MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)–Among all the attributes of the Bible celebrated by Southern Baptists and other evangelicals, the attributes of waterproof and durable can be added to that list.
The idea for the “Waterproof Bible,” formerly called “The Outdoor Bible,” came to Bobby Bardin and Michael Marsee, whose love for God’s creation and His Word often resulted in wet pages.
Their mutual desire for a waterproof Bible was the impetus for their founding of Bardin & Marsee Publishing.
Suitable for missionaries preaching in the rain, soldiers on foreign battlefields, pastors baptizing new Christians and fumble-fingered duck hunters, the Waterproof Bible’s pages are impermeable. But verses can be underlined with a ballpoint pen or marked with a dry ink highlighter.
The pages are synthetic, not paper laminated in plastic — with the type actually imbedded in each plastic page. Available in the NIV, NASB and KJV translations, there’s even a pink-covered version for ladies who want to soak in a bubble-bath and God’s Word simultaneously, Bardin said.
Serving as editor and exclusive writer for the Waterproof Bible is Chuck McAlister, a former Arkansas pastor whose love for hunting and evangelism led him to start the award-winning TV show “AdventureBound Outdoors.”
Though McAlister doesn’t keep such statistics, he told Baptist Press there are numerous accounts of outdoor enthusiasts who came to salvation in Christ by reading from the Waterproof Bible.
“I know of some hunting lodges whose owners are Christians, and they put copies of the Waterproof Bible in their deer stands as a way to witness to their customers,” said McAlister, who is the primary spokesman for Bardin & Marsee Publishing based in Memphis, Tenn. McAlister also has written a waterproof devotional book called “Adventures in God’s Country.”
McAlister and Bardin met at a wild game dinner where McAlister was the featured speaker.
Bardin told Baptist Press that people from all walks of life are attracted to the unique Bible. He recounted how a college student took his copy of the Waterproof Bible on a secularly sponsored hiking trip to Patagonia in South America’s Andes Mountains.
Recounting the student’s comments, Bardin said others on the hiking trip — some of whom were antagonistic toward Christianity — were drawn to the Waterproof Bible because of its unique design — that it wasn’t black-leather bound with gold-gilt pages.
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Norm Miller is a freelance writer in Richmond, Va. The Waterproof Bible is available at most Christian bookstores, including LifeWay Christian Stores and also at www.waterproofbible.com with discounts available for bulk purchases.
