An elderly angel known as ‘Grandpa’ to the American family he took under his wing has gone viral for the personalised gifts he gave to his adopted grandchildren for Christmas.
In a video that has been posted by multiple users on multiple social media platforms and viewed millions of times, ‘Grandpa Johan’ is seen explaining that a flash drive he gifted to each grandchild contains files of him reading the entire Bible.
“That’s the Bible — the whole Bible read,” he can be seen explaining to the children who are now teens and young adults.
“And also a bunch of pictures from Facebook that I posted,” he adds
‘GRANDPA’ MAKES 578 FILES OF HIS HIS BIBLE READING
Each of the children received a different coloured flash drive containing different MP3 files.
‘Grandpa’ said that the project took him “over a year” to complete and it may have been as long as 18 months.
“No way! You actually did it?” exclaimed one of the grandchildren.
“Every day, I read one,” the grandfather said. “There’s like 578 little MP3s.”
THE BACK STORY TO GRANDPA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHILDREN
Independent journalist Caleb Parke contacted the family to discover the back story to Grandpa’s generosity.
He found out that ‘Grandpa’ is Johann Klaassen.
He and his wife Cathie bonded with the children’s mother Tiffany and her parents when they met in Washington in 1996.
When her parents passed away a decade later, the Klaassens promised Tiffany; We will always leave the lights on for you.
GRANDPARENTS ARE ACTUALLY GODPARENTS
They are actually Tiffany’s godparents.
Johan and Cathie chose to act as grandparents for her children.
They never had children of their own.
For years, the Klaassens remained a steady presence as the family grew to four children.
GRANDPA STOOD BESIDE FAMILY DURING CRISIS AND TRAGEDY
Tiffany moved her children to Washington to escape a dangerous situation involving her husband’s addiction.
Two years later, he suffered a stroke and was seriously injured when hit by a car.
During the darkest days of his struggle to recover and a bitter dispute over his care with his siblings, Johann was always there.
He prayed over the husband in his sickbed, sat with the grieving boys, and stayed until the very end in 2023.
‘GRANDPA’ STEPS IN TO STRENGTHEN THE FAMILY’S FAITH
“After losing my husband, I struggled deeply and became angry. I lost much of my faith,” Tiffany told Caleb Parke.
“Grandpa gently stepped in again to help strengthen our faith when we couldn’t do it ourselves.”
For most of his life, Johann Klaassen was a professional aerial photographer, running his own business.
He spent his career in the clouds, taking photographs of the earth below.
‘GRANDPA’ STAYS STRONG DESPITE HIS OWN SUFFERING
But as his health declined, he was forced to ground his planes.
Today, he lives with daily chronic pain and awaits major surgery.
Despite his physical suffering, ‘Grandpa Johann’ found a way to continue “sowing seeds” like recording his Bible reading files.
MANY REQUESTS FOR ‘GRANDPA’S BIBLE READING
Tiffany has received numerous requests for the voice recordings.
“We are up to needing 118 copies for people all over the world,” she revealed.
“We shared one video of Grandpa giving us such a personal meaningful gift and now everyone wants a copy.”
“I can’t believe how many people this has reached. God is definitely in this story.”
SHARING ACCESS BY DONATION ONLY
“Due to many requests, we’re sharing access by donation only.”
“Give what you feel Grandpa’s devotion deserves — everyone receives access either way.”
Across social media, encouraging comments have flooded in.
“THIS IS AN UNMATCHED GRANDPARENT GIFT”
Some viewers of the viral video describe the recordings as “a generational heirloom gift”
Others say they feel inspired to offer a similar gift to their own children or grandchildren.
“This will be a national treasure to them one day, they just don’t realise it yet. Wow, what a spectacular gift,” said one commenter.
“This is an unmatched grandparent gift. That took so much time and dedication,” said another.
“They’ll get to hear his voice and feel his love for the rest of their life.”
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