FRANKLIN, KY — It’s not the “Free Behind Bars” t-shirt that Franklin Community Church Senior Pastor Eric Walker wears that grabs the attention of inmates at the Simpson County Detention Center.

Instead, it’s his testimony of “been there, done that.” He uses his life story to explain to prisoners how they can have hope and a future — a new life through faith in Christ.

For the past three years, Walker has led Celebrate Recovery classes at the jail. He candidly admits, “You won’t reach everybody, but you will reach somebody.” During his ministry there, more than 100 people have made professions of faith in Christ. His ability to relate to the prisoners stems from his 20 years of involvement with drugs and from serving time.

On a mid-February Wednesday, one woman and eight men indicated they had trusted Jesus as their Savior. Those decisions were made after Walker confronted his hearers with the reality of their sin. He wastes no time in telling the inmates, “I’m here because I’ve been where you guys have been.

Nobody ever grows up wanting to be a mess. I promise you can and will change, but guess what? It’s up to you.”

Walker said he had five things he wanted for the inmates…

1. Know God — in a real way, not a religious way. Walker said he wants his listeners to get to the point that they can say, “If you never do anything else, God, I want you to know I love you.” Walker told them he understands their pain — the pain of being behind bars — is real. “The only thing to get rid of your pain is real (God).”

2. Find freedom — so they can enjoy freedom. “Nothing happens if nothing changes,” he said. “Once you are free from behind bars, then you can enjoy freedom in front of bars.”

He reminded them, “God still loves you,” and urged them to seek real freedom, which can only come from God. “I’m crazy enough to believe God can use people like me and you — but it only happens when you find real freedom.

“You are not in jail for who you are, but for what you did. Your freedom is not based on what you did, it is based on what Christ did for you.”

3. Discover your purpose — everyone has a purpose. Walker explained that God doesn’t waste our pain — we do. “Don’t go through what you have gone through for nothing. Your pain is your purpose.”

Walker said his pain of 20 years in the drug culture is what motivates him to help others escape from drugs. “The devil and God want you for the same reason — you are valuable. There is value in each and every one of you, but you won’t realize your value until you see it.

A thief doesn’t try to steal from an empty safe — if the devil is messing with you, there must be something valuable inside there.”

Walker challenged his hearers with this question: “Do you know who you can reach?” The answer was obvious in both classes. The woman saved that day was there for the first time — attending the class at the invitation of a fellow inmate. In the men’s class, one prisoner said he had three men waiting to join the group.

4. Make a difference — “you might as well make a difference because you’ve already made a mess,” Walker said. He advised the inmates the things they are trying to forget are things they need to remember.

“Allow the past to help you. Your past will either destroy your future or it will develop your future.” He likened it to when a person touches a hot stove. Remembering that pain will result in them not touching a hot stove again. “You don’t want to feel that pain again.”

Walker pointed to the apostle Paul, who said “I may be in jail, but jail is not in me.”

5. Admit to God — “be ready to say, ‘I was wrong.'”

Walker encouraged them to not blame God, but admit their wrongs to God, others and themselves. And when they do that, he said they should not be looking for a response. “Do it because you are apologizing for you. It doesn’t take much to say, ‘I’m sorry.'”

Walker told them, “It is never too late for a miracle — the end of your rope is not the end of hope,” and the apostle Paul “reached more people in jail than I probably reach in church.” He then urged the men to “receive Jesus — not just because you’re in this room, but because you’re tired of being in this room.”

As a believer, he admonished them to be excited — “not because of where you are, but because of who you are. Don’t be excited about your location, but be excited about your creation, and then the creation can change your location.”

When inmates make a profession of faith, Walker and Franklin Community continue to minister to them. There is a baptistry tub at the jail, and those making commitments to Christ are baptized while still behind bars. The church provides information to help disciple those new believers.

“We give them a folder that we give to all our new members,” Walker said. “It includes a letter from me and four ways to connect. Christianity doesn’t have to be complicated. I look at them as members.”

About 15 percent of those inmates who attend Walker’s classes in jail wind up going to Franklin Community. He recalled one woman who was released from jail and was waiting at the bus station to return to her hometown of Lexington. But she never boarded the bus, instead calling to enter a recovery house. When she called to see if there was a slot for her, she was told that one person had just left, and she could get it.

On the following Sunday she attended Franklin Community, saying to Walker, “I have to be under your teaching.”