Book: Broken Chains
BrokenChains
The true story of a man who found forgiveness after 43 years as a Criminal.
Available exclusively
from: PRISON FELLOWSHIP QUEENSLAND
Phone Orders: (07) 3211 8795 Fax: 3211 8797
Download Order Form (PDF)
"Sam's Testimony is remarkable. This man has a past that society despises, but his present life is one that others admire applaud such is the grace of God. Sam's future is written in God's book of life, in the company of thousands and thousands of souls who like Sam had placed their faith in Jesus Christ" - Claude Fingleton, Pastor
"For the last six years I have observed the consistency in Sam's Life exchanging his old ways for his love and desire to know more of Christ NOW. There is no other word for Grace except 'AMAZING'. God's favour and blessings are very evident in Sam's life." - Ivan Westbrook, Pastor
Take a walk through the life of a man who grew up in an immigrant family in Sydney, Australia and started early in a life of crime. Follow his journey from a troubled childhood to a "Boy's Home" where he was exposed to serious abuse.
Imprisoned at sixteen for car theft, he gives an up-close view of his frightening experiences on the inside where he was to return many times.
Crime, gambling, confusion and fear became the 'chains' that held him inside and outside prison. Bouts of paranoid schizophrenia and occult practices drove him over the edge until he encountered the Living God...
HOW TO ORDER
Sam's book is now available following a sellout of the first edition. Broken Chains is a unique account of a changed life which is touching lives everywhere. It is even popular with hardened inmates who respond to the no nonsense life in Australia's toughest prisons.
ONLY $10 EACH + POSTAGE
Available exclusively from:
PRISON FELLOWSHIP QUEENSLAND
Phone Orders: (07) 3211 8795
Fax: 3211 8797
Download Order Form (PDF)
Short excerpt:
HOPE ARISES FROM THE ASHES
"Why did I do the things I did? I did not want to hurt people
or steal from them. I hated doing it, yet I did it and gambled
away what I stole. "Oh God," I thought, "All I
have ever wanted to do was to live like everybody else - to work,
get married and have children just like millions of others are
doing. Why did I suddenly deviate into a life of crime at the
age of twelve?"
Miserably I hunched my shoulders and moved on over the bridge.
"Truly," I thought as I walked, "I really must
come from another planet. I am just so different from everyone
else." Of course the reality was that I had no sense of
identity or self worth. I was at the mercy of every insane thought
that entered my mind.
"O Lord," I pleaded, "I don't want to live like
this any more. Please help me! I am just so tired of having a
prison cell as my home and not knowing from one day to the next
where I shall be or what I shall be doing. God, I am fifty-five
years old. When will it ever end? Right now there isn't one person
in the world that I could call up for help."
I had alienated myself from my family, my brothers and sisters
and many others. I had cut them all off in such a way that I
was left with no one. Deeply depressed, I walked on a few more
steps and stopped. Having a fear of heights, I walked carefully
over to the side and looked out over the bridge and into the
distance. I felt that I had reached my limit and I just did not
want to live any more. I thought of the many times I had stopped
at churches along the way when I had gone out to do a job. On
bended knees I had pleaded with God to stop meto change me, but
nothing ever happened Bitter and angry because God would not
answer me, I would wreak havoc upon a hapless society who was
in no way responsible for my condition and I would feel that
there was no hope for me now!
Looking away into the distance I prayed silently. "Lord
for many years I have cried out, even begged you, prayed to you
going down upon my knees before you. Why won't You help me, dear
Lord? I just don't want to live any more, please take me from
this earth where I have been hurt so much. Please dear Lord give
me twelve months of peace. Have mercy on me dear God and let
me experience what it is like to live as other people do."
SAM BETROS
"Who is there that can fathom my spirit, my emotions, moods, or my troubled soul. How can I control these thoughts which are continuously filtering in and out, aimlessly, seemingly out of control. For forty years of my life I lived in the darkness of my mind, allowing every hurt of rejection to enter in, a pain that cut into my mind body and soul. All my life I only wanted to inflict pain for pain, no matter what the cost. Harshly and bitterly, the root of unforgiveness entered into my soul and gave me no peace. I felt betrayed by a world that I could not understand and became lost in the labyrinth of my unrealistic thoughts and emotions.
At the age of fourteen I was diagnosed as a manic depressive, which developed into paranoid schizophrenia. Because of my compulsive gambling, I turned to crime to support that habit, and served over thirty years in prison for various crimes. I found it impossible to live a normal lawful life in the community and became a social isolate.
In 1989, I had a spiritual encounter
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and was immediately delivered from
my antisocial behaviour, my depressions and schizophrenia. Since
that time, I have been active in the church and the community,
helping all those in need of help and being a living witness
of the compassion and grace of my God who saved me."
Sam Betros (Volunteer with Prison Fellowship Queensland)