Bringing the Love of Christ to Rural Australia

“Dear Lutheran Braille Workers,
I am very keen to write to say thank you very much for the large print Bible books you have sent me. This week I have received about half the Bible in large print and I am loving being able to read off paper again. Your poor books will find themselves prodded with highlighter and stuck with tabs and post-its. It has taken a lot for me to go forward and ask for the gift of a Bible as printing and mailing a Bible to the other side of the world is a huge undertaking. But I am very thankful for it.

When I found the New Testament all in a box I cried and smiled because of the sense of freedom.

In Dubbo [Australia] we have a long history with Braille bibles coming from the US. I am pretty certain you provided my friend Kirrily with her first Bible nearly twenty years ago. That Bible has literally been read to death and she has now ordered another Bible. She is helping one of our friends, Julie, who became Blind later in life, learn to read Braille so that she can read the Bible again. Julie has been a Christian for many years but desperately wants to be able to read God’s word for herself.

More recently you provided a copy of Matthew and Mark’s gospel to my friend Susie. Around that time Susie understood her sin and Jesus’ redemption and learned to thank Jesus for what He did for her. Susie has complex difficulties but is growing in Christ and trusting God for her safety.

Dubbo is not a big town and we have a funny little community of Blind women. When school goes back (we are in the summer holidays now) I will do a low-key fund raiser with our Bible study. We have a pot-luck dinner when we meet and I will prepare a very simple meal and ask that people donate what they would have paid for bringing a plate. This will not make much of a contribution but it will raise awareness.

Thank you very much for all you have done for us in Dubbo.

Wishing you many blessings,
Jess, Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia”