The “Under-the-Ground” Bible

The “Under-the-Ground” Bible

A Pastor, China

During the time of China’s Cultural Revolution, it was very dangerous to own a Bible. Someone we knew, however, was able to obtain one. Since it was such a rare and precious book, he wanted to share it with as many people as possible, so he carefully took the Bible apart and gave one or two books of the Bible to various Seventh-day Adventist families.

Our family received the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, and we read them again and again, treasuring every word. As I child, I enjoyed the many exciting stories contained in those two books! My older brother could write, so he copied the books by hand to share with others.

A few years later, another Adventist found a very small Bible that had been put into a plastic bag and buried in the ground. Because of poor eyesight, the man wasn’t able to read the small print, so he gave the Bible to me when I was 18. I was so excited! Here was a complete Bible that I was holding in my hands for the very first time!

This “under-the-ground” Bible became very precious to me, and I read it from the first chapter to the last more than ten times. I spent a lot of time with it, marking important passages, and writing down some of my thoughts.

I remembered my great-grandmother telling me about Noah when I was very young, but here I was at 18, reading about the Flood for the first time.

As I read the Bible, I started to understand what this book is about. I learned more about Jesus and His teachings. I discovered the truth in the Bible that can help us to have better lives. The more I read, the more interested I became.

When I was 20, I visited an area where most people knew nothing about the Bible. I was invited to speak to groups in various homes. I showed them my little Bible and shared what I had learned from it. As word spread, I was invited to speak in many other homes as well.

While sharing, I noticed that the young people—those in their midteens—were especially interested.

They were so eager to learn that I wrote out 1,000 Bible texts and gave them to the young people, who memorized the texts. I found this was an excellent way for them to learn the Bible!

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Adult Sabbath School Lesson L3Q22015 Inside Story