What they say about the Child’s Bible

Sister Fidelis from South Africa

“I was able to give our First Holy Communion children, 30 boys and girls, a Child’s Bible each. The children beamed with joy and many of them kissed the book.

“Then when we began the lesson, referring to the appropriate Bible story, and I unfolded the relevant poster. There was no end to their amazement.

“Since most of the children come from very poor families, they are immensely joyful to actually possess such a beautiful Bible themselves and to be able to read it at home as well.”

Father Charles Van Laer from the Democratic Republic of Congo

“I often see the children from the primary school, and especially those preparing for Baptism and First Holy Communion walking about with ‘their Bible’.

“Some of them are learning to read with their Bible, because reading is a big problem, given the lack of books – above all in their own language of Tshiluba.”

Sister Nicola Sprenger from the Philippines

“We built a wall on the edge of the grounds of the local chapel and on this wall the children painted scenes from the Child’s Bible about the life and the miracles of Jesus.

“We also use these pictures painted by the children in the catechetical lessons. The children tell us what they see. They are very proud, for we are the only ones to have this beautiful material!

“We have put plastic covers on the big posters you sent us, so that they keep well and we are sharing them with another parish where two of our sisters work.

“We often use the pictures and the Bible to animate Sunday Masses and dramatise the Gospel message. The children are enthusiastic, and the grown-ups too…

“Thank you for your support. We hope that you and your little grain of wheat will grow and make the world here, and wherever you have contacts, a little bit more ‘human’. God's blessing will make this possible.”

Sister Claire Leroy from Ukraine

“It was an immense joy to receive, gratis, the 150 copies of the Child’s Bible ‘God speaks to his children’ in Ukrainian.

“The parish catechesis pupils were given a Bible, as were 50 children from the orphanage in Trepillia. We use this Bible a great deal in the city religion lessons, and it is a very precious tool for us, as are the posters, since the children have no other catechism book.

“We have now used up all the Bibles and we are appealing again to your generosity and asking for another 500 if that is possible, plus a collection of posters – or two if you can manage it. For in fact we want to use it more widely, even for the sick people in the hospital, in a home for the handicapped in Rjichiv, and in Trepillia, where we need another 150.”

Sister Maria de Lourdes Gregory from Brazil

“Families who come to us each month to receive food because they are very poor people. But they need not only bread but ‘every word that comes from the mouth of God’.

“And so, before the food distribution, they reflect together on the Word of God, which God addresses to his children.

“Many of these people have testified that the Word of God enlightens and strengths them in their life of poverty, in which they have to face many trials.

“Since the parents bring many children along, it is impossible to only give a book to the parents. So they get one too, on the condition that they read it every day.”

Monsignor José Félix Pérez Riera, Secretary of the Bishops' Conference in Cuba

“We are pleased to inform you that we have received the 50,000 Child’s Bibles. They are a precious support in our campaigns of evangelisation, whether in the parishes or in the families.

“On behalf of all the bishops from Cuba, I thank you most sincerely for sending us these Child’s Bibles.”

Wendy Ramirez of Our Little Brothers and Sisters Foundation in El Salvador

“With the number of Bibles you have so kindly sent us, it is possible for each child to have his own copy in his hands during the classes, and while simply looking at it can be something very nice for any child, for our children it means a great deal because it makes them feel special.

“Even our religious education teacher is fascinated with this new teaching aid, which enables her to talk about God to the children, because as she says, ‘it is much more entertaining for the children to read texts using words they do understand but which at the same time give them the teaching they need’.”

From the Apostolic Vicariate of Yurimaguas in Peru

“Please tell all our brothers and sisters in all the countries that are working with Aid to the Church in Need how precious their support is to us.

“For however much it might cost them to create this, a child in the Amazon rainforest could never obtain the financial resources to buy his own copy of ‘God speaks to his Children’. It is impossible, given the living standards here, to get this money.

“For this reason the books you have sent us are immensely appreciated and they are something the children treasure, care for, read over and over again with love, with attention and with wide-eyed wonder.

“We can see that through this material God reaches them and makes ‘their hearts glow’. Many thanks to you all for such a grace.”

Father Carlos Techera from Uruguay

“We had a meeting of all Salesians working in Uruguay. I told them about the poster series which accompanies the Child’s Bible and this was what interested them most, especially because in our four oratories there are many children who can neither read nor write.

“I would like to thank you so much for your great willingness to help us in the task of evangelising the poorest and most needy of children.”