Over 300,000 students expected to participate in "Bring Your Bible to School Day"
About 300,000 students are bringing copies of God's word to school on Oct. 6 to participate in "Bring Your Bible to School Day."
The socially conservative group Focus on the Family is sponsoring the event as an effort to encourage Christians to express their faith as well as their religious freedom.
Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, observed an increase in the number of participants since the program was first launched in 2014.
"In 2014, around 8,000 students participated. But in 2015, that number exploded to more than 155,000 students from every state in the nation," Daly told the Christian Post. "It's fun to see second-year and third-year participants — such as [a student named] Carson, from Indiana, who started a Bible Club at his school last year," he added.
Daly notes that religious freedom is an important aspect of the campaign. He described it as "a nationwide, religious-freedom initiative for students from kindergarten to college."
"On this day, they celebrate religious freedom and share God's hope by taking a simple action — bringing their Bibles to school and talking about it with friends before and after class," he said.
Daly bemoans the fact that many schools are asking Christian students to keep their faith to themselves. He believes that the reason for the movement's growth is because the program has been viewed as a positive and redemptive way for Christians to express their beliefs.
He hopes that the observance will inspire students to graciously live out their faith and give them courage to exercise their religious liberties.
Daly notes that some administrators are preventing students from reading Bibles or praying privately in schools because they thought that they are upholding the law. He emphasizes that students have the right to express their faith in public schools as long as they do not disrupt classes.
Focus on the Family rescheduled the observance of "Bring Your Bible to School Day" to Oct. 20 for the states that are affected by the hurricane.
Those who sign up at its website to participate in the event will get the chance to win a trip for four to Dallas to watch a performance of the award-winning Christian band Newsboys.
