HARARE, Zimbabwe — The Bible Society of Zimbabwe is providing 9,000 Bibles for prisoners in the 42 prisons throughout Zimbabwe, in a distribution program that began before Christmas 1997.

The object was to provide a Bible for prisoners who wanted a copy so that they could read about the true meaning of God’s gift of a Saviour at Christmas. The Bibles, 4,500 Shona and 4,500 Ndebele, are supplied through the Prison Fellowship of Zimbabwe (PFZ), a volunteer group of men and women committed to helping prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.

One of their aims is to encourage the creation and nurture of churches within prisons, and they do this through the use of the Bible. “We have seen the rehabilitation of prisoners and the benefit to their families in a way that is far more effective than the government’s reform system,” writes P S B Mandianike, the Executive Director of PFZ. “With the power of God which comes through the Bible we are convinced that so much more can be done.”

Awaiting the death sentence, C T M Munyoro took comfort in his newly-found faith: “The pain and terror of a death sentence was made lightest when I accepted the Messiah as the centre of my life. I began to read the Bible, prayed and sang to the glory of God,” he said.

Moffat Karambamuchero is a former prisoner who has now joined the ministry of the PFZ and serves as a regional director: “In the cell, the only thing that I found was a small New Testament. Through that I found my salvation in Jesus Christ, and not in my death, as I had thought.”

And though he was a prisoner he started to have fellowship with other Christian prisoners, reading and discussing the Bible together. “I was happy to serve my sentence, and even felt that it was not enough, considering what I had done to God. The prison officers could not believe the change in me and were astonished when I started preaching the Gospel to fellow inmates,” he said.

The need for more Bibles continues to grow as this distribution proves to be of great positive effect in helping prisoners to reform. Currently the few Bibles that are available in prisons are kept by the authorities and issued upon request. The PFZ has divided the country into five regions and estimates that each region needs about 2,000 Bibles to supply all the prisoners. Their aim is that every prisoner should be able to take home their own Bible when they are released.

The PFZ acknowledged the support received from the Bible Societies through the Bible Society of Zimbabwe and was excited by the program which would effectively meet their needs until mid-1998.