"Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

Psalm 103:1

About Velma Jean Sanders

Velma Jean Sanders remembers her first Bible. It was a red pocket-sized New Testament that someone who was standing on the corner handed her as she left Dunbar Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That Bible was a seed planted.

Some years later, as a teenager and now living in Omaha, Nebraska, with her family, she remembers the first time that she attended a home Bible Study. She sat there listening and amazed that people met together on a Saturday evening to study the Bible. She listened carefully to their prayers and sat in wonder as they discussed the verses read. That made such an impression on her and little did she know that God was watering the seed that had been planted earlier.

In those teenage years, Velma experienced a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. It was at that time that God placed within her a passionate love for His Word, the Bible. She had always loved to read. But, her love for reading intensified when she started reading the Bible on a consistent basis. She was drawing nigh to God and He was drawing nigh to her … leading her; teaching her; calling her to ministry.

She had no dreams or aspirations to become a Bible Teacher … that was the farthest thing from her mind! Velma just loved to read and study His Word. Before she knew it, she was being invited to teach in homes and beauty salons all over the city. In 1988, she received her first invitation to speak at Rising Star Baptist Church in Omaha, Nebraska.

Through the faithful and consistent reading of His Word, she is convinced that it is not only true and faithful, but that it is also eternal, exciting, and will change the life of anyone that reads and studies it with a sincere heart. It is by the simple teaching of God’s Word, for over 40 years now, that He has opened doors for her to minister to many people of many different racial and religious backgrounds – including several UNO foreign-exchange students.

She is the founder and President of “God’s Word, Alive, Inc. A Biblical teaching ministry dedicated to “Holding Forth the Word of Life.” In 2014, God blessed her to host the first “God’s Word, Alive!” Bible Conference! It was a huge success and a conference has been held each year since then. (With the exception of the 2020 conference which was canceled due to COVID-19.)

One of her great joys is to teach at the church where God has planted her, Salem Baptist Church (Omaha, Nebraska); of which she has been a member for over 50 years. She placed faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and joined Salem in 1970. She was baptized by Rev. James C. Wade, Sr., the Pastor at that time. It is here that she currently teaches the Contemporary Bible Class, each Sunday. She is also the Director of the Bread of Life Speech Choir.

She retired after working for 36 1/2 years with the Federal Government. Thirty-three of those years were with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Program Analyst. She is a graduate of Benson High School and attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Velma is well aware of God’s many blessings. Her desire is to live life in a manner that pleases Him. Her life motto is, “God is Faithful.” She has found that to be true – over and over again!

It is her constant prayer that many will be brought into the blessedness of hearing, reading, believing and obeying the Word of God. Velma Jean Sanders wants everyone to know that its rewards are without measure and are eternal.

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”

Philippians 2:15, 16

God’s Word, Alive! was founded and is being built upon these verses.