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closeOld Bibles find new homes across the world
Puyallup churches donate Bibles to foreign missions and just about anyone else who wants to read about the word of god
Nate Hulings
Old Bibles in Puyallup churches may have to wait longer to meet their maker.
When Mountain View Lutheran Church replaced nearly 300 Bibles last year, the women of the church took it upon themselves to send the Bibles off to all corners of the earth rather than to the nearest dump.
“The big issue is that they get used again,” Mountain View Administrative Assistant Troy Kehm-Goins said. “We reuse rather than having them end up in a landfill, then they go to congregations who need them.”
Kehm-Goins said most of the Bibles leaving Mountain View wind up in South America and Africa where there are many Lutheran churches. Mountain View also donates old Bibles to prison ministries, which generally have little money and need all the help they can get.
The First Presbyterian Church of Puyallup, which has called the region home for 119 years, also looks for churches and missionaries needing Bibles and is more than willing to fill the need.
“We just look for people that need them,” First Presbyterian Office Manager Christy Galan said. “If someone comes off the street and needs a Bible we have some spare ones.”
Smaller congregations, such as Peace Lutheran, don’t have a policy on donating Bibles to foreign countries because members bring their own Bibles to worship.
Pastor Ron Kempe says along with giving Bibles to every child who belongs to Peace Lutheran, he also keeps Bibles around for walk-ins.
“We’ve given out several, it kinda runs in spurts,” Kempe said. “But if we hear a need we make sure they get a Bible.”
But whether the Bible is going overseas to a missionary in Africa or to the transient who needs guidance, there is no hesitation from local churches to answer the call and keep each Bible in circulation.