Seventy-one-year-old Johann Klaassen of Brinnon, WA, wanted to do something to make a lasting impression on his grandchildren, so he made an audio recording of the Bible. He said the idea came after his grandson expressed an interest in spiritual matters.
“I thought, you know, if I recorded the Bible, I could give it to him, and he would have grandpa’s voice forever,” Klaassen told CBN News. “We’re only here for a short period of time, so what can we leave?”
Klaassen utilized a “Read the Bible in a Year” plan and began recording his reading of scripture on January 1, 2025. That allowed to complete his project in one year.
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“I used this little Zoom recorder. I didn’t miss a day. Every day I recorded,” explained Klaassen.
He did admit there were challenges along the way.
“Most days I was up for it, but there were some days I struggled thinking, ‘I need to keep doing this, keep reading,’ and I did. I just kept doing it because I knew that I wanted to get through the Bible,” said the grandfather.
After completing more than 500 recordings, Klaassen loaded the MP3 files onto colored flash drives, gift-wrapped them, and presented them to his five grandchildren on Christmas Day.
“They loved it,” Klaassen said of his grandkids’ reaction. “They were like, ‘Whoa, dude, grandpa – go gramps.’ They were fired up.”
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