[Faith-talk] This is sad indeed
Poppa Bear
heavens4real at gmail.com
Fri Nov 29 23:20:54 UTC 2013
Very very good points Paul.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul" <oilofgladness47 at gmail.com>
To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 29, 2013 1:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] This is sad indeed
> 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
>>>
>>>
>>> **** Be kind to your email friends. If you forward this, please remove
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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