[Faith-talk] This is sad indeed

Fri Nov 29 22:40:16 UTC 2013

Yes, I agree it is sad, but in all this talk about audio books in electronic 
formats and digital NLS cartridges, there is a small but nonetheless 
recognizable population among the blind that will be impacted drastically, 
and that is the deaf-blind community.  The only practical way they can read 
is in Braille, if in fact they already know it.  That is why the undersigned 
protested loudly but respectfully when the Gospel Association for the Blind 
discontinued the Braille edition of its official publication, "The Gospel 
Messenger" magazine sometime in 2012.  As a small way of showing solidarity 
with our deaf-blind Christians, I chose then and continue not to subscribe 
to the cassette or online version of this magazine.  I hope personally that 
I won't live to see the day when Braille is totally eliminated from being 
produced.  Let's remember our deaf-blind Christians in this hour of need, 
and try to, if only vicariously, "walk in their shoes." Paul
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Poppa Bear" <heavens4real at gmail.com>
To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 29, 2013 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] This is sad indeed


> It is sad, it reminds me that we need to really be aware of the changing 
> world that we live in and understand that if we don't move with 
> technology, it has the ability to steam roll us right over. Unfortunatly 
> they didn't start to look at different ways they could still inpact the 
> blind community with the Bible before it came to this point from what it 
> seems like. Never the less, God is still in control.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "debby phillips" <semisweetdebby at gmail.com>
> To: <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 9:56 PM
> Subject: [Faith-talk] This is sad indeed
>
>
>> This is very sad to me.    Blessings,    Debby
>>
>> ---- Original Message ------
>> From: "Raymond Bishop" <rtbishop at sbcglobal.NET
>> Subject: [christianblindinstitute] Braille Center Closes in Arkansas
>> Date sent: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 21:09:02 -0600
>>
>> A new mission Lutheran Braille Workers closes center in Bella Vista 
>> church
>> By Christie Storm In 28 years, volunteers at the Lutheran Braille Workers
>> center in Northwest Arkansas printed more than 51,000 books of the Bible 
>> for
>> the blind and visually impaired.  This month, the group is no more. 
>> Advances
>> in technology for the blind have led to a decline in demand for Braille
>> Bibles and the ministry headquartered in Yucaipa, Calif., has been forced 
>> to
>> close several volunteer work centers around the country.  Four of six 
>> centers
>> in Arkansas were on the closure list, including the one operating out of
>> Bella Vista Lutheran Church.
>> For coordinator Marie Herr, it was a hard loss.  She started the only 
>> center
>> in Northwest Arkansas at Faith Lutheran Church in Bentonville almost 
>> three
>> decades ago.  The center moved to Bella Vista in 2007 and was abuzz with
>> activity each Tuesday from morning to night year-round.  One-seventh of 
>> my
>> life has been spent in Braille, said the 87-year-old Herr, referring to 
>> the
>> one out of seven days she spends working on the Braille Bibles each week.
>> She discovered the Braille ministry while living in Texas and would 
>> carpool
>> with a group of women from her church to a work center once a month. 
>> When
>> she moved to Bentonville, the women's group at her new church was looking
>> for a ministry to support and Herr suggested Lutheran Braille Workers. 
>> The
>> volunteers began working in 1985.  The Rev.  Phillip M.  Pledger, 
>> president of
>> Lutheran Braille Workers, said closing the volunteer centers wasn't easy.
>> It's been very hard on everybody, he said.  It's not a pleasant or a 
>> welcome
>> change.  But it was inevitable with advances in technology, he said.  Our
>> Braille orders have plummeted over the last few years andI had a feeling 
>> it
>> was going to, but I never would have thought it would happen so quickly,
>> Pledger said.  Blind and visually impaired readers are increasingly 
>> turning
>> to electronic books, audio books and other media, which has forced the
>> organization to adapt, Pledger said.  The ministry is considering books 
>> of
>> the Bible via cartridges that fit into USB ports on computers and other
>> devices, he said, adding that they will also continue to supply the 
>> Braille
>> Bibles as long as there is a need.  Lutheran Braille Workers got its 
>> start in
>> 1943.  Fred Graepp was a seminary student in the 1930s and was blinded in 
>> an
>> industrial accident.  Pledger said Graepp went back home to San Jose, 
>> Calif.,
>> and got involved with ministries for the blind.  During World War II, he
>> heard about the Nazis destroying Braille Bibles and wanted to send new 
>> ones
>> to German pastors.  Fred took it upon himself to transcribe the Bible 
>> back
>> into German Braille, Pledger said.  He put out an ad in one of our
>> denomination's magazines asking for volunteers who would learn German and
>> Braille to transcribe Bibles.  One of the volunteers was Helene Loeber. 
>> She
>> was a remarkable person, Pledger said.  She got things done.  Loeber 
>> recruited
>> women from her church and with the help of her brother, Norman, who
>> constructed a Braille press from the rollers from the family's ringer
>> washer, began to streamline the process.  Today, the organization has 
>> about
>> 5,000 volunteers in centers across the United States.  They send books of 
>> the
>> Bible in 30 languages, free of charge, to the blind and visually impaired 
>> in
>> 120 countries.  The text is embossed on zinc plates, which are fed 
>> through a
>> press to imprint the Braille onto both sides of a piece of paper.  The
>> pagesare then collated and fixed in spiral binders.  A complete Bible
>> includes 37 volumes that take up 5 feet of shelf space.  A complete set 
>> costs
>> about $185 to produce - costs that are met by donations and money raised 
>> by
>> participating churches.  Each center is responsible for printing specific
>> books of the Bible.  The Bella Vista center produced Matthew in Spanish 
>> and
>> Estonian, Acts in English and French and a two-volume set of Jeremiah and
>> Lamentations in English.  Herr said volunteers learned to sight-read 
>> Braille
>> to ensure the pages were inserted correctly into the binders.
>> Over the years, about 60 volunteers printed more copies of Acts than any
>> other - 27,785.  Herr shared the statistics at an appreciation banquet 
>> held
>> for the volunteers in late October.  We've had some wonderful people with 
>> us
>> for many, many years, she said.  It's been very rewarding.  Even with the
>> center's closure, the volunteers weren't ready to give up their ministry.
>> Herr and others now volunteer at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freistatt, 
>> Mo.,
>> about 60 miles away.  Our whole objective is to bring Christ to those in
>> darkness, she said.
>> Work centers in Mountain Home, Searcy and Waldenburg, near Jonesboro, 
>> were
>> also on the closure list.  Two sites, First Lutheran Church in Hot 
>> Springs
>> and Christ Lutheran Church in Hot Springs Village, remain open.  Pledger 
>> said
>> the two centers are very active and able to financially support the work.
>> Howard Graff has been volunteering at First Lutheran Church's center for
>> several years.  He said the church's center has about 52 volunteers. 
>> They
>> work Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the year.  The center prints I 
>> Samuel,
>> I and II Kings, Luther's Small Catechism and John in Burmese and 
>> devotional
>> booklets.
>> We usually do about 300 a month, he said, adding thatthe center has three
>> Braille presses.  For Pledger, the changes in the organization have been
>> difficult, especially because he knows the volunteers are so committed. 
>> Part
>> of our reluctance to believe this is happening is that there's a big
>> movement of people who love doing this, he said.  A lot of people, once 
>> they
>> get started they don't want to stop.  Pledger said he thinks there will 
>> be a
>> long-term demand for paper Braille books but perhaps not as much as in 
>> the
>> past.  He said one bright spot has been the increased demand for 
>> large-print
>> items, including copies of the Lutheran hymnal.  Electronic books may one 
>> day
>> take over, but he's not ready to give in.  I think eventually they'll be 
>> so
>> ubiquitous, people won't think of using a paper book but we're not there
>> just yet, he said.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Raymond Bishop, NV9B
>> Philippians 4:6-7
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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