A request for Bibles at a community meeting turned into an outreach opportunity for the Kalamazoo Seventh-day Adventist Church, whose members donated 800 study Bibles to an organization helping survivors of human trafficking and other forms of abuse.
The Bibles were delivered Thursday, Oct. 22, to UnSilenced, a Battle Creek-Kalamazoo coalition working to raise awareness about human trafficking and connect survivors with resources and support.
The partnership began during a community meeting hosted by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. UnSilenced founder Robin Bolz shared that her organization needed 800 Bibles for an upcoming outreach event. Through connections made at the meeting, the request eventually reached Kalamazoo Seventh-day Adventist Church Senior Pastor Jermaine Gayle.
Gayle brought the request to his congregation, which agreed to take on the project. The Michigan Conference provided financial assistance, while Andrews University Press offered the Andrews Study Bibles at a discounted price.
About 60 church members gathered in the church gymnasium to prepare the Bibles for distribution. Working together, they packaged each Bible with a personal note, bookmark and invitation. Before the Bibles were delivered, members prayed over them and for the people who would receive them.
A Bible That Changed His Life
For Gayle, the project carried special meaning. Before becoming a Seventh-day Adventist, he was an atheist who had little interest in Christianity. When an Adventist friend gave him a Bible for his birthday, his initial reaction was resentment. “I was offended by the gesture because being atheist, I thought, ‘Well, that’s not cool,’” he recalled.
Yet Gayle said he was struggling with a spiritual hunger he couldn’t explain. His friend recognized that need and believed a Bible might help. “That Bible changed my life,” Gayle said.
The Bible accompanied him through some very trying times before he gifted it to someone who was inspired by his story. Gayle’s experience shaped his desire to share God’s Word with others. “You never know how deep of an impact the word of the Lord when you give it, it will make in the heart of an individual,” he said.
Bolz, a survivor of human trafficking who founded UnSilenced in 2024, said she was overwhelmed by the church’s response. “I never dreamt that a 30-second invitation that I needed Bibles would end in a result of getting 800 Bibles donated to our office,” she said.
The Bibles will be distributed in connection with The Story Tour, a faith-based event scheduled for Nov. 14 at Northwestern Auditorium in Battle Creek. Bolz hopes to place a Bible in every seat, giving attendees something meaningful to take home. “My dream was to have something tangible to allow people to take after the music stops, all the hype, all the excitement, everything ends,” she said.
For Gayle, the delivery marked the completion of the church’s part in the project, but he hopes its influence will continue long after the Bibles reach their new owners. “We don’t know how far these Bibles are going to go. We don’t know how many miles they’re going to travel with their owners,” he said. “We don’t know the impact it’s going to make in the lives of these individuals.”
He encouraged members to continue praying for those who receive the Bibles, remembering how a similar gift transformed his own life. “Maybe someday, somewhere down the line, we’ll run into another Jermaine like myself who received the Bible as a gift that changed his life so much that he became a pastor in the process.”
Debbie Michel is editor of the Lake Union Herald.