Mustard Seed Grant: Hawaii and Chile Book Placement

By Marian Hughes, Hawaii, United States

Editor’s Note: Marian and Matt Hughes of the United States were recipients of the second round of Mustard Seed Grant awards in 2023. They share their completed project below.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom—and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.” At the time, only the very wealthy and the clergy had easy access to books, leading Franklin and some associates to found the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731.

Inspired by Ben Franklin, my husband Matt and I resolved to place copies of The Urantia Book in as many libraries on the island of Hawaii as are reachable within a day’s drive of our home. We would also place copies of El libro de Urantia in libraries of the Chilean Lake District (a zone in the south of Chile) that are within a day's drive of our home there. We are grateful for the Foundation's help in making this project a success.

Once we received the Mustard Seed Grant funds, we ordered the books from Amazon, which offers free shipping. English copies of The Urantia Book are now in every library of the Hawaii State Public Library System, as well as in the Hawaii Preparatory Academy, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and Tutu's House, a community resource library in Kamuela. Six Spanish books have been placed in four different cities in Southern Chile: Puerto Varas, Puerto Montt, Llanquihue, and Frutillar.

On the flight to Chile, a passenger in my row noticed my Urantia hat. We proceeded to discuss the revelation and spirituality for most of the nine-hour flight. The man, a retired police commissioner, said that after reading the book he would donate it to a library in Santiago. I gave him a book at baggage claim, figuring a book in the hand was worth two in the bush!