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.
“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.
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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.”
A family member recorded the touching gift exchange on video, which has now been viewed by millions online.
Klaassen said of that interest, “Power of Christ. Power of the Holy Spirit. God works in mysterious ways, and this is pretty mysterious.”
While he loves all of God’s Word, Klaassen’s favorite recording session came from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter seven.
“Judge not that ye be not judged and I think as humans we tend to do that. I think that if we were more forgiving, more loving towards others, it would be a better place,” Klaassen said.
Meanwhile, the grandpa the world has come to love hopes the gift of God’s Word has a lifelong impact on his family and beyond.
“I’m hoping that they listen to it. I’m hoping that they do and that it gives them strength and it leads them back to the church and in belief in Jesus and God.”
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