A Dubai-based Indian family is attempting to break a Guinness World Record by producing the largest Bible on earth.
The colossal text weighs staggering 332 lbs. Incredibly, each of the 800,000 words contained within the vast A1 size pages has been meticulously scribed by hand.
Manoj Varghese, his wife Susan, and their kids Karun and Krupa are the devoted family behind the astonishing feat. They say that the project was a labor of love, and that God guided them through the entire, painstaking process.
From start to finish, it took around five months to complete.
“All I wanted to do was leave something beautiful for my children. I wanted them to treasure something personal that I gave them,” Susan told Gulf News of her family’s motivation to complete the mind-bending assignment.
The mother added that she would “spend 12 to 15 hours every day meticulously writing out the Bible,” which was physically and mentally exhausting. “My eyes would twitch and my hands would hurt,” she said. “But in the process I found the Bible speaking to me, inspiring and guiding me.”
Far from tiring her spiritually, Susan explained how the monumental task actually rejuvenated her spiritual life.
“My faith in God came alive in the process and I will describe it as a pilgrimage like no other,” she added.
Spending 15 years working as a nurse, Susan explained how she took time off work to look after the children and began reading the Malayalam Bible. As she flicked through its pages, the mom started to realize that the Spirit-breathed words could provide her with the strength and wisdom required to face each day.
Knowing the profound power of God’s word in her own life, the mother insists that the project will serve as a wonderful gift and legacy to her children — a spiritual heirloom bestowed upon the next generation of their family.
“I decided to write the Bible in English on regular sized paper so I could gift it to my children,” she said. “I felt that not only would my children draw inspiration from the Bible, but they would also remember a mother who gave them a personal gift.”
Guinness World Records officials have taken official measurements are currently deliberating over whether the family’s Bible has surpassed the previous record. The enormous 1,500-page text, measuring 85.5 cm by 60.7 cm, will be kept at Thoma Church in Jebel Ali.