In the month of September, Grace Lutheran Church and School in Jacksonville, FL applied and received a “Miracle Grow” investment for the purpose of placing “My First Bibles” in the hands of its pre-schoolers. Pastor Jeffrey Skopak and Pastor Michael Popp are a regular and active presence in the life of the school. After reviewing the preschool they discovered that 90% of the children were not members of Grace and that 70% identified “no church home.” Realizing that most of these students would only be on campus for one year, the idea was born of putting the Bible into each child’s home.
The teachers now encourage the families in their classes to read a Bible story to their children from those Bibles each week so they can further discuss them in class (as well as do activities that reinforce the Bible learning).