An Opportunity to Impact the Global Church
Throughout the past year, God has provided many donors to support the One Million Bibles Initiative. And by his grace, more than 500,000 Bibles are in the process of being distributed to ministry partners throughout the Global South, with more in process as we receive financial support to do so. These Bibles will equip believers to worship the Lord in truth and more faithfully minister to their communities, as they have for recipients like Michael Rayla’s congregation in the northern Philippines.
For the people in my church to receive a Bible who don’t have one is a really big blessing. They will be joyful to have a Bible because they all really long to have a copy of their own. Just recently I was teaching them the significance of the Word of God for all of life, and they have come to see how valuable it is. The Bible is filled with instructions that come from the Lord—it’s a manual that they need to have access to each day.
We celebrate this progress that has been made and the lives that are being changed! But the work is not yet complete—there are many who still have yet to read God’s Word for themselves.
The Treasure We Hold
Since the formation of the world, God has spoken through the means of language (John 1:1). “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host” (Ps. 33:6). Words have been the primary way God relates to human beings, and he has been speaking to us since the beginning of creation.1
Today, God continues to communicate with his people by means of his written Word, and we have access to this completed work, from Genesis to Revelation. We know the whole story, start to finish, through the Word he has spoken and inspired. This Word is the truth by which we understand who God is and who we are (John 17:17). There is nothing more important in all the world for the Christian faith than these words of life.
The Need We Can Address
As followers of Christ can attest, spiritual growth most often occurs as a result of regular Bible reading and engagement. But sadly nearly 70% of the world’s evangelical Christians living in the Global South struggle to have direct access to a copy of the Bible, whether digital or physical.2
Joseph Lu pastors a congregation in Southeast Asia, where many people do not have a Bible of their own. As he explains:
It’s very important that each person in my congregation has their own Bible. Without it, how will they grow? How will they be fed spiritually? It’s not enough that they just come on Sundays and listen to the pastors deliver the Word to them. I always tell my congregation that they ought to have read the passage for that Sunday before coming to church. But how can they read it if they don’t have a Bible?
Without direct access to the Word of God, brothers and sisters in Christ in Joseph’s church and around the world cannot effectively grow in their faith, and are often forced to interpret it with an incomplete or incorrect understanding. Without Bibles of their own, believers are unable to learn God’s Word for themselves or hold their leaders’ words up to the light of truth (Acts 17:11). For churches and communities in the Global South to flourish spiritually, Christians need direct access to God’s Word.
We invite you to partner with us in our continued effort to distribute one million Bibles around the world. These Bibles are being freely provided to Christians in places of great need and strategically subsidized in other locations where the need is just as great but the current priority is building sustainable, long-term Bible distribution models. By partnering with churches, ministry networks, and other organizations in the Global South, our goal is to provide the Word of God to one million Christians who would otherwise not have access to their own Bibles.
Through the Bible, Christians grow in their understanding of God and salvation and are equipped to share the good news with others. Every $4 you give will support the delivery and distribution of a copy of God’s Word. Would you consider joining us today in giving the gift of a Bible to a believer in need?
Notes:
- Poythress, Vern Sheridan. In the Beginning Was the Word. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway), 10.
- Johnson, Todd M., and Gina A. Zurlo. 2020. World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), 4.
