If Jesus came not for the saints but the sinners, the cells – not just the pews – might be a good place to look for those in need of religion.

Princeton Pike Church of God in Hamilton brings the word of God to about 200 inmates a week at the Butler County Jail, Lebanon Correctional, Warren Correctional and Butler County Juvenile Detention Center, said Larry Powell, director of the church’s jail ministry.

People sometimes view inmates as “scum of earth,” but Powell said, “God doesn’t make any junk.” The ministry sees them with an open mind, no matter what crime they committed, he said.

“As we go into jails and prisons we have to go in with the mindset, God does forgive,” Powell said. “We can’t judge, we’re not their executioner.”

Powell, who works at Lebanon Correctional as a GED coordinator, said many of the inmates can relate to Tim Ledford, a fellow chaplain and volunteer.

Ledford used to be locked up himself, but now volunteers with the ministry at the Butler County Jail.

“I was a biker, a drug addict and drug dealer,” Ledford said.

While out on bail and depressed after several arrests, Ledford said one night he held a gun to his head, and began to pull the trigger. “I was suicidal and the voice of God spoke to me,” he said, adding that God told him he would use his bad experiences to help others.

He served his last sentence in 1986. He now goes back to jail a free man, to teach inmates that God has a plan for everyone — even those locked up.

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘why do you go into the jails and prisons?’ If it weren’t for the grace of God, I’d be sitting next to them,” he said.

While some prisoners turn to “jailhouse religion,” being faithful while locked up and turning to old, criminal ways when released, Powell said the ministry works to change their mindset, and that the process for a prisoner to truly forgive themselves is slow.

“They’ve forgotten to forgive themselves,” said Ledford, who said that half of the inmates he sees are depressed or suicidal.

Seeing a man like Ledford, who has found a way to forgive himself for past transgressions and moved forward with his life, can be helpful to prisoners, he said.

“I can see the hope in their eyes when I share with them my past,” Ledford said. “There’s hope for these guys. There’s nothing they have done that Jesus will not forgive.”