A story from prison

The joy of learning from the Bible

Two prison chaplains who ordered some Plain English Version (PEV) resources shared this encouraging story with us. They've been using the PEV Gospel of John for a women's Bible study, and were encouraged to see that the women found it easy to understand and that they volunteered to read out loud much more quickly than usual. The chaplains suggested the women read the whole book in their own time. Last week, one woman said she had finished it by reading a little bit each night before bed. She told the chaplains that she felt so happy that she had finished it: “It was 121 pages!” Part of her joy was the sense of accomplishment at reading the complete book, but a huge part was all that she had learned. The chaplains asked her to share what parts she especially liked. At first that was a difficult question. Her initial answer was the stories surrounding Jesus’ death. But as the study that morning progressed, other comments kept bubbling up. “Jesus knows our name!” “The Holy Spirit is with us.” “I’m not even hungry now because I am reading the Bible and that feeds me.” “Jesus gives us living water also!” She's now excited to read the PEV Gospel of Mark which she received several months ago.

Give thanks that people are learning more about God through the PEV. Pray that this lady and others will have their lives transformed by the gospel.