Woman's lost Bible finds its way home

By JULIANNE WU

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 20, 2000

SEMINOLE -- Marti Anderson got some good news Friday night.

Mrs. Anderson had lost her 15-year-old King James Bible on May 21, and a Times story Thursday recounted her search for it.

On Saturday, she finally recovered her Good Book.

Mrs. Anderson had left the Bible and her purse on top of a van she was using to drive some fellow parishioners to Starkey Road Baptist Church.

Her purse, filled with $250 cash, was returned almost immediately.

But her Bible, containing family death notices and other personal papers, didn't turn up. So she placed a classified ad.

As it turns out, Paul Weber of Seminole found the Bible in front of the Seminole Home Depot, near Park and Seminole boulevards. He kept the Bible, which did not have a name in it, for about a week and then dropped it off on the second floor of the Starkey Road church's education/fellowship building.

About the same time, he read Mrs. Anderson's classified ad.

He called the number, getting Mrs. Anderson. He told her he gave it to a man who works with teenagers at her church's education building.

But she couldn't find the Bible anywhere at church, and she hadn't written down Weber's name or number. So she waited.

Meanwhile, Mark Hain, the church's youth leader, gave the Bible to the custodian, who put it on a table in the building.

"The only reason I figured the Bible belonged to someone at Starkey Baptist Church," said Weber, "is because it contained a flier with a picture of the old church (now the education building) on it."

Then Weber read the June 15 article. He called Mrs. Anderson a second time and told her exactly where he left the book. She went there Saturday morning and retrieved her precious Bible.

"I didn't want any money for finding her Bible," said Weber. "But I left a card in it, asking her to pray for a member of my family."

When she got her Bible back, Mrs. Anderson knew just what to do.

"First, I wrote my name, address and phone number in there. Then I removed all the personal items and put them in a safe place at home. Needless, to say, I am thrilled that it was found."

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