Oregon Woman Starts Christian Neighborhood Library, Offers Free Bibles: 'God Is with You'
A woman in a small town in Oregon is starting a movement of local neighborhood libraries that offer the Bible, free Christian books, resources, and prayer to people in their communities.
Juanita Kitterman is unable to travel far because of a debilitating disease that limits her mobility.
"I have a real difficult time doing a lot of things because I can hardly move," she told CBN News. "This disease that I have makes it difficult for me to walk. It makes it to where I can't taste or smell anything...It's not an easy thing to live with."
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But the battle with her health has not stopped the call that God has placed on her heart to reach out to her community with the love of Jesus Christ.
"I'm a Christian, and Christians are to serve, and I was thinking, 'What can I do?'" she explained.
Kitterman said she had an idea to start a neighborhood library in her small town of Rockaway Beach, OR that would be a place where people could pick up free Bibles, Christian books, faith teachings, and other resources.
"One idea I had after seeing them in Portland and even in little Rockaway (approx. 1,500 population) were cute little neighborhood libraries that people set up in their yards. I thought, why not set one up and have Bibles and Christian books available instead," she wrote.
Her neighbor was kind enough to build a box displaying a sign that reads "Free Bibles", but that isn't all it offers.
"I have a friend who is a quilter, and she leaves cross quilts for people," she explained. "It's for people to put in their pockets, and if people are having a tough day, they can put their hand in their pocket and feel the cross and know that God is with you."
The library also doubles as a prayer box where people often write their most private requests.
People have asked for prayer for their family members, healing, and encouragement in their faith.
One girl left a note in the box that read, "Please pray for my anxiety. I will be a senior in high school and while it is a great and exciting time, it is followed by a lot of the unknown. Please pray that my faith stays strong and God will guide me in the right direction."
Kitterman's library sits between two shops and she says she gets a lot of foot traffic, especially in the summer. She told CBN News that starting this library has deepened her compassion towards people.
"I have a lot of people coming to look at my little library," she shared. "There are people out there who need help and that's what we are here to do. This is more proof of it...all of those prayer requests that I got, that people are actually taking the Bibles and hopefully using them."
"God is helping me to do it," she added.
Kitterman hopes that more Christian neighborhood libraries will crop up across the country.
"As negative as everything is now, I'm hoping that people will find some positivity. We are here to serve and this is what I am trying to do. This is how God guided me."
