She’s a Bible Society ‘dynamo’

Despite challenges, including losing her hearing, Vadnicar A Livingstone is a volunteer ‘dynamo’ for the Bible Society of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (JAM01DJ-1.JPG)

SPANISH TOWN, Jamaica — Life has been difficult for 75-year-old Vadnicar Livingstone. Fourteen years ago she lost her hearing; last year, she was in a car accident and, more recently, her son was attacked by gunmen. But through all of her challenges, she has remained dedicated to Bible Society work.

Mrs Livingstone is a ‘dynamo’ when it comes to sharing the good news through the Scriptures. And she tends to play down her setbacks.

“God has done so much for me. What I am doing for the Bible Society is my ‘thank you’ to him,” she says.

Mrs Livingstone is a long-time member of Phillippo Baptist Church in Spanish Town. In the 1970s, her pastor became interested in the Bible Society.

‘Bend my back’

“He organised a local chapter and I became secretary,” she recalls. “We had a very vibrant Bible Society. He felt that every member of the church should belong.”

She served as both secretary and treasurer of the Bible Society at Phillippo, but had to resign as secretary when she lost her hearing.

“But I still serve as treasurer,” she says. “The Bible Society is very dear to my heart.” So much so that she has a motto: ‘I bend my back for the Bible Society.’

“I say that because as I walk along or travel by bus, I pick up any coins I see. They are not mine – they are for the Bible Society! When people here get coins in change, they just throw them away. So I pick them up.”

She also asked permission from a grocery shop to place a collection tin on the counter. “I told them that I worked with an organisation which could do good with those coins,” she says, “so when I asked to put a tin on their counter, they agreed.”

She has also prompted her church to become a centre for Scripture distribution and, not surprisingly, she herself leads the field in the activity. “I have Scriptures shipped to Phillippo, and then I send them to different churches,” she says.

Mrs Livingstone believes that everyone should be involved in outreach. “I feel that every church member should be an evangelist,” she says, “so I give each person in my church six Bible Reading Guides. I tell them, ‘One is for you and five are for people outside the church’.” Moreover she leads by example.

“I go to the banks and stores and give Scripture Selections to people there,” she says. “I have a contact person in each place, and I make the Scriptures available to them. I give Selections to the woman who sells newspapers and ask her to put one in each paper. I let her know that she is spreading God’s Word.

“When I go to the markets or onto the streets, there are some boys who help me. I tell them that if a person doesn’t want a Selection, that’s OK, because not everyone is going to accept.”

Special groups

And when she travels by bus, she gives Selections to her fellow passengers. And sometimes she puts them directly into her neighbours’ letterboxes.

Her efforts are not just for the people she ‘happens’ to be around. She also targets special groups with topical Selections, and has received positive feedback.

“People come to me asking for Portions,” she reports, “and since I have sent out the Selections, I’ve been getting people asking for more.”

She has a vision for what the Bible Society could do to reach even more people. “I don’t believe in stockpiling Scriptures,” she declares. “They are to be given out. I am also encouraging the Bible Society to have a prayer phone line. We can do fantastic things through the Bible Society!” (WR 372/9 - 11.02)