The celebration of Bible Day on May 1st in the communities of Kyrgyzstan has become a known tradition and blessing for all Seventh-day Adventist Church members and guests.

The initiative to organize and celebrate the Day of the Bible belonged to the Department of the Sabbath School of the Kyrgyz Mission and was supported by all communities and groups of the Church. Reading poetry, singing, Bible trivia, sermons - everything was dedicated to the Word of God. Children and adults alike enjoyed reciting their favorite scriptures by heart.

“It was very important for us to tell and show the value of the Holy Scriptures”, shared Ekaterina Vladimirovna Kirichenko, the head of one of the communities in Bishkek. “We organized an exhibition of Bibles, in which there were more than 20 titles: the Bible in engravings, in the Old Slavonic, English and Kyrgyz languages. Two very rare and valuable copies aroused great interest: the Bible of 1901 and 1850, in German.”

During the Bible Day thematic program, brothers and sisters had the opportunity to share their personal experiences with the Scriptures.

“In our family, we loved to read the Word of God, but having a Bible in our home meant constantly putting ourselves at risk since there was a ban on the part of the authorities. We had a large family Bible, which we read every day in this way: one of the family members would read while someone looked out the window to see if there were [authorities on their way to a check.] One day my mother was "on duty" at the window, and I was reading the Bible aloud when suddenly my mother abruptly jumped away from the window with the word, "Coming!" I quickly looked around, opened the kitchen cabinet, where we kept pots, pans, and other household utensils, put the Bible in the saucepan, covered the lid, and closed the cabinet. By the way, the saucepan was small, and the Bible was sticking out of it, covered with a lid. Several people entered the house and began to search without a word. One of them went to the kitchen cabinet, opened it, looked directly at the Bible visible from under the lid, and closed the cabinet. Finding nothing, they left. It was a miracle! The Bible was saved! Until now, this family Bible is [still] kept by us, ”said Maria.

On this day, more than 30 Bibles were presented to the guests and members of the church.

This article was originally published on the Euro-Asia Division’s news site