A Reminder that Bibles are Dear

Here in American we often pay lip-service to the availability of scripture for ourselves, but we often forget what it is really like in other countries where freedom of religion does not exist. Consider this story of a former resident of Russia.

When Victoria Adamenko was 24, she saved her money, summoned her courage and bought her first Bible -- from a black-market peddler.

I was born in the United States; she was born in Russia.

So you can understand why Adamenko now keeps several Bibles at her home in Northeast Pensacola.

Adamenko, born in 1965, grew up under a government that ridiculed God and barred religion.

Still, she said, "We all felt the hunger, the thirst, for religion."

She brought her Russian Bible with her when she came to the United States in 1990. Now, she and husband Leonid Yanovskiy relish the freedom to worship, speak and travel as they wish.

While Americans may argue about our religion - with passion - but we honor the freedom of everyone to practice their religion. And we not only honor the Bible, but allow people like the Gideons to put one in every hotel room and prison cell.