Back in 1988, Tom Tresider drew a picture of an iPad. It was the birth of MegaVoice, a company that has produced 3.6 million audio Bible machines and coincidently turns 36 today.
Tom is now 91 and is living proof that you can have a long and productive time past the so-called retirement age.
Tom Treseder recalls the Lord answering a simple prayer in 1982, “May we design a Bible that will allow absolutely everyone to access and hear of the love of Jesus and be guided into His open arms.”
This prayer resulted in Tom’s iPad-like design, which was presented at the United Nations conference in Jerusalem in 1987. Tom’s idea was turned into practical reality by Ken Crowell, who already had a factory in Israel manufacturing shortwave radios for missions. The mega voice machine soon outstripped the radios developing into the world’s first solar-powered, digital audio Bible.
Tom recalls hearing a car speak when visiting a car dealership. The car said, “The door is open!” It turned out the voice came from a memory chip inside the car. It made him even more determined to provide a Bible machine that had no moving parts – cassette players and other alternatives were breaking down on the mission field.
A book about Tom Tresider’s life – from championship rowing to senior positions at Scripture Union and bible Society – where he was CEO, is being launched next month. But here’s Tom telling his story for The Other Cheek: “Since coming to know the Lord Jesus as my Saviour on my 15th birthday, July 9th 1948, in Five Dock Methodist Church, he has filled my life with his purpose and directed me in ways I could never have imagined. I’ve been a new man ever since my rebirth!
“33 World Masters rowing and sculling gold medals on majestic rowing courses in many different countries.
“Read the Scriptures in Westminster Abbey, preaching, speaking, give my testimony in sports stadiums, beside Lake Galilee, in tents and cathedrals and doing this in a mass of countries as well as Australia and the Pacific-wide.
“36 years ago, on January 11 1988, in response to a simple prayer, God put into my mind and heart his Holy Word in a form that did not exist. A Bible stored, not on 1300 paper pages, but on a bit of rock. And powered by the sun and by the SON. We have distributed 3.6 million this miraculous [machine with the] Bible and other life-enriching messages into over 180 countries and territories.
“Then again, inspired by God, I invented and developed our MegaVoice team, the world’s first self-powered Bible for all deaf Sign language speakers in the world. (Estimated to be 1.5 billion)
“Now, churches, colleges, translators, missionaries, evangelists, radio stations and others are drawing on our massive audio and video library in the cloud in over 8500 languages and dialects. This number is exploding through very advanced technologies used in our 10 MegaVoice Creative Recording Studios.
“I have been given a new vision by God, to design a totally new talking – tract, one to enable 1 billion people to hear of the Lord Jesus and to fall into His outstretched arms. With “God’s good hand” upon our MegaVoice team, we’ll do it!
Tom’s vision and persistence 36 years ago have made it possible for an impossible-to-estimate number of people to have heard God’s word.
Tom Tresiders book will be lauched online next month
Tom is a great man of God. His contribution will live forever. Blessings. Tom Glynn