|
|
|
About Bibles for the Blind and Visually Handicapped International
We print and distribute the Bible in braille without charge to the blind and visually
handicapped throughout the world who are otherwise unable to afford to read God's
Word.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans
10:17
How does a blind person read?
A blind person reads with his hands. His fingers are able to feel different
combinations of raised dots called braille. These different combinations of between
one and six dots and in some languages combinations of between one and eight dots
are used to make letters, numbers, words and word signs which are a form of braille
shorthand.
Is the Bible readily available to the blind?
The Bible was not available to the blind in braille until the mid 1920's.
While the Bible is available in over 2,000 languages currently in print. The Bible
is available in its entirety in only about fifteen languages in braille. The blind
not only have the right but the responsibility to read God's Word on a daily basis.
Bibles for the Blind & Visually Handicapped International was born to help
those who could not afford to buy the Bible in a form that they can read to gain
that right and to fulfill that responsibility.
The Bible in braille, the King James English translation, for instance would cost
retail approximately eight hundred ten dollars. Quite expensive wouldn't you agree?
The braille Bible is also very large. We print the King James English translation
in seventeen volumes. One volume is about the thickness of a standard Bible and
approximately 11 inches tall by 11 1/2 inches wide.
Many have asked; since the Bible is so large in braille and since it is so expensive,
why don't you just provide everyone with a cassette recording of the Bible? The
cassette tape is a tremendous invention, fine for listening to the Bible, but
impossible to study. For instance it is nearly impossible to tell what the punctuation
is in a given sentence and sometimes knowing where commas, semicolons, parentheses,
brackets and other punctuation marks are located is very important in understanding
a given passage. Another and more important problem with trying to study with
a cassette Bible is that it is not referenced by chapter and verse. The tape may
begin by telling you that you are at Romans chapter ten verse one but you will
not hear another verse marking until you have reached Romans 11, 12, etc.
How do you reach the blind?
To date God has allowed Bibles for the Blind and Visually Handicapped International
to distribute the Bible in approximately thirty countries and nearly every state
in the United States. The blind who need the Bible and can't afford it are referred
to us by churches, nursing homes, prisons, braille circulating libraries, rehabilitation
centers and the list goes on. There are relatively few organizations working with
the blind on a nationwide or worldwide basis.
What about the braille printing system?
Through the use of a braille computer printer, by typing a few simple commands
into the computer system, we can print one volume of the Bible or an entire Bible
in just minutes and the savings are tremendous. For instance we can print and
distribute the King James English translation of the braille Bible for about 1/3
of the cost that we were able to buy it. We are ministering to a worldwide population
of approximately 50 million and statistics state that someone is newly blinded
every sixty seconds.
Now that you know what God is doing through this ministry, I'd like to ask you
for a favor. Won't you please pray for this missionary family and for this mission
to the blind and visually handicapped around the world on a daily basis? If I
may answer any questions for you or be of any assistance to you please feel free
to contact me personally. Thank you again for reading this information.
In Christ's service
for God's glory,
Keith Reedy, Director
|
 |
|
|
