KNOXVILLE, TN (July 19, 2018)—“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).
The youth group of Grace Evangelical Covenant Church in Clay, New York, takes those words from Jesus to heart. In their fundraising efforts for CHIC, they raised $4,000 beyond what they needed. So they decided to use the surplus funds to give Bibles to anyone at CHIC who makes a first-time decision to follow Jesus this week.
“Ever since I have been in this church, we have always been blessed with some leftover surplus whenever we have fundraised for CHIC,” Pastor Bruce Bahr said. In the past, they’ve helped out Alaska students or given it to the overall CHIC scholarship fund. This year, after talking with Tim Ciccone, director of youth ministry for the denomination, they decided to give study Bibles to new believers.
“For those who put their faith in Jesus for the first time, I hope that CHIC is a great starting point for the cultivation of their personal relationship with him. For those who already know Christ, I hope they can take this time to go deeper with him and grow,” Bahr said.
The Bibles are pocket-sized versions of the New Living Translation. Students have the option to have their initials engraved on the cover. As of today, more than 200 had been handed out.
