Imagine with me that you are riding in your carheading to your next appointment. Perhaps you’re picking your children up from school or going grocery shopping. Maybe you’re meeting friends for coffee or are on your way to play golf. It doesn’t matter what your destination is, because you’ll never get there.

While our nation celebrates its Independence, I couldn’t help but write to you. You see, this time of year always brings tears to my eyes as I think of the men and women who have given everything so that we can sit under the summer sky and watch the fireworks,worship as we choose, live in peace with our families. They have sacrificed themselves so that we can Live Free.

A chaplain at a military hospital recently told me about the wounded warriors he sees. Many have burns over 60 percent of their body. Some have been blinded by explosives, or lost their arms and legs. Others have even had part of their face blown away. These brave men and women will live the rest of their lives in pain — all so that we might continue to celebrate the freedom we hold so dear.

For many of us in America, the war on terror can seem so far away. We barely even hear about it on the news anymore. For our nation’s warriors, the fighting on the front lines is still raging.

This war is different from the others that we’ve fought. The enemy is less clear, and the endpoint lingers on the ever-distant horizon. The casualties are different, too. In other wars, wounded soldiers would usually suffer just one injury. That was bad enough. But today, the soldiers who arrive in our veteran’s hospitals have suffered multiple injuries — polytraumatic injuries.

Too many of these men and women are left without their sight; others are unable to even hold a book.

At perhaps no other point, will these wounded warriors need the comfort and peace from the scriptures more than they do now. This is the time they long to cling to the Word of God, to seek understanding in its verses. Yet, in a cruel irony, because of blindness or because they literally cannot hold a Bible, they can’t even turn to the Psalms and pray,

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
(Psalm 23:4, NKJV)

Soldiers are lying in hospital beds all over this country because they have sacrificed themselves for us.

After receiving Audio Bibles to distribute to the injured soldiers in his care, a chaplain from Walter Reed Army Medical Center wrote to thank the partners like you who make this ministry possible.

“As chaplains who serve a special group of Americans, it’s our privilege to pass on your act of kindness to our Wounded Warriors and their families. I cannot adequately express how grateful our troops are as they undergo such difficult times in their lives. It has a positive impact and accelerates their healing, knowing someone cares. We see tragedy every day, but there are blessings in such caring generosity and compassionate acts of service. I pray that you will remember the soldiers' appreciation of your service that went 'above and beyond' the call of duty and will not be soon forgotten. You exemplify the best that America has to offer. God bless you."

We just celebrated our nation’s independence, and many of us all around America joined friends and family for a cookout, watching children laugh as the sparklers twirled in the night and fireworks lit up the sky. But too many of the men and women who fight to keep this celebration going year after year spent our Independence Day broken and hurting in a hospital bed. Please don't let their sacrifice be forgotten.

Imagine having to work three times as hard as everyone else to reach the same goal. The frustration would be immense. Discouragement would lurk around every corner.

For Mike, who has been blind since birth, this is the world he wakes up to every single day. One of his only escapes from the constant battles is the time he spends listening to God’s Word through his Audio Bible, an escape friends like you made possible.

Today, Mike is a passionate Christian, a devoted husband and father, and a successful CEO of his own software business, but that wasn’t always the case.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Mike grew up in a typical Miami neighborhood. As a child and teenager, Mike was dependent on counselors, teachers, and administrators to get for him what everyone else had readily available — simple things like books in Braille became a prized acquisition. And when his support team failed, Mike failed.

Eventually, Mike began to give up. He channeled his disappointment and frustration into drugs and music, where he felt accepted as an equal. In the world of drugs and music, Mike was expected to deliver or move out. Soon, the power and control Mike felt he had gained in this dark culture began to unravel. He had married his sweetheart and had a baby. But he wasn’t ready to be a father. He slowly abandoned them and sank deeper into the destructive culture around him.

One Thanksgiving, Mike was invited to dinner with friends. His wife, son, and daughter would be there, and he thought it would bring him some comfort to spend the holiday with his family. Something happened to Mike that day. He realized that he needed to change his life or lose it all — he knew he needed help. Mike opened his heart to Jesus Christ and welcomed God into His life.

That day, Mike began to see all the hurt he had caused to those around him, how anger had eaten away at his life. Mike says he was the blind person that Jesus talked about when He said "If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14, NKJV). Mike was physically blind and he was leading the spiritually blind into an abyss.

Immediately, Mike sought an Audio Bible. When he learned about Audio Bibles for the Blind, he rejoiced and began to spread the word about the free service. "I can’t function without my Audio Bible," Mike says. "I can take it with me anywhere and it is always available anytime I want to use it."

Thanks in part to the solid teachings he receives from his Audio Bible, provided by friends like you, Mike is now an ordained pastor, helping to lead people out of their darkness. His Audio Bible enables him to study and teach God’s Word.

"Audio Bibles enables the blind and print handicapped person to not have to work three times as hard to hear God’s Word," Mike says. "There, they can find the gift of inner sight, peace, and purpose that I have found in my new life in Christ."

We can’t eliminate all the challenges facing the blind in this world. As one of Mike’s teachers told him, "Blind people have to work three times as hard because the world isn’t made for them. It is made for people who can see." But at Audio Bibles for the Blind, we know that God’s Word was given for all of us — and we are all blind without it.

Dear Friend,

I have a special Easter message for you from my new friend Marie. She says, "I can’t believe you would do this for me. Thank you! Thank You! "

Marie recently received an Audio Bible thanks to generous friends like you, and she is overjoyed.

Marie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis more than 60 years ago. That moment began a long and painful process for the newly married woman and her family. Hardship was not new to Marie. Her life had been hard from the very beginning and she wasn't about to let a doctor's diagnosis keep her down.

Marie's husband of 61 years died last October. Unable to continue to pay for the property where they lived, Marie was forced to sell her land. The man who bought the property allows Marie to continue to live in the simple home she and her husband shared together, as this is all she has left.

Losing her eyesight and mobility to MS has been a long and painful process, but thanks to you and the Audio Bible she received, Marie has regained something she lost. She has regained her ability to delve into the scriptures, finding strength and encouragement.

Now, with the Easter season upon us, having an Audio Bible couldn't be more important to Marie. Easter is a special time for her to celebrate the hope and new life found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Marie has lost so much already and faces countless hardships, but the Easter season reminds her that all will be made new through her precious Savior.

This special woman isn't used to charity and handouts. She has worked hard for the little that she has. Maybe that's why the gift of a brand-new Audio Bible has meant so much to Marie. She simply cannot believe that anybody would do this for her, a poor widow who lives alone in a tiny home and washes her floors by pushing a bucket with her feet, moving from room to room in her wheelchair. She cannot believe that someone like you would care about her.

But I know that you do care! During this Easter season, we plan to give away even more Audio Bibles so the blind and reading impaired can listen to the Easter story and share in the hope that Marie has found through the story of our Savior's resurrection.

From the very beginning, Marie’s life has been a struggle. She weathered the harsh winters of the northern midwest plains, walking to and from school with only gunny sacks over her fragile shoes to protect her from the deep snow. She left home at an early age to work as a farmhand and help her family eke out a living from the hard earth. She continued to learn and study on her own even after her father took her out of school, saying he was afraid she would learn bad things. In fact, today, at 82, Marie still has a passion for learning! She continues to work toward her GED, though her poor eyesight makes it nearly impossible to read and complete the coursework.

In a recent conversation with Marie, she asked that we please, please pass her thanks along to the people who made it possible for her to have her very own Audio Bible.

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name. (Psalm 91:14, NKJV)