USA (MNN) — It’s been a rough year-and-a-half for many families in the United States. See our full pandemic coverage here. Plenty of people struggled with depression or other mental health issues, but good news emerged from the global crisis, too.
“People were clinging to God’s Word because that was the important thing; that’s what [gave] them comfort,” Greg Yoder with Keys for Kids Ministries says.
“People aren’t throwing their Bibles away [during] the pandemic. They’re digging into them, and that’s a good thing.”
The American Bible Society is releasing key findings from its annual State of the Bible report between now and December. More about that here. Over 181 million Americans opened a Bible in the past year, reversing a previous decline.
Five key takeaways from State of the Bible 2021.
Last spring, “we saw individuals [and] families coming to Keys for Kids Ministries to dig deeper into the Word. We saw a nearly 300% increase between April, May, and June [2020],” Yoder says.
Keys for Kids Ministries provides Christian devotionals and other biblical resources for the Next Generation. They have age-appropriate material for both teens and kids under 12.
“Christian families, by and large, want to have these devotional moments with their kids, but they don’t know where to start, and they don’t have the time to dig for the material. Keys for Kids and Unlocked makes it so much easier,” Yoder says.
(Photo courtesy Keys For Kids)
“Jesus never said ‘just believe’; He said, ‘Come and follow Me.’ To follow Him, we have to know who He is; to know who He is, we have to read His Word.”
In print form and online, Keys for Kids devotionals fit every family routine. “Everybody uses them differently,” Yoder says.
“Some people will put the app on their phone [and] listen to the Keys for Kids devotional through their car radio on the way to school, and they’ll talk about it. Other families will get the books out in the morning before school; maybe they’ll do that in the evening. We have teenagers downloading the app, and they’re doing it all on their own.”
Learn more about Keys for Kids Ministries here.
Header image courtesy of Creative Carol on Flickr.
