Laxon (right), a 57-year-old church leader in a remote area of Dolahali, Zimbabwe, describes his life before Christ in one word—irresponsible.

As a young man, Laxon spent very little time with his family and would often boast about his promiscuity and wayward behavior. At the time, he was a manager at the company he worked for, which gave him opportunity to forge signatures and steal goods. Despite the money he got from selling the stolen goods, his life was meaningless.

“I did not know God and would deride Christians because I thought they were cheap and naïve,” he recalls. “I thought God was not useful in my life and I was unwilling to obey Him. I was the master of my destiny.”

Laxon was 27 years old when an evangelist came to town to lead a tent crusade. Hearing the Word of God immediately pierced his heart. When he arrived home that night, he couldn’t sleep. That week, he visited a pastor he knew well. “The pastor led me to Christ and baptized me the following week,” he shares.

Since then, God has completely changed Laxon’s life. “The Word of God opened my eyes, and I saw how bad I was.”  He adds, “God’s Word made me a new person in Christ.”

It wasn’t long before Laxon heard God calling him to a life of service.

Today, as a pastor, Laxon uses Bible League’s Project Philip Bible study program not only to help members in his church to grow in their faith and receive Bibles of their very own, but also to reach people in the community.

“I was the only one with a good Bible that had all the chapters from cover to cover,” he explains. “In my congregation of 50 people, there were one or two with old torn Bibles that had a lot of missing pages and chapters.”

Now, when people complete a Bible study, they receive a Bible. Throughout the pandemic, Project Philip Bible studies have been an effective tool in helping families study God’s Word together, especially when the country was locked down.

“Families handled the stress of staying in restricted places by reading and sharing the Scriptures,” he says.

“Since restrictions have been lifted, I have witnessed new faces of young people coming to church,” he continues. “We recently baptized 21 boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 21 years old.”

Grateful for the Bibles and training you help provide, Laxon is confident that many more people will come to know the Lord as God’s Word is shared more throughout his community. “My church is growing, and members are multiplying,” he says. Praise God!