Dr Percy Harrold has been honoured at the 62nd General Conference Session in St Louis, Missouri, for more than three decades of dedicated service to blind and visually impaired people around the world.
The award recognises Dr Harrold’s faithful and unwavering commitment to making the English Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide accessible through audio recordings. He has recorded and produced around 12,000 daily lessons, which are broadcast globally via the GC Sabbath School app and other platforms such as SoundCloud, iTunes and YouTube.
The presentation was made during the Sabbath School program on July 12 by Pastor Douglas Venn, associate director of GC Sabbath School and Personal Ministries for Adventist Possibility Ministries, and Pastor Wayne Boehm, director of Hope Channel South Pacific.
“Did you know, Dr Harrold, over the last 60 days 2.5 million people have actually accessed the audio version?” Pastor Venn said, “. . . . and we have 500,000 active users each week on the app.”
“Based on those statistics that puts this resource within the top 1 per cent of podcasts globally,” Pastor Boehm added.
Dr Harrold was thanked for his faithful service and dedication.
“You never sought attention but your voice has been a lifeline for thousands who would otherwise not engage in the Sabbath School lesson,” Pastor Venn said.
“It’s a powerful reminder of what one person can do.”
Dr Harrold’s recordings began with cassette tapes distributed to blind and low-vision church members in the South Pacific. Over time, the recordings transitioned to CDs and digital formats, with the first podcast launched on July 1, 2007. Today, his work is distributed globally across multiple platforms with more than 1 million downloads a year.
Now 84, Dr Harrold remains actively involved in producing the weekly podcast, recording from the study of his home in Yandina, Queensland, using a laptop and microphone. Each lesson takes about three days to complete, including recording, editing and formatting. He is supported by his wife Marion and their family.
“What I do is voluntary, but it’s something I want to do,” he said. “There is a need for the blind to hear, to see—and that applies to Scripture as well. No-one else is recording these Sabbath School lessons anywhere in the world.”
Thousands tune in each week and listener feedback confirms the podcast’s spiritual value and global reach. Comments come from all walks of life—some ask for prayer, others simply wish Dr Harrold well and express gratitude for the podcast. “At least one baptism, but joy for so many,” he said.
Despite recent health challenges that briefly disrupted his schedule—the first missed release in over 1200 podcast episodes—Dr Harrold is now back behind the mic, already recording lessons for the upcoming quarter.
On receiving news of the GC recognition, he was deeply moved. “I feel very honoured to be part of a team that supports appropriate resources for the blind and deaf across the world,” he said. “I see this award as a way of publicising our Possibility Ministries services to the Church. Each of us could one day need these services. I am proud of the team but humbled and chuffed that I have been honoured.”
