Mr. Charles did not forget his meeting with Mary, and God used him to show others through her story, the terrible sense of spiritual death that prevailed during this famine of Bibles.  God did not disappoint this faithful man, and used him to form a society for the diffusion of the Scriptures, a society having for its sole object the publication and distribution of God’s Holy Word.

Thus, in 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society was established to be used in Wales and throughout the world.  And whenever Charles Bala went to speak, he recounted the story of the little maiden, Mary Jones.  God used men like John Owen, William Wilberforce and John Newton to fund the work.  And so, the Welsh people had Bibles once again.

After Jacob and Molly Jones were laid to rest, Mary married a weaver, Thomas Lewis and moved to a nearby village.  She had eight children of her own and continued dressmaking and helping her neighbors.  Mary’s love for her Bible had grown, not diminished.  She was humble and maintained a consistent walk and example of influence for the Lord.  Mary died in 1866 at the age of 82.  Her beloved Bible was her companion of so many years, the consoler and comforter, the guide and teacher of her life.  When the call came from the One she had known and loved from childhood saying “Come up Higher!” she had no fears.

Mary Jones passed away from earth to the rest that remains for the people of God; a sheaf of ripe corn safely garnered at last in the heavenly granary.  She was buried in the little churchyard at Bryncrug, the village where she had lived with her beloved husband and children; a stone was raised to her memory by those who loved to recall the influence of her beautiful life and the important, though humble part she had taken in the founding of the great work of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Thank You, Lord, for The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible.

Excerpts from The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible
BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY,
London, 1899