Dear Loved ones,
Thank you for your continued support and prayers, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I thank God for each of you. Giving all glory to God, I’d like to update you on the progress of the ministry, share prayer requests, and of course a letter from one of our sisters in prison.
During these past almost two years of covid, by God’s grace the ministry has continued to ship Bibles almost every month and usually upwards of 150 or so Bibles each time. We have transitioned to holding the volunteer days usually at the office in San Jose. At no additional cost the management has been generous and faithful allowing us to meet in large vacant offices giving everyone plenty of space to work. We are alive, well, and still working diligently unto the Lord and appreciate your prayers, financial support, and time of volunteering. Many lives for eternity have and will continue to be saved from Hell from our investments. Most of our sisters and brothers have very little interaction with family and friends outside of the walls and look forward to the Word of God being a light unto their feet by giving them comfort, peace, hope, and protection.
At this moment, our most urgent prayer request is for Bibles. As many of you have been keeping up with the latest news, there are over 100+ ships on our Pacific Coast full of goods awaiting unloading. This challenge alongside the rise of inflation has given us more opportunity to get on our knees and harken to the Lord to make a way to provide Bibles at an economical price as soon as possible. There are some possibilities that God willing can be confirmed soon, however are still about double the price we’ve been paying. Since we purchase as many as our cash flow allows at a time to get the best price available, especially with the availability, your prayers and support are greatly appreciated around this challenge.
Additionally, please be praying for the Lord to allow the Bibles back into ASP. This past week Avenal State Prison returned several Bibles saying that they were unauthorized and were rejected. I spoke to Lieutenant Campbell and explained that we’ve been shipping Bibles there since 2014 without a glitch. He’s looking into it and will let me know. It seems like this may be an unfortunate recurring situation. About a month ago, the same thing happened at CCWF, the women’s prison in Chowchilla and after much prayer and phone calls, we had the green light to reship the returned ones and continue to ship there. Chowchilla was the 2nd facility we shipped to in 2014 when the ministry began, so I hold it dear to my heart and thank God for His mercy. Therefore, it’s important to keep not only our sisters and brothers who are incarcerated in our prayers, but also the staff at these facilities.
One praise report is that our rent was negotiated for our office and should not be increased, God willing. This along with using the vacant offices for hosting and storing some of the supplies for volunteer days, has been a tremendous blessing. Please pray for the owners and management for their faithful support, most importantly for their and their loved one’s salvation.
The last time we met we read a letter with a special request that has given us perhaps another open door from the Lord…
Hello Chaka and all Revelation Volunteers,
WOW! How awesome is this gift! I hope this note reaches you in good health with an abundance of life’s little blessings and precious moments to cherish. What a surprise I received today when I was given a huge stack of mail that had been forwarded to me from CIW-Corona Facility where I previously “resided”. Among the pieces I found right on top of the bundle; your wonderful and thoughtful, tears producing, very personal, named Bible 😊 just for me! How absolutely special and treasured to have my very own beautiful Bible. But my name inscribed on the “Book of Life” just takes the cake and icing to a whole new level! Celebrate 😊 I’ll look forward to growing closer to God as I study His Word and share with others. In fact, my growth in God’s Word has sprouted fruitful growth in my 12-year-old son Jacob through sharing His scripture, guidance, comfort, and protection in my letters to him and phone calls too. Jacob is currently and temporarily “residing” in non-relative foster care. At one point he had his children’s Bible that he has owned for about 3 years, and he loved the stories and the Word of God to read. He often reminds me “Mom? Are you praying? Because if we forget to pray how can God help us?! Don’t forget, God will protect us from Covid”! Awesome child of God! During a move from one foster home to another Jacob’s Bible was lost. Would you be able to send a Bible to him through his social worker? The social worker has been very supportive to Jacob and me during this time of separation, and I don’t believe she would object. During this trial of separation, I do not have the funds nor the ability to replace/give Jacob a Bible again and this would absolutely bring a smile to his face 😊 and put one inside his heart too! You have my permission to contact the worker on my behalf to enquire and let her know I am trying to send a gift to Jacob through the Revelation Bible Ministry. (Same Bible as mine? NKJV, black leather soft #8843BK) Thank you for your time, sacrifices, and care of others to know God more. I thank God for putting others in my life who are in a position to increase his family.
Sincerely, Kimberly & Jacob 😊
She then gives the social worker’s contact information whose name is Janet who was happy to assist with Kimberly’s request. At our last volunteer day on Oct 23rd, we shipped Bibles to Jacob and Janet and prayed for all three of them. Chaka was an inmate who requested a Bible for Kimberly, which happens often.
God willing our schedule is to meet once a month on the 3rd Saturday from 9AM-1PM. Breakfast, coffee, juice, and snacks are provided. The next one will be Saturday November 20th and then December 18th. Please reach out to me if you are interested in attending for the address and details, we always need help, and it is a sweet time of fellowship while serving our Father in Heaven.
We are a 501c3 and operate from individual donations, volunteers and of course God’s grace. We’ve recently began using Zelle and if that is convenient for you, we prefer it and checks, because there are no fees like there are with PayPal. Tax receipts are sent out ounce a year in January for the previous year.
Happy Thanksgiving and may the Lord bless you and keep you,
Chana