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In April, a dozen Saint Barnabas volunteers began their first of 10 weekly visits to Burnet. Most of the three dozen who finished the class either became Christians or recommitted to their faith.

Thomison says that he plans to offer the class next year and has encouraged his chaplain colleagues to carry the program to their prisons. He suggests that inmates take Alpha before in-depth studies that assume a grasp of Christianity.

Andria Love, 19, says she looked upon Christians as a clique of hypocrites. Then Thomison suggested she try Alpha. At the course's end, she asked the chaplain to baptize her. Love owes her drastic about-face to Alpha's simplicity, which helped her understand the gospel, coupled with the concern that Saint Barnabas volunteers gave by showing up every week to teach, share, and listen to her. "When we would hurt, they would hurt," Love says.

Halbert promotes other classes, along with 12-step programs that center on faith in God. But Love says she had no understanding of God before Alpha. "I felt like my soul had done so much. I thought, Who am I to ask for forgiveness? I would cry and want a different life."

The eighth-grade dropout has earned her GED certificate while in the Burnet prison. She believes that God will help her stay crime-free once she is released from Halbert. "I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life, but I know I've got to be strong and God will show me."

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October 4 1999, Vol. 43, No. 11