He went to prison angry and violent. He found Christ — and a reason to go back.

Karl Schlenker knows firsthand that prisoners can change through the love of Jesus Christ, even hardened criminals facing life behind bars.

Schlenker went from a church-going husband and father of three to an inmate in an Ohio prison. He turned aggressive as both a survival method and a reflection of his personal pain, years of clinical depression, and PTSD from past trauma lurking within.

‘I have instant credibility with these guys … almost every one of them will come up and say, “You don’t come across like an inmate at all,”‘ he says.

His salvation came via volunteers from Kairos Prison Ministry, a nonprofit that just celebrated its 50th anniversary. The ministry serves nearly 500 prisons and communities in 37 states and 13 countries.

Schlenker is more than just