McAfee publishes her 30-year project at MU Bookstore

The book provides a timeline of Christianity.

By Shannon Montanez

Published Oct. 13, 2009

After 30 years of work, 83-year-old Columbia resident Jennie McAfee has published her life's biggest project, a written history of Christianity that extends from the beginning of time into the future.

McAfee's book, "The Wonderful, Glorious, Victorious, Eighth Day," will be the first original piece printed on University Bookstore's Espresso Book Machine and is a written version of McAfee's 30-foot-long banner documenting the history of Christianity. The book also contains pictures to explain the major events of different eras.

The banner McAfee has painstakingly worked on for the past 30 years is on display in her home, covering the entire length of her living room and kitchen.

It's obvious McAfee has dedicated her life to the mural. She said the years of effort that went toward the project started with a simple timeline.

"I was teaching fifth and sixth graders Bible study and I was trying to help the children understand what I was teaching about the Bible," she said. "I got six feet of butcher paper and marked it off in millennia to teach them time concepts."

Those six feet of butcher paper did not fulfill McAfee's vision for the chronological banner, but the 30-foot mural that now hangs in her home wasn't her first choice for a project. She originally began something different, alphabetically listing all the people who appeared in the Bible. Unfortunately, "Reader's Digest" beat her to it soon after she began her work.

McAfee then attempted to complete a chronological listing of the Bible, but then "The Reese Chronological Bible" was published in 1980.

Despite having been beaten to the punch twice, McAfee decided she was going to continue telling Christianity's history.

About 30 years ago, McAfee chose to start work on a mural with illustrations as well as descriptions. She and her husband, John McAfee, purchased cheesecloth to start the banner.

"When I bought the material, I didn't know how much was in the bolt, but it worked out almost perfectly," she said.

The banner is divided by millennia, each section representing one of the Seven Seal Judgments, found in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament. Each section is painstakingly decorated and detailed, with hand drawings explaining the events of the era.

Ten newly bound copies of "The Wonderful, Glorious, Victorious Eighth Day" sit stacked on her kitchen table with the receipt still rubber banded to the top copy. She plans to give them to anyone who is interested in reading and studying them.

McAfee said she's been able to show her work in 15 churches across the United States, using her book and banner as a tool at Bible studies and prayer groups. There's an especially large interest in the Bible Belt, namely in Oklahoma and Texas.

"We were sent to different places around the country to work," John McAfee said.

Jennie McAfee has memories of going down to the print shop, making copies of the book and getting boxes of colored pencils and coloring in the pages. She said people used to purchase the hand-colored copies she made.

"The Wonderful, Glorious, Victorious, Eighth Day" was written from 1952 to 1983. It was revised in 1988 and 1989 and revised again and finished in 1995. She made the decision to copyright her work in 1995.

After reading about the Espresso Book Machine, McAfee decided to finally have her book printed. University Bookstore Mizzou Media Coordinator Heather Tearney said the machine provides McAfee with a unique opportunity.

"It would have cost Mrs. McAfee several thousand dollars to go through a major publishing company," Tearney said. "With PDFs, we can do that for a lot cheaper."

Because her book was written from 1952 to 1983, McAfee said it was all done without computers, a feat in today's society.

Although the book has already been published, Tearney said the grand opening for the Espresso Book Machine is set for November.