Education and Faith Can Transform Lives Behind Bars

Tyler Bowman writes about how education and faith can work together to transform life behind bars—from despair and idleness to purpose and hope.

Day in and day out, I leave my cell block to go to school. Left behind are dozens of men who occupy their days with the monotony of playing cards, watching television, or minding someone else’s business. Their eyes follow my schoolmates and me with a mix of contempt and longing. Sometimes, I stare back, wondering at what point during their incarceration the light left their eyes.

The Path to Education

I’m heading into my sophomore year of the North Carolina Field Minister Program (NCFMP), a bachelor’s degree program in pastoral ministry with a focus in counseling. Joe Gibbs’ nonprofit, Game Plan for Life, partnered with Judson College at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to provide an opportunity for incarcerated people to become field ministers. This position is meant to help others in an effort to change prison culture from the inside out. This program includes members of all faith backgrounds but is unapologetically rooted in Christianity.

Before the Transformation

Prior to being accepted into the NCFMP, my life in prison felt stagnant, inadequate, and wasted. Incarcerated at the age of 22, experiencing life as it slipped away, was frightening. I could feel the potential draining from my bones. Due to the length of my sentence, most academic and vocational opportunities weren’t available to me. In a dark environment, I was lost. Until one day, through the stainless steel mirror mounted on my wall, I observed the light leaving my eyes. Depression and idleness had fueled my escapism through substance abuse. At the time, I was as clueless as the rest of my peers as to how to staunch the flow of hope leaving the body.

Choosing to Transform

Succumbing to hopelessness is common. To overcome such temptation, a passion must form. Through desperate prayer and determination, I continued to pursue opportunities that I was told weren’t available to me. But God always does his part. It’s up to the individual to do theirs. My desire to not allow idleness to whisk me away, chip by broken chip, spurred me to do my part. I was tired of being lost in the darkness, and God provided me a path forward.

Near the end of 2023, a lot of things happened in a short amount of time. My custody level dropped from maximum security to medium custody, which overrode my institutional violence charge from a fight. My bus ticket changed from transferring to a mountain camp to Nash CI, a progressive camp closer to home and full of opportunities. Then, on my tablet I received information about and an application to apply to the NCFMP, a program based out of the prison I just miraculously got transferred to. Boom—just like that—God changed the trajectory of my life.

A Transformed Outlook

Becoming a part of the NCFMP changed my outlook significantly. It provided me hope for a better future, and a purpose that drives me to share the gospel with my peers. After only one year of pursuing my education, I feel transformed in mind and spirit. Thinking critically in school helps me to think critically in life. It’s easy to get caught up in the hubbub of daily prison culture. Going to school is a nice reprieve, one that’s equipping incarcerated individuals with the tools needed to change what prison is and can be—an environment conducive to genuine change.

One of the most important things I’ve learned so far is that I must love my fellow man, regardless of their crime, views, or personality. It sounds hard and is even harder to do. Sharing the gospel is one way to show love, but it also requires that a relationship be built. A relationship requires that I care about the person—not simply their salvation, but their life. How is their health? How is their family? Where is their mind at? Did they work out today? Just being there and treating them like they’re still a human being—because they are. We all are. Incarceration doesn’t change that.

Transforming Prison Culture

Traditional prison culture is taxing on the mind, body, and spirit, exacting a toll on all those who participate. It’s up to those who are incarcerated to change the narrative that perpetuates stereotypes fed to the public on a daily basis. To enact change, we must be different. Prison walls may keep us in, but they don’t keep God out.

These days, I find myself rounding up men on Sundays to go to church, inviting people to Bible study on Tuesday nights, and breaking down barriers with men at Set It Off—a Friday night group meeting where the tough questions get asked. A prayer circle forms every night around 7:30 p.m. in our block of over 100 men, half of which are enrolled in the NCFMP. Other Bible study groups, discipleship groups, and counseling sessions take place at the metal tables scattered throughout the block. God is at work. This is just a snapshot of the cultural shift taking place through the field minister program. I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Restoring Hope

What I’ve discovered is that prison isn’t the biggest obstacle incarcerated people face, but the battle which rages within ourselves. As a field minister in training, I hope to use aspects of my education and testimony to help and build up my fellow incarcerated man. Prison should be a means of restoration, not a crucible for punitive justice. When I look into the eyes of my peers as I go to school, I not only wonder when the light left them, but how I can restore it.

Interested in reading more? Check out There Are Downsides to Being A Rehabilitated Prisoner