Simon Peter Sutherland

In 1800 Mary Jones set off on an epic journey 26 miles barefoot to buy a Bible. Living in extreme poverty and having worked and saved 6 years, Mary managed to acquire enough money.

In those days Welsh Bibles were very rare, so rare in fact that Mary had to walk 2 miles to nearby farm to read one. In Bala however, a man by the name of Thomas Charles was known to supply them. So Mary, determined to own one followed her heart and her destiny.

In 2018 I was blessed to visit Bala for the very first time. The house where Thomas Charles lived is on the high street and it was here where Mary received the Bible she had so eagerly desired.

Nearby is a museum called Mary Jones World and the grave of Thomas Charles is in the church grounds. Here visitors can learn all about the story and find ways of connecting with it. In our day and age it is not so easy to understand why any person would save for such a long time and walk such a distance to get a Bible, after all you can get a copy anywhere. But this reality is a reality because of Mary Jones herself. Thomas Charles was so inspired by what Mary Jones did, that he helped establish the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804. Because of Mary Jones, billions of Bibles have been printed and distributed around the world.

What a wonderful gift.

Mary Jones was an outstanding individual and she followed her election and knew that the Bible was worth more than all the materialistic wealth this world can offer.

But if we look at the world around us, ask yourself a question; have we gotten any better since our nation abandoned the Bible and turned to its own ways? Have we united? Has the Church grown or improved? And what about you, have you improved and made this world any better? Have you found any better ethic than the Sermon on the Mount?

Go out, look at the world around you and see for yourself. Ask the question, are we any better as a nation since they abandoned the very Book that established her values?

Or will you learn the lesson, and take that gift and read it for yourself and believe. All I know is that for all this world can offer, for all her worldviews and all her happenings, the Bible is for me the greatest Book in the world and for all my faults, I know that faith in Jesus Christ is enough to save a man. And prayer changes things!