Luke Wilson used to bash believers of God who preached to him in prison. Now he is known to express his love of the Lord through impromptu preaching to a captive audience, whether it be in a shopping centre food court or on an airplane.
And 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 couldn't even commit suicide properly; I tried several times," Luke said.
"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."
Anger and hate manifested into violence. Luke embraced gang life, and dealed in firearms. He was street savvy, volatile and violent.
After avoiding jail for many earlier misdemeanours, Luke was finally 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. He feels "blessed" to have not been sent to jail earlier.
Meanwhile, his parents separated and sold the family home. Luke's life was still directionless. He believes a drug raid at his home was God's intervention preventing him from murdering two people. He became homeless.
God first spoke to Luke while he was on remand for another violent crime.
"I'm in the watchhouse, I'm doing push-ups. I hear this audible voice: 'You shall not fear them for I, the Lord your God, will fight for you.' I think I'm going crazy. I hear the same voice again, with more power and authority," Luke said.
"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."
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.
"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," Luke said.
"The chaplains are respected in prison. They don't judge anyone. I appreciate their wisdom. I appreciate everything they have done for me.
"I was always sitting in my cell, just reading the word. I hardly came out of my cell. When I came out people would look at me and say I was just radiating."
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 of $2 or more to help continue the work of Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy, are tax deductible and can be made at carinity.org.au/donations
