang life, and dealed in firearms. Luke was imprisoned at the age of 20 for offences involving drugs, assault and arson. He spent 18 years in and out of jail, imprisoned inside four Queensland correctional centres. God first spoke to Luke while he was on remand for another violent crime.
“Every hair on my body sat up. I had a warm sensation in my heart and a tear in my eye. I felt the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. All my pain and all my hate left my body,” Luke said.
During his final stint in prison, Luke sought out the chaplains he had previously shunned. He immersed himself in reading a Bible supplied by an Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy volunteer chaplain and avidly engaged in Bible studies.
“I was always sitting in my cell, just reading the word. I hardly came out of my cell. It was beautiful to seek out the chaplains to get wisdom, to receive understanding, to be loved, to get nurtured, to chat about that something that’s greater than me.The chaplains are respected in prison. They don’t judge anyone. I appreciate their wisdom. I appreciate everything they have done for me.” Luke said.
Luke says God “has become everything in my life.” He wears a wedding ring with Jesus’ name on it “because I am married to him; He pulled me out of the darkness and into the light.” Currently, Luke supports vulnerable people through his roles with Hope Ministries International and Emmanuel City Mission, a sanctuary for the homeless in South Brisbane.
His motivation is to “transform lives like my life was transformed,” spreading the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ and inspiring others – just like prison chaplains guided him through his reckless younger years. “These chaplains come into prison and they speak life into people like me who are so hardened towards God and don’t want a relationship with God or don’t believe in him,” Luke said. “It was beautiful to have those chaplains come into my life, calm me and be alongside me. I always respect those chaplains and honour them. “I think the jail system really needs them and I believe we need to fund them.
They are the shepherds who direct us and lead us. Without them many will go by the wayside.” Donations to the Carinity Chaplains Appeal will help Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy’s dedicated volunteer chaplains to continue impacting the lives of people in Queensland correctional centres.