Michigan—Taking the words of the children's song, "Go Little Pennies," to heart, Esther Jones and Debbie Simpson's Cradle Roll/Kindergarten Sabbath school of the Buchanan Church announced in January that they were going to collect pennies. The pennies would be used to purchase Bibles for people in Africa. For the next three months pennies could be brought to the Sabbath school classroom in jars, boxes, rolls, Ziploc bags or even socks, said Jones. The children's goal was to buy 100 Bibles, which cost just $2 apiece to print and ship.

These $2 Bibles are a part of Remnant Publication's Bibles for Africa project, which plans to collect and ship 4 million Bibles to Africa. Owning a Bible in Africa is a real treasure. "Thirsting for His Word, they don't have enough Bibles to go around! In fact, many will sacrifice three days of food just to save enough money for a single Bible!" (www.YourBibleSaves.com)

Along with the Sabbath school's penny project, the church board voted to set aside the Lamb's Offering for the second quarter of 2008 to also benefit this project. So Jones decided to continue collecting pennies through June and reset the children's goal at 200 Bibles. Announcements and reminders in the church bulletin kept pennies rolling in to the Sabbath school as well as larger coins and dollars filling the Lamb's Offering plate each Sabbath. By the end of the second quarter the total pennies had reached $502.56, and the Lamb’s Offering totaled $834.83.

On Sabbath, July 12, the church held a special dedication service for the pennies collected. While the congregation sang "Go Little Pennies," children and teachers from the Cradle Roll/Kindergarten Sabbath school class dumped pennies out of jars and boxes into a large yellow wheelbarrow on the platform. Kenneth Leak from Remnant Publications was presented with a check from the Lamb’s Offering—enough for 417 Bibles—and then he offered the dedication prayer for the coins in the wheelbarrow (which hadn't been counted at that time). The children and their leaders were excited to know that they had passed their goal of 200 Bibles and would now be sending 668 Bibles instead! Leak expressed that just one Bible would impact at least 20 people.

This is not the first time the Buchanan Church has sent Bibles to Africa. Two years ago Kathleen DeLand, women's ministries leader, asked the ladies to bring in used or new Bibles to the church, and then she and her husband Carl DeLand delivered the boxes full of Bibles to Remnant Publications, which is located nearby in Coldwater, Mich. Besides the Bibles given, there was also a $500 gift given directly to Remnant Publications from a member.

The Buchanan Church members hope the Bibles they sponsored will impact the lives of many in Africa and will tell them of the love of Jesus. That is especially true for member Jim Symonds who was honored during the dedication service for his faithful donations every week. Being physically challenged, he would collect as he rode his four-wheel bicycle around town. He would often say as he dropped off the coins on Sabbath, "This is somethin' I can DO!" He said the reason he collected pennies is because he is wanting LOTS of people to go to heaven!

Judi Doty, Buchanan church member, and back pages editor and circulation manager, Lake Union Herald