Last month I encouraged our Mission staff to contact their churches and ask people to donate Bibles on the shelf at home which they really don’t use anymore. I told them about Meredith’s enthusiasm in contacting everyone she knows in order to help us get Bibles in the hands of the many men who come here. Here is her story:
Take That Step and Just Ask!
Meredith Lashley
When Pastor Gary Byers came to me at the Helping Up Mission Banquet, and asked me to help the Mission by collecting Bibles, I was so excited. I asked my churches, my friends’ churches, my school, and Rebelutionaries (an online group of Christian teens) to donate bibles. My goal was to collect over 200 bibles.
As of now, I have collected 50 Bibles for the Mission, and am working on another collection for Perry Hall Christian School to collect more Bibles for the men. My teacher is so excited about it, so we are combining the Bible Collection and the Hope Totes, which is another project for the Mission.
I guess you should know that I am in 10th grade, and almost 15. You are never too young or too old to serve God’s kingdom. I never thought I would receive 10 Bibles, but because of prayer, and the help of my church families, my school, my friends, and my family, I now have over 50 Bibles. I am excited to see what else God has in store for the Mission.
Bibles are invaluable to the men at the Mission. I would like to encourage you to start asking your friends, families, and classmates for extra Bibles to donate. You would be surprised to know that many people have old or extra Bibles around the house that they don’t know what to do with. All they need is someone to ask them. I pray and encourage you to take that step and just ask.
In most church families there are up to half a dozen Bibles that we once used but got newer ones and really don’t use anymore. We would never just throw old Bibles away and we would be very happy to pass them along to someone who might appreciate having them. There are a variety of translations and different guys like different ones. There are some with larger print (always a hit) and there are Study Bibles which everybody wants to use to pass the tests I give them. If you have a few Bibles that are in good shape and want to donate them to a good cause, you can sent it to us here at Helping Up Mission. Maybe some of you will feel the call to do like Meredith has done and enlist others to help also.
My aunt Pudge (her real name is Marjorie, if you must know) is the one who inspired this idea a few year ago. She had a bunch of Bibles she didn’t know what to do with and asked if we could use them. I said yes and the next thing I knew she sent 3 boxes full. She had taken that step to ask people in her church to do the same. Since then, others have made similar efforts to make Bibles available to our guys. We appreciate it here and the folks who donated the Bibles also feel like they did something meaningful.
So, if you want to mail Bibles to us here, send them to:
Pastor Gary Byers
Helping Up Mission
1029 East Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Or you can email me at gbyers@helpingup.org or call my office and talk with us about your ideas or interests – 401/675-7500 x 148.
Thanks for caring and sharing,
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director