By Martha Simmons
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
From beeping Easter eggs to Braille Bibles, Alabama Baptist programs work “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6) to the blind and visually impaired.
Retired minister Jack Kinley, who operates Vision Tape Ministry out of his home in Phenix City, first became active in working with the visually impaired in 1976.
“I’m visually impaired myself,” he said, having been medically discharged from the Army in 1949 as a result of a concussion that left him blind in one eye.
He became involved in the national Blinded Veterans Association and established the first chapter in Alabama.
“I realized there was a lot of material available for visually impaired and blind people through the National Library Service (for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) and other secular organizations. But I couldn’t find much for visually impaired and blind people who were Christians.”
Kinley and his late wife, Gwen, established Vision Tape Ministry by acquiring or creating their own cassette tape recordings.
“To begin with it just consisted of a couple of tapes every other month, Bible studies and Christian music and materials we were allowed to reproduce from other Christian organizations,” he said.
They started small, distributing the tapes in Alabama, then expanded to blind veterans and their families.
“Then we decided to let it be known for other visually impaired and blind people. One by one, as people gave us contacts, it just seemed to mushroom. We got calls from all over the country. We offered them free to anybody and were able to mail them under a Free Matter for the Blind permit. We didn’t want to start begging for money.”
Growing ministry
“And we started putting it out to the National Library Service for the Blind and Handicapped,” Jack Kinley said.
“As the years went on we changed the format of the tapes. It got to where we were putting on Christian music, Bible study I did myself. My wife did Gwen’s Corner, a potpourri of things that visually impaired and blind people did have available. She would read articles out of various publications.”
Jack Kinley said his daughter took up where his late wife left off.
“Now my daughter does Judy’s Journeys and records articles, simple recipes that blind and visually impaired people can make.”
Visual Tape Ministry has never charged for this service, despite sending tapes all over the world, nor has Jack Kinley made fundraising appeals to support it. When speaking about the ministry to groups over the years, he said, “I have mentioned the tape ministry and people just supply the money. The Lord’s always taken care of it. There’s just about enough money.”
The demand for the cassette tapes has declined, as cassette players have become obsolete, at least in the United States, Jack Kinley said. Friends who find working cassette players in their homes or thrift stores bring them to him, who often ships them off to foreign countries where CD-players are not as widely available.
“My wife and I went on a couple of trips to Nigeria to work in the Blind Training Centers. We helped them become more independent. We took Braille Bibles and taught them how to read in Braille. We also still send tapes over there, to the Philippines and other countries,” he said. “Vision Tape Ministry expanded to an overseas ministry where we send the tapes to missionaries and Americans who know the ones locally who can understand English. In those countries, they’re still using tape players. If I can find them, like the old Walkmans, I send them over.”
Jack Kinley concedes that switching to CDs or posting the recordings online would increase the reach of his ministry, but, he said, “I’m 88 years old now and I just don’t want to start something new.”
Beeping eggs
Back in 2005, North Shelby Baptist Church, Birmingham, member David Hyche wanted to find a way for his young daughter, Rachel Hyche, blind since birth but very independent at less than two years old, to enjoy the church Easter egg hunt.
Hyche, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), learned online about how to make Easter eggs that beep, allowing blind children to find them by sound. David Hyche, a self-described “explosives guy,” sought help from friends in local police bomb squads and ATF coworkers to construct 40 of the beeping eggs, which cost $11.50 per egg to build.
The first hunt had only a few blind children participating but the program grew steadily since then, with five hunts in 2016 drawing hundreds of blind and disabled kids in Alabama alone.
The International Association of Bomb Technicians & Investigators (IABTI) now sponsors The Rachel Project nationally. “The IABTI adopted this as their charity and it has spread all over the country. We get six to eight new cities every year,” David Hyche said.
“Last year a teacher of Native Americans contacted us and we were able to send Easter egg components up to Washington to the bomb squad up there — they were able to put them together for the reservation. It’s pretty far-reaching.”
David Hyche also is working on a project to allow more disabled to get in on the hunt next Easter. “I made a vibrating egg. We tested it at the Helen Keller School for the deaf and blind (in Talladega) and they loved it. They’re very expensive but we’re going to try to make 20 or 30. Trying to reach out to the severely multidisabled kids.”
Variety of missions
Rachel Hyche, now 12, is too “grown up” to participate in the egg hunts but helps the younger children, David Hyche said.
North Shelby Baptist continues to support a variety of missions for the blind and visually impaired, including multisensory Bible stories and puppet shows where a story of Jonah and the whale is brought to life by opening a can of tuna. The church also provides Braille Bibles and hymnals to Baptists who can’t afford them.
It’s important that churches work to provide religious resources because the majority of agencies and organizations serving the blind are secular, David Hyche said.
Expanding the mission
“It is often very difficult for blind or visually impaired individuals to find religious, specifically in our case, Baptist materials,” he said. And even though his daughter has outgrown hunting Easter eggs herself, he continues to work with many others to expand the mission.
“I have the world of the blind and the world of my work in law enforcement, and to bring the two together is really cool,” David Hyche said.
“It’s amazing when God puts something like that in front of you.”
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Resources for visually impaired
Tape Ministries
• Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions — Mails weekly cassette tape recordings of the upcoming LifeWay Sunday School lesson and selected articles from The Alabama Baptist. Contact Sheila Rikerd at srikerd@alsbom.org or 334-613-2249.
• Vision Tape Ministries — Cassette tapes mailed free on request, containing a variety of sermons, lessons, devotionals, music and articles. Contact Jack Kinley at 334-297-6432 or jjay0520@bellsouth.net.
Braille Hymnals and Bibles
• North Shelby Baptist Church, Birmingham, Vision Impairment Ministry — Braille Baptist hymnals available to churches and individuals; financial assistance is available. Contact North Shelby Baptist at 205-995-9056.
• Lutheran Braille Workers — The largest Christian ministry in the world that provides Braille and specialized large print Bibles free of charge for the visually impaired. Contact 1-800-925-6092 toll free or 909-795-8977 or email lbw@lbwinc.org.
• Helping Hands Braille Ministries/Source of Light Ministries International — Braille Bibles and other documents produced from data entry, scanning or computer disk. Call 706-342-0397, ext. 115, or email helpinghands@slmin.org.
• Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind — Braille Bibles and other publications provided by agencies and organizations on this resource list: glfb.org/resources.html.
Beeping Easter Egg Hunt
• The Rachel Project — Contact David Hyche at bhamaapvi@bellsouth.net.
Compiled by Martha Simmons
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