What Happened When We Started Giving Out Free Bibles in Our Village 

Kath Jones, a member of Connect Southwater Community Church in West Sussex, shares how giving away free Bibles led to new mission opportunities and a surprising openness to faith in her village.

A few months ago, I heard Rachel Jordan-Wolf speak at the Pioneer UK National Leaders Conference about how her church had started handing out free Bibles on the streets, the amazing conversations they were having with those passing by, and stories of people even coming to faith.

It made me wonder if something that simple could work in our own village. Could offering free Bibles on the village streets open up conversations and create new opportunities for sharing the gospel in our community?

We decided to find out!

Taking to the Streets of Southwater

Connect Southwater Community Church is a small church located in Southwater – a large village of over 11,000 people in West Sussex. We are just five years into our journey in faith and mission together and were recently given a prophetic word – that seeds planted are coming to fruition, and that the work being faithfully carried out will see growth.

While the church has already built strong relationships and served our community in many practical ways, we felt it was time to step up with a more intentional witness. Inspired by Rachel’s message at the conference, I ordered a box of Luke’s Gospels from Hope Together, along with some of their WWII Commemorative Gospels of John and a few other gospel handouts.

With permission from a local café in the village centre, Angie (our youth worker) and I set up a table outside on Easter Saturday. We had a box of Gospels and a handmade sign that said “FREE BIBLES”.

Because of prior commitments, we only had an hour we could be there, and if I’m totally honest, we didn’t hold out much hope that anyone would be interested. But we were so wrong!

What Happened Next…

Within minutes, Gospels were being taken. Ten copies of Luke’s Gospel went quickly, and people stopped to engage in faith-related conversations. Two people came back to ask for another copy to give to a family member. People were touched by the fact that we weren’t asking for any money.

When I went inside the café to get a coffee, I was able to pray with a lady who said she had never experienced such peace – she came outside later to say she could see light shining all around us.

One of our church members was passing by and joined in. She was able to share her own powerful testimony with a nearby shop owner and she too accepted a Gospel.

In that one hour, we gave away 20 copies of Luke’s Gospel plus about a dozen WWII Commemorative Gospels of John. It was a fabulous, faith-creating, encouraging time!

Stirring the Church

The next day, I shared our experience during Easter Sunday worship, and many church members were inspired to take Gospels home to share with friends and neighbours. People who had never before engaged in any street evangelism signed up to be part of what’s now becoming a regular Bible Giveaway activity.

This experience also inspired me to reach out to our two local primary schools to find out if they would be happy for us to give free copies of the WWII Commemorative Gospel of John to their Year 6 leavers. One school declined, but the other was delighted with the idea and invited me to deliver a whole-school assembly during VE Week in May.

Accompanied by Angie, we invited a local veteran to join us – Bob Piper, then 99 years old and now 100! Bob brought along his tiny, leather-bound family Bible from 1625 to share with the children.



I spoke to the school about rising to challenges and always being mindful of the needs of those around them. I reminded them that Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” It was a powerful moment to connect these words with the sacrifice of Bob and his many friends who never returned. I explained that this verse, and others like it, can be found in the WWII Commemorative Gospels of John we were about to give out.

It was a deeply moving moment as Bob carefully handed each Year 6 child a Gospel, telling them to treasure it – and the words inside – as if their lives depended on it.

One teacher later shared on Facebook that it was “the most moving assembly she had experienced in 27 years of teaching.”

An Ongoing Story

Our church has been so blessed to place the Word of God into the hands of so many people in our village. All it took was a box of Gospels, a homemade sign, and the faith to believe that God would show up.

We’re excited to continue these Bible giveaways and build on this initiative throughout the summer and autumn.

I would really encourage any church in the UK, regardless of location, to take to your streets and give this a go!

Kath Jones is former lead pastor and a member of Connect Southwater Community Church, located in the village of Southwater, West Sussex.

To learn more about the Great Gospel Giveaway and discover how you or your church can help share Bibles in your local community, click here.

Edited by: Bethan Walker