Chapman recovered, slowly. During his
period of recuperation, he went on vacation and noticed a
Gideon Bible placed in the nightstand of his hotel room.
It struck
him that if every hotel room in America was supplied with a Bible, why shouldn’t
every home in America have the same privilege?
William Chapman came to believe this was the specific service
God had in mind for him. This idea was the seed that eventually
grew into the ministry now known as Bible League International.
He asked his wife to join him in his crusade and armed with
a supply of 1,000 Bibles he bought with his own savings, he
began his Bible placement program in Walkerton, Indiana in
1938. The Chapmans personally canvassed that neighborhood one
afternoon and found 45 families who owned no Bible. After eliciting
a promise that the Book would in fact be read, the Chapmans
joyfully gave each of these families a Bible to own.
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