The last months have been characterised by an increasing crescendo of news items about Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. War was waged on the political front, the legal front. Our collective conscience has been confronted as we regurgitated how the arrests were made and Australia's own probable complicity through the early actions of the AFP. We have expressed outrage because our collective hope has been sharply focused on their successful rehabilitation and future.

What has not been in contention is the change evidenced in these two men and the maturing elements of Christian faith that became the foundation of their rehabilitation. Their new found selfless approach to life stood in powerful contrast to the hungry selfishness that had so characterised their life ten years ago. 

Over the past years we applauded, we hoped, we prayed, we spoke out. What has been revealed before our eyes is the simple truth that Jesus came to save sinners and redeem that which was lost. Their new life emerged with Him in the darkest of places, in the hardest of circumstances, and is even now living on in triumph. There is now a sacredness to their life and stories and having been an observer from a distance I feel to keep my reflections and opinions short.

Eternal God, thank you for the lives of these two men and those that died with them. They reflected Your desire to give amazing grace and true forgiveness and change the hearts of men to reflect the beauty of your only Son and our Saviour, Jesus. The fact that their last breath was given as a praise to You is not a self-denial of who they have been, but rather a mighty testimony of what You powerfully continue to do behind prison walls. Heal now those still impacted by their former sinful selfishness.

Peter Schultz.