Posted on 04/27/2006 8:19:47 AM PDT by Sopater
April 26, 2006
Bible-Reading Marathon Kicks Off Sunday
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Event culminates in the National Day of Prayer on May 4.
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Beginning Sunday morning, Christians will gather on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- and in front of public buildings and schools around the country -- to read the Bible out loud around the clock.
The National Bible Reading Marathon began 17 years ago, according to the Rev. Mike Hall, who coordinating the Washington, D.C., event.
"We read continuously," he told CitizenLink. "We will start with Genesis 1:1 at 8 o'clock on April 30th. And at 1 o'clock on the National Day of Prayer (May 4), we will finish with the last chapter of Revelation."
Hall, who is pastor of a church near Capitol Hill and director of the International Bible Reading Association, is leading the D.C. marathon for the 12th time.
"We usually have a couple hundred people over a period of five days who will come and read," he told CitizenLink. "We read out of different translations. We have 80 non-English Bibles on site. We do that because we have international people coming on tours to the Capitol. They are always astounded that we have the liberty to be able to do this."
Hall said people have been signing up over the last couple of months. There are also 18 organized regional events -- and there is still time to organize other local activities. Thousands will take part nationwide, drawn in part by the event's simple focus: Scripture.
"We read without comment around the clock," he said. "People sign up by time -- someone will come for a half-hour of reading, or they sign up to read a book --and they do so, and the next person is waiting in the wings to take up where they left off."
The event is designed to lay the groundwork for the National Day of Prayer.
"Along with reading for 90 hours, we have people at a prayer station who come to pray for the nation," Hall said. "What we really feel we're doing is embodying Isaiah 55:11 -- allowing God's Word to go forth -- but also laying a foundation for the National Day of Prayer."
One of the marathon's backers is the senior U.S. senator from Kansas, Republican Sam Brownback.
"I think it's a wonderful activity," Brownback said. "I've participated in it on the steps of the Capitol for a number of years. To put forward the Word of God in a vocal way in front of the United States Capitol is in keeping, I think, with the best traditions of the United States being a nation under God, of allowing a free expression of religion, and I'm delighted that people do it."
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the D.C. event, or to get in contact with regional coordinators, please see the Bible Pathways Ministries Web site.
For more information about the upcoming National Day of Prayer, please visit its Web site.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
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