Growing up I was fortunate to have the entire set of Bible In Living Sound on cassette. I listened to this series over and over to the point where I knew the entire series by heart. To this day I can still recognize the voices used by the different actors that were a part of recording the stories.
Now if you asked my parents they would tell you I was not the world’s best behaved kid, especially in my early teen years. The stories got put on the back burner as soon as I discovered my first mixed rock album. For many years they remained dormant, sitting quietly somewhere in the back recesses of my mind that seemed to become darker and more twisted as my addiction to drugs took full effect.…until….until, around the age of about 27 when I was recovering from hitting rock bottom with my addiction when a friend gave me his own personal Bible. It was an English KJV and once I started reading, all those stories came flooding back as if it were yesterday. It is my belief that they are a part of the foundation that I’m standing on today.
For many years it has been my dream to be able to get stories like that into the hands of children and others who are open to wanting to get into God’s Word but perhaps didn’t know where to start or couldn’t afford to. For several years already we had been sharing Bibles and material with anyone who would ask for it, including my beloved Hutterite brothers and sisters. Due to the fact that most colonies do not allow Radios or CD players we didn’t give much thought about offering digital media, plus it seems to be significantly more expensive than paper books and Bibles.
God opened an amazing door one day with an invitation to attend a ministry convention in Florida. While there I gave a short presentation on the Hutterite People of North America, who they are, and how God is moving amongst this amazing but little known group of people. A short while after the presentation I was approached by an individual who introduced me to the God Pod and asked if I’d be interested in them to share with the Hutterites if they could put the German Bible on there. The answer was a resounding “Yes” that immediately died after I was told they cost around $40 a piece. God does work in amazing ways though! The next day this individual approached again and asked if I was still interested. Of course I was but there’s no way our small ministry could afford to pay that much for a bunch of them. Maybe a few but that’s it. This individual then asked, “What if there are people who believe in what you’re doing and want to cover the cost for you so you can freely share them with your people”? I didn’t think twice about that one and said “Yes”. In my mind it was a guess that perhaps they would provide maybe 10 or 20…but after it was all said and done they shipped a 1000 GodPods. These devices were loaded with the Bible in both German and English along with some of the same stories I listened to growing up.
GodPods are tiny handheld devices that can be loaded with an audio bible in any language. They were originally designed to help share the gospel in hard to reach places where the people can’t read or write. What makes them even more handier is the ability to be able to recharge them using the built in solar charger.
As soon as they were made available they were requested by Hutterites from colonies all across the US and Canada. Since being shipped out, young adults, the elderly as well as the children have found them to be an immense blessing and inspiration to their walk with Christ. All praise goes to God for sure but we sure appreciated receiving the feedback and thanksgiving that was expressed by the individuals who took the time to do so. It is my personal prayer that these Audio Bibles and the stories will be as big of a blessing to those using them as they were to me when i grew up. In an age that seems to be taken over by screens and “smart” devices, even in the colonies, something like this can be a safe alternative.
Unfortunately the 1000 that were provided are all gone but we hope and pray we can offer them free of charge again in the near future. For all these devices including all the Picture Bibles, Adult Bibles, and study material there has never been a cent charged but that’s only possible due to the support of generous donors. So my encouragement is, if it was a blessing to you and you can afford it, pass the blessing on. Any money donated goes directly back to the same fund to do the same for those who cannot afford it. If you would like to purchase one for yourself you can do so here. Be aware that if you order it yourself it will come with the Bible only and not the custom extra content.
One of my favorite shares recently was a mother who claimed that since her son started listening several months ago she has noticed a change in his behavior even.
Annette G. from Alberta writes..
“My father in law borrowed mine. He listens to it everyday as he has a hard time reading, his eyesight isn’t the best. ❤️ I’ll use it when he gives it back.”
D. Hofer from South Dakota writes…
“My boys love theirs . They listen to them every waking minute of the day. I have often gone to check up on them when they are asleep and the pod is still on. I love the idea that they fall asleep with the good word. Thank you”
If there is a comment or story you would like to share about your experience with the GodPods please share it here.