Dear Loved ones,
Thank you for all of your prayers and support, may the Lord bless you for your faithfulness. I wanted to give you all an update on the ministry and how, by the grace of God, the Lord’s ministry has been modestly affected by the shelter in place order.
Since March 17th, we have not been able to meet as a ministry for our normal 2nd Saturday of the month Volunteer days at the church, but by the grace of our God, the work continues! The Lord’s dedicated servants have simply been taking the work home with them, finishing the work, and returning back the labor of their love to the ministry office in San Jose. The Bibles are then shipped out by a very small team, utilizing separate vacant offices and conference rooms which God has provided, in an effort to comply with all California shelter in place orders.
In the short time between our last volunteer day and June 13th, about 930 Bibles have been prepared, engraved, and shipped out to our spiritually starving brothers and sisters confined within the state prisons, and county jail facilities, praise God! Thank you for helping each of them receive truth, hope, comfort, and God willing peace during this tumultuous time. Many of you have heard of the large outbreak in San Quinten from the recent transfer of inmates from Southern California. Please keep all of the inmates, staff, and their families in your daily prayers, as we can only imagine the tension within these walls.
I am also grateful to report that during this time, the Bible manual has been translated into Spanish. We include some helpful literature with each Bible when they are shipped. There are tracts that the ministry has written to help evangelize the true Gospel to one another, a newsletter, to stay informed. And now there is a 4-page tool to help unfold and navigate through the Bible, providing commentary to encourage them during specific challenges. By God’s grace when we ship Spanish Bibles, we can now include Spanish tracts and Bible manuals.
Just a couple of days after our last shipment in June I broke my ankle, had surgery and have been humbling recovering. Therefore God willing we will be able to start sending out Bibles again come September as I am further along in my recovery. As of today, I am not able to walk or put any weight on it. So, thank you for your patience while things have slowed down. It’s comforting to put our trust in the Lord when things are not being completed the way we hoped, God knows I’ve needed the rest and time with Him.
The last time we all gathered as a ministry at the church, was back on March the 14th, and we read these letters that I’d like to share with you now…
Dear Revelation Bible Ministry,
I just wanted to say thank you for the Bible you guys sent me. It’s beautiful. I also want you to know I’m praying for your ministry, for your staff, and for your families.
Also I would like to ask for a huge favor…I had a friend here, his name is Edgar. He accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. He loves God. However we’re still in prison and things happen. Long story short he’s still here in this prison but he’s in the hole. Can’t think of a better place to read the Bible. So I’m asking can you please send Him a Bible. If you sent it to the address below he will receive it. Thank you, God bless.
Sincerely, Armando
Dear Family of Revelation Bible Ministry,
This missive is to inform you how grateful I am to have (today) received the Bible that I requested. Thank you so much! And thank you for spelling my name correctly! I cannot tell you how many times someone had either left an “m” out of my first name or spelled my last name with a “cks” rather than with a “x” as it is actually spelled.
God bless you. God bless the service in the Lord that you are doing. While I am unable to make any direct donations to RBM, I will pay it forward in my service to Christ here and onward. Again, thank you and God bless!
In Him, Jammie
To God,
I’m not sure exactly who I am supposed to address this letter to. For that I apologize, but I assume no one will take offense if I go ahead and ask God directly for help. My name is Erik and I am currently incarcerated at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Galt, CA. I will soon be sent from here to a state penitentiary. I’m not sure which one though.
I’m writing to you today because I recently saw a fellow inmate with a really nice Bible with a leather jacket and his name engraved on it. His name is Noah. I asked him where he got such a nice Bible and at first he seemed very perplexed at the question. But he looked at me in the face he could see that I was being sincere in my inquiry. I only mention this because he is African American and I am Caucasian. There is a lot of animosity between our races here. Anyway, once he realized that all I was asking for was because I would like to have a Bible that is as beautiful as his, that will have a better chance of lasting the wear and tear of incarceration. We listened to the service together, we sang together and after the service I started towards my side of the building where the whites are separated from the blacks. Before I could get to far Mr. Wright (stopped me to my surprise) and said “don’t you wanna know where to get one of these Bibles?” Now it was me that had a perplexed look on my face, so with both of us feeling very uncomfortable we faced one another and smiled. Mr. Wright opened his Bible and showed me who to write and ask for a beautiful Bible like his. Mr. Wright and I have not exactly become close friends, but I get the feeling that we understand that we are not enemies, that we are just two men looking for the grace of God in a place that could in my eyes use God’s love more then most places I’ve ever been. I’m sorry for rambling on I just thought that maybe someone other than Mr. Wright, myself, and God should know how the Word of God and the desire to be close to Him can bring two men in very difficult situations a little closer. Every little bit helps. I don’t believe in coincidences. So maybe Mr. Wright and I will cross paths again, hopefully under better circumstances. With all that being said I feel kinda silly. I’m very new to God, I had a very life changing experience not long ago and something very strange is happening to me and God has EVERYTHING to do with it. That is a story for another time. I would like to know if you could possibly send me one of those very nice Bibles. I’m not sure if I have time to receive one here or if I have to wait till I get to a penitentiary. Any response would be nice. If not, I will try again when I get somewhere more permanent. Thank you for your time, let me know if I need to make arrangement for payment and I will try to figure it out.
Thank you for your time, Erik I love you God!
To whom it may concern,
My name is Anna and I am 32 years old tomorrow. Recently I started to follow the Lord. I was very confused about my religion. When I was little I remember that we used to go to the Catholic Church and I used to speak to Him as well. But then as I got older I was going thru a lot of stuff so when I was about 15 years old I started to hang around gothic people, those who worship Satan only so I really thought that was cool and the thing to do. So I followed them, then I saw things, and felt things that you can say are unnormal, something out of this world. So then I try to stop but I did not really follow God so then I went thru a lot. Once again then I met the Religion of the Santa Muerte and I thought that was love that was everything I ever needed and wanted so I thought then…. Years went by and I got locked up and I still follow the Santa Muerte even here in prison. But just recently in January out of know where I watch these TV shows that are on the Christian channels and my thirst for the Lord Jesus began. I am in love with the Lord and I want to follow Him for the rest of my life. Everything that I used to think that was happiness and love was not at all what you compare to the love of Jesus, He is my world now. AMEN. I am wondering if I can please get a Bible that is English and Spanish so I can really understand it. Also if it can kind of break it down for me as well if it’s not too much to ask please and thank you. I really want one that’s both languages so I can really understand once again Gracias may the Lord bless you guys with much respect.
Sincerely, Anna
Dear Revelation Bible Ministry,
First and foremost I hope that when you are reading this thank you card that you, your families and the ministry are found in our Lord’s care. For those are our prayers for you guys. (They made a very large and encouraging thank you card and many of the gentlemen signed it & also included this letter.)
As for us over here in SATF Corcoran on behalf of me David and the body of Christ, we send our utmost gratitude for the beautiful Bibles that you have sent to all of us. Thank you.
What a blessing to know that there are people willing to take time to donate money and also time so that us prisoners can read, fellowship, and share the Living Word of God. Thank you guys very much.
I can’t tell you how inspiring it is to be over here and be able to carry our personalized Bibles to service. I hope you like the thank you card as well. My mother also shares with me the different testimonies from the ministry. Her name is Mary.
Thanks again you guys. May God bless you all for your hearts of sacrifice. Amen
God bless, your brother in Christ, David
We do have bilingual Bibles that are English and Spanish and was able to fulfill Anna’s request for one.
God willing we’ll be meeting the 2nd Saturday of each of the following months, please mark your calendars.
- August 10th
- Sept 14th
- Oct 12th
If you would like to donate, please click on the PayPal link below or write a check to Revelation Bible Ministry and send it to the address below.
Thank you again, we appreciate all your prayers and support,
Chana