Crossroad Opens Campus in Europe

Crossroad Bible Institute of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has opened CBI United Kingdom, its inaugural European distribution center. This 12th CBI satellite campus serves prisoners in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Overseeing CBI UK is Matthew Savage, also director of The Bible Network, the UK funding partner of Bible League International. Savage is establishing a strong instructor base while the initial group of students, incarcerated at Magilligan Prison in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, begins the program. The students have been highly supported by their chaplain, who requested the program’s implementation.

The Christian Reformed Church recommends Crossroad Bible Institute for support.

With approximately 147 per 100,000 people in prison, England and Wales have the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe. Since 1993, the prison population has increased from 41,600 to nearly 85,000. Scotland has a similar rate of incarceration, and, after its slight decrease in the 1990s, Northern Ireland’s prison population has begun rising as well. Recidivism poses a significant problem: two-thirds of those that re-enter society return to prison within two years.

Those of African-Caribbean and African descent are even more disproportionately represented in UK prisons than in their American counterparts. Islam is overrepresented as well, with Muslims constituting 12 percent of the prison population in England and Wales.

At a recent prison ministry conference in London, Ministry of Justice officials commented on the government’s increasing reliance on voluntary and faith-based organizations. One representative noted that Christian organizations are “holding the hope” in this field.

Savage comments, “We plan to recruit more volunteers in the coming weeks so that we are ready to receive many more student enrollments. With the help of faithful volunteer Instructors, we aim to make these valuable courses available to all.”

Contact: Dr. David Schuringa, President, Crossroad Bible Institute. Phone: 1-800-668-2450, email: [email protected]. For more information, visit: Crossroad Bible Institute.