Sweety was one of 2500 parents who registered their babies, born during the BSA Bicentenary year of 2017, for the programme. Bible Society initially asked for 1000 babies but the programme proved so popular that it accepted all 2500 registrations.

“It’s been such a big blessing …” – Sweety Mathew

This year, Bible Society is giving another 2500 children, born in 2018, the chance to engage with God’s word from their first year.

Click here to sign up your baby to #BiblesForBubs by February 28 and they will receive a Toddler Bible, as well as annual BSA birthday cards.

While Sweety registered her baby Eva for the programme, it was her toddler Anaia, then aged three, who really benefited.

“I already had two different kinds of [children’s] Bible for my toddler, and somehow they weren’t captivating enough. Somehow all the other Bibles are not easy to read – I mean, you read but they don’t understand,” Sweety tells Eternity.

“This Toddler Bible is not like the other Bibles – it’s very simple to read and simple to understand. When I read it, I don’t have to put in extra effort to explain to the child what is the story; she understands it. So I found it was really relatable to the toddler age.”

As Sweety read the Toddler Bible to Anaia every day before bed, “she loved the pictures, she loved the illustrations, she loved the stories.”

“It’s been such a big blessing because she knows all the stories now and she relates to it and she’s always asking us ‘let’s say the story from the Bible,’ and when we get halfway through she recites it back to us.”

Sweety says Eva, who just turned one, is now is more responsive and wants to copy everything her big sister does. “You can see that she’s interested but I’m not sure how much she follows,” she confesses.

“It’s great to be able to have an outlet where we can introduce God to the kids.” – Sarah Apps

Sarah Apps, who registered her baby Toby, says the main benefit of receiving the Toddler Bible has been in helping keep her accountable to sit down with her three children and read the Bible.

“My organisation skills are still not that grand, even after three kids, so trying to remember to do things like say grace before we eat and have times to sit down and talk about God and read the Bible is a big thing. Anything I can have that makes that easier is good,” she says.

She says Toby loves watching her read the Bible to her other children, Ollie and Ava, but she is very careful not to let him rip the pages.

“It’s great to be able to have an outlet where we can introduce God to the kids,” she says. “I usually sit down with the other two kids as well.”

Introducing God to their children is very important to Sarah and her husband Adrian, so they appreciated the Bibles for Bubs programme as “a good way to know age appropriate things as they grow older.”

Click here to sign up your baby to #BiblesForBubs by February 28. Your child will receive a Toddler Bible and a bookmark. After that, an annual birthday card with suggestions to encourage their faith and family Bible reading. When they turn five, they will receive a beautiful CEV Big Rescue Bible to see them through their primary school years.