About Crossroads Prison Ministries Australia
We believe Christ-centred relationships change everything.
Crossroads connects people in prison with mentors from churches, providing discipleship and encouragement as they study the Bible by correspondence.
As Crossroads students complete the Bible study lessons from prison, volunteer mentors review the lessons, answer students' questions and encourage them through personal letters.
Because the mentorship program is carried out by mail, students remain connected to their Bible studies and the mentors no matter when or where they are transferred.
Our Purpose
Guided by Christ. Driven by hope.
Through Christ-centred relationships and faithful encouragement, we seek to bring hope, transformation, and the truth of God's Word to people in prison.
Our Mission
Connecting people in prison with mentors from churches to study God's Word together.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which the Church answers God's call to remember people who are incarcerated by cultivating Christ-centred relationships through which God transforms lives, prisons, and churches across Australia and the South Pacific.
What guides us
Our values shape the way we serve.
We want every interaction, every letter, and every expression of the ministry to reflect the dignity, compassion, humility, and hope of Christ.
Dignity
We honour the God-given dignity in every person.
God’s Word
Scripture is central to everything we do.
Compassion
We respond with warmth, humility, and care.
Excellence
We serve with faithfulness, urgency, and integrity.
Prayer
We depend on God in all that we do.
Partnership
We equip churches to remember people in prison.
Our story
A ministry born from a commitment to long-term discipleship.
Crossroads began when a prison ministry volunteer in the USA saw how often people in prison were transferred and how easily the process of discipleship was interrupted. Rather than giving up, he created a way for Bible studies and encouragement to continue by mail.
Brought to Australia from the USA in 2001 by Bob and Anne Bruinsma, in less than five years, the Crossroads program had spread across the country and into the Solomon Islands. It later took root in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
The correspondence model of Bible study and encouraging letters developed originally remains at the heart of the ministry today.
A burden to stay connected
Early prison ministry visits revealed a painful reality: transfers and instability often broke promising relationships before they could mature.
Bible studies by mail
Bible lessons and letters became a bridge — allowing connection, discipleship, and encouragement to continue wherever a person was moved.
A growing network of mentors
Volunteers from churches joined the ministry, reviewing lessons, writing replies, and forming meaningful relationships grounded in Scripture.
Crossroads in Australia
Today Crossroads Prison Ministries Australia continues that same vision — bringing hope, purpose, and Christ-centred encouragement to people in prison.
Why relationships matter
This ministry changes both students and mentors.
As mentors and students exchange letters and discover God’s Word together, both are encouraged, challenged, and shaped by the journey.
For students
Encouragement, dignity, spiritual growth, and the reminder that they are not forgotten.
For mentors
Deeper compassion, renewed purpose, and unexpected spiritual growth through faithful service.
Join the story
There is still room for more hope, more letters, and more faithful mentors.
Whether you mentor, pray, give, or help a church engage, you become part of a story that reminds people in prison they are seen, valued, and loved by God.