A SINGLE Bible was left by a colporteur in a little village of Eastern Poland. Converted through reading it, the recipient passed it on to others, and two hundred more became believers. On revisiting the town, some years afterwards the colporteur found a group of interested people, and they gathered to worship.
Instead of the customary testimonies by members of the congregation, the visitor suggested that verses of Scripture should be recited. One man arose and inquired: “Perhaps we have misunderstood. Did you mean verses or chapters?” “Do you mean to say that there are people here who can recite chapters of the Bible?” the colporteur asked in astonishment. The villagers had memorized not only chapters, but whole books of the Bible. Thirteen knew Matthew and Luke and half of Genesis. One had committed all the Psalms to memory. The two hundred villagers together knew practically the entire Bible.
The villagers explained: “We must, for this copy of the Bible may be lost or taken away, and where should we get another?” The book had been passed from family to family and had become so worn with use that its pages were hardly legible. May Poland yet have more such Bibles?
—The Faithful Word—National Bible Society, Scotland.