NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- It was a special day Tuesday inside the Floyd County Jail, dozens of inmates committing themselves to a faith they found only after realizing the price of their crimes.

Forty-one men and women were baptized Tuesday inside the jail. The water won't wash away the crimes they committed, but Jhonna Parra believes it will wash away her sins.

"I'm tired of living life. ... living on a downward spiral, not going anywhere besides down," Parra said. "Once you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up."

Serving a seven-year jail sentence for robbery, Parra believes — despite that long road ahead — Tuesday's baptism transformed her.

"I have a different mindset like I didn't when I was young," she said. "I didn't realize how life could change in an instant or change in a minute."

The baptisms are part of a jail house bible study called Residents Encounter Christ (REC) revival. According to its website, REC — headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, — is a retreat in which "Residents and community members experience God and spiritual formation through talks covering basics of a Christian life, table discussions, worship, and special times of reflection."

Yvonne Haub, change development facilitator with REC, said she's there to provide tough love, an ear or word of encouragement to the inmates. She knows some of their roads have been tough.

"I hope that they find grace within themselves," Haub said. "For some of those that got baptized, we knew they struggled with that."

Haub serves with REC as an example to others because of her own troubled past. 

"It wasn't until I learned about Jesus and got baptized where I truly believed all of my sins were washed away and I was white with snow," she said. "Not perfect, but I'm learning as I go."

Floyd County Sheriff Steve Bush hopes to help the inmates leave the water — and eventually jail — on a new path.

"It was very powerful, and you can feel in the room the power of the message that was taking place, the symbolic nature of being dunked and washing away your sins," Bush said Tuesday.

Th inmates must still serve their time, but Bush believes REC and the baptisms that come from it will help change the trajectory of their lives.

"We believe connecting people who are not connected to Christ is one way to go," he said. "If we save one person, that's what it's worth.

"We got to hold people accountable when they do commit crimes, but, at the same time, our goal is to make sure people don't come back."

As Parra waits to be transported to prison for her sentence, she said the road already feels a lot smoother.

"This is this my clean slate," she said. "... Now, I get to start from scratch."

For more information on REC, including how to volunteer, click here.

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