Tape ministry brings state paper to visually impaired

  Before Harriet Lumpkin began losing her sight to macular degeneration several years ago, she practically read The Alabama Baptist from cover to cover. 
   
Now, she and more than 100 visually impaired Alabamians keep up with the state’s Baptist news through a free service funded by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) through the Cooperative Program.
   
“The tapes are like a companion to me and I enjoy what I hear,” Lumpkin said. “I do not feel left out of the state news.” 
   
For more than 20 years, the SBOM has provided this service as a ministry to countless Alabama Baptists who are dependent on sound for communication, according to Richard Alford, an associate in the associational and cooperative missions office.
   
“The Alabama Baptist is an extremely important news source for everybody,” he said. “By putting it on tape, it helps the visually impaired be aware of Baptist news and missions work.”
   
To provide this service, several volunteers spend numerous hours at the SBOM Montgomery office reading news articles and Sunday School lessons from The Alabama Baptist each week. 
   
Usually, this job is accomplished through the work of two different volunteers so that listeners will hear multiple voices per taped edition, which many listeners enjoy, according to Alford.
   
Other volunteers make copies of the tapes and distribute them to visually impaired Baptists throughout the state. 
   
“We couldn’t do the program without the volunteers,” said Doug Rogers, communications coordinator for the SBOM. 
   
“They dedicate time every week and consider it a ministry. This kind of ministry could not take place without the commitment of these wonderful volunteers,” he said.
   
Recording equipment, tapes and mailers are provided with Cooperative Program funds, Rogers noted.
To help cut production costs, listeners return used tapes so that new editions can be copied on them.
   
“We make the best use of our resources by recycling,” said Rogers. 
   
“That also allows the Cooperative Program dollars to go further. We are able to get several uses out of one tape,” he said.
   
The SBOM plans to continue this program indefinitely.
   
“We want to continue providing this ministry as long as there are those who will benefit from it,” said Rogers.
   
To receive copies of The Alabama Baptist on tape, call Beverly Lockhart at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 311, in the SBOM associational and cooperative missions office.