The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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July 2, 2008

Mike Pound: Student feels calling for Braille Bible mission

By Mike Pound

Globe columnist

mpound@joplinglobe.com

When you think about it, the idea makes sense.

It makes sense that Justin Harris would be heading a not-for-profit organization dedicated to getting Bibles to visually impaired folks in Latin America.

First of all, Justin is young — he’s 21. He’s energetic. He’s working toward a degree at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan. He’s passionate. Oh yeah, and he’s blind.

Born in Neodesha, Kan., and raised in Cherryvale, Kan., Justin pretty much grew up assuming that Braille, large print or audio Bibles were common and readily available to anyone who needed one. He was just a kid when he received his first audio version of the New Testament. Later, of course, Justin found out that wasn’t the case, and it sort of bothered him.

“It should never be a luxury to have access to the word of God in a format you can use,” he said.

I first heard about Justin from his grandmother, Glena Harris, who lives in Grove, Okla. Glena is sort of proud of her grandson. She told me that Justin is pretty special, and she thought I might want to chat with him while he was visiting her and her husband.

Glena was right.

Justin, who has been blind since birth, told me that he first started thinking about delivering Bibles to the visually impaired in Latin American countries during his freshman year at MidAmerica.

“We took a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, and God just impressed on me that while Bibles for the blind in whatever format are (available in the United States), that’s not the case in Mexico or in the rest of Latin America,” he said.

So, he came back to the states and went to work. Justin formed an organization called Braille Bibles for Latin America Inc. On his organization’s first trip south, Bibles were delivered to Tuxtla Guttierez.

But Justin didn’t just drop into the city and start passing out Bibles. First of all, Justin doesn’t want to be just a delivery service.

“We want to play a part in people’s lives,” he said.

Second of all, he thinks it’s better to make Braille Bibles available to as many people as possible, so they were donated to libraries and churches throughout the community to ensure wider availability.

With that first trip under his belt, Justin and a team of volunteers are now planning a fall trip to Ecuador. This, of course, while he is still going to school.

Actually, his school work and his Bible delivery work sort of coincide. Justin sees Braille Bibles for Latin America as a mission — an extension of the things he is learning at MidAmerica and the values he is being taught. So much so that he plans to expand Braille Bibles for Latin America in the coming years.

“I want this to be a viable, ongoing organization,” he said. “I don’t want it to be a one-time ministry.”

If you would like more information about Braille Bibles for Latin America, you can dial up the group’s Web site at www.bbfla.org.

I asked Justin about his plans for the summer. He said he was going to visit his grandparents a few more days, then head over to Southeast Kansas for a while. After that, he said, he was heading back to Kansas City. He is teaching a summer course at the School for the Blind in Kansas City.

Justin is not the type to just sit around.

“I don’t have to be too busy,” he said with a laugh. “But doing nothing drives me absolutely insane.”

Before we ended our chat, I told Justin how proud his grandmother is of him, and he sort of chuckled. I told him that any guy who makes his grandmother proud has done something right.

He laughed again.

But it’s true.

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