A prison chaplain from Logan has called time on a 21-year career helping some of society’s most notorious criminals.
Every Tuesday and Thursday for the last two decades, Debbie Glasson ran chaplaincy services inside the high security correctional centres at Wacol.
She would enter the prison gates at 8am and leave at night, tirelessly volunteering her time to help some of the most disturbed criminal minds find peace in their lives.
“There was sadness when I left, but also excitement because I know there’s much more for me on outside to do with post-release prisoners and guiding women still on the inside,” she said.
Her path to prison ministry started when she was in her early 40s.
“I started a church in Rochedale, and there was a reverend and chaplain who wanted people to come to prison – that’s how it started,” she said.
From there she began helping to run chaplain services every 6 weeks, which evolved into a more permanent role.
“I never felt fearful in either the men or women’s prison because I felt like it was my calling,” she said.
That is quite something given that the people she came face-to-face with carried hard hitting convictions, such as molestation which she suffered from as a child.
“I was molested all through my childhood, but I wasn’t believed when I was young, so I shut down as an adult and became addicted to alcohol and smoking,” she said.
By the time she started prison ministry as a 43-year-old she had overcome her addictions.
She remembers feeling “overwhelmed” when she found out the histories of the people she was dealing with at the time.
“I’m not excusing them, but most of those men were victims in the first place,” she said.
“But I believe I was put there was a reason, so I could make a difference.”
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