One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South

Help Provide God's Word Where It's Needed Most

Fully Funded
The One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South is complete! We praise God for his faithful provision and are pleased to report that we have met our goal! There continues to be a great need for believers around the world to access God’s Word. Through international Bible distribution, you can continue to partner with Crossway to provide the Scriptures to Christians in need. Every $40 delivers ten copies of God’s Word into the hands of Christians who struggle to access a Bible on their own. Would you consider being an ongoing partner in supporting international Bible distribution?

The Importance of Knowing the Bible

Over the last two years, more than one million Bibles have been funded through the One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South. By God’s grace, 656,000 Bibles have been distributed to ministry partners in over 80 countries throughout the Global South, with the remaining copies in the process of being distributed. For many recipients, this will be their first opportunity to read their own Bible. These Bibles have richly increased engagement with the Word of God in churches like Pastor Dilip Chetty’s in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Bibles we’ve received are so important because a lot of Christians speak about Christianity without quoting from Scripture and without understanding the Bible. It’s important for them to have a Bible so that when they speak about God, they can speak from the Bible. The Bible is the all-sufficient and authoritative Word of God. If you’re going to be speaking about Christ or the church, then the basis of your discussion should come from the Bible.

We celebrate that more than one million Bibles have been funded and that even now, lives are being changed! Though we have already reached our goal of supporting the distribution of one million Bibles, there is still an opportunity to provide a copy of God’s Word through international Bible distribution to believers who may otherwise not be able to access a Bible.

The Life-Transforming Power of God’s Word

By the power of the Spirit, lives are being changed through the reading of God’s Word. A faithful ministry partner serving in India provided this recent encouraging report: “I’ve known people who have come to know Christ just by reading the Word of God. I’ve known people who have received a Bible and have had no other understanding of the gospel. Nobody has preached the gospel to them. They’ve just read the Bible and come to know Christ.” We believe that God will continue to do work in this way as Bibles from this initiative are distributed.

We fully believe in the power and work of the Holy Spirit, and understand the important role that pastors and church leaders play in providing helpful direction and interpretation of God’s Word as they shepherd their congregants. This is why we are focusing our distribution efforts around the ESV Global Study Bible for this last phase of the One Million Bibles Initiative, with many of these Bibles being directed toward pastors and church leaders.

Even in the metropolitan city of Johannesburg, Pastor Dilip explains, pastors don’t have access to study Bibles: “when it comes to pastors, a pastor needs a good study Bible.… But good study Bibles for pastors are unreachable.” By God’s grace, donors to Crossway can help meet this need.

We Invite You to Respond to the Need

This example of a lack of Bibles among pastors in Johannesburg represents a sad reality plaguing countless churches around the world. Nearly 70% of the world’s evangelical Christians living in the Global South do not have easy access to a copy of the Bible, whether digital or physical.1

Mario Maneville pastors an urban congregation in one of the roughest and most dangerous neighborhoods of Cape Town, South Africa, where most people do not have a Bible of their own. As he explains: “Today, you won’t find Bibles in the houses of our church members. . . . Bibles are expensive—our community is a poor community. They’re not going to invest in the Bible because in comparison to other things, it’s not precious to them. What they need is money to put food on the table, or in many cases to get a [drug] fix. So you don’t find Bibles in our streets, in our homes.”

Without direct access to the Word of God, brothers and sisters in Christ in Mario’s church and around the world are faced with great difficulty in understanding who God is. Without Bibles of their own, believers are unable to read God’s Word for themselves and are unable to 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. Through the Bible, Christians grow in their understanding of God and salvation and are equipped to share the good news with others.

Crossway is committed to sharing God’s Word to make Christ known through providing Bibles to the Global South. The need for Bibles is as urgent as ever before, and we invite you to continue partnering with us to provide the Word of God to men, women, and children who are unable to access a Bible on their own. Through your support to international Bible distribution, Bibles will be freely provided to Christians in places of great need—this may be the only way they can receive a Bible of their own. Every $4 you give will support the printing 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:

  1. Johnson, Todd M., and Gina A. Zurlo. 2020. World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), 4.
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Updates

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The Essential Tool That Many Pastors Don’t Have

February 26, 2025

Across the Global South, some pastors rely on untrustworthy sources to build their sermons because they cannot afford the cost of Bibles and the resources necessary to preach the Word of God faithfully. These unequipped pastors inevitably water down the Word, which leads to false teaching. They need a resource to guide them to a sound understanding of the Scriptures for themselves and their congregations.

The Gift of Bibles Means “Everyone Is Literally on the Same Page”

November 27, 2024

When one of Crossway’s ministry partners received a shipment of 10,000 Bibles to Kenya from the One Million Bibles Initiative: Global South, the village of Nyali was on the list. Though they could think of many churches who would benefit from having new Bibles, this ministry partner needed to prioritize the ones who didn’t have any.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of Bibles are being distributed as part of this campaign?

All of the Bibles being distributed are ESV English-language Bibles, some with the Bible text only and others with study notes or additional content.

Are there other ways I can give to this initiative (e.g., wire transfer, cash, stocks, etc.?)

Crossway provides a number of ways for supporters to give to this initiative. You may donate gifts of stock, gifts designated from donor advised funds, and estate gifts, among others. If you have questions regarding Crossway’s ability to receive your donation, visit this page to learn more or contact us at donate@crossway.org.

How much of my donation will go toward Bible distribution?

100% of your gift will be used for the specific purpose of funding the distribution of 1 million Bibles, with Crossway covering all administrative costs.

Your gift of $40 could provide 10 Bibles to a rural church in the Global South where members are sharing copies. $100 could equip 25 pastors with study Bibles so they can faithfully understand and preach God’s Word. $1,000 or more could provide Bibles to an entire church network and help make it possible for a community to sustain its own Bible distribution in future years.

How does Crossway choose the recipients of these Bibles?

Crossway has a large number of close ministry partnerships around the world, and will deliver many of these Bibles into the hands of recipients through these trusted networks. We will focus on the areas of the Global South which we and our ministry partners have identified as having the greatest immediate need.

What countries or parts of the world will receive Bibles through this initiative?

We anticipate distribution in dozens of English-speaking countries and territories, particularly in Africa and Asia.

When will distribution of the Bibles begin, and when will distribution be completed?

The first distributions funded by this initiative began in the summer of 2023. Bibles will be distributed on an ongoing basis as funds are received during the course of the campaign. Our goal is for the distribution of all Bibles to be completed by the end of 2026.

Will all Bibles be given away, or will any be sold?

The vast majority of these Bibles will be given away for free. However, in some communities, the most strategic way to meet the need for God’s Word is through assistance in building sustainable Bible distribution markets. Christians in these communities can afford to pay something for a Bible, and ministry partners on the ground are investing in the network infrastructure needed to sell and distribute Bibles at low, locally-appropriate prices for years to come.

In these communities, Crossway will provide Bibles at our manufacturing cost (no margin) and will use a portion of donated funds to underwrite shipping costs. This will enable our ministry partners in these regions to resell Bibles at affordable prices to those who desperately need a Bible, and to invest their proceeds toward distributing more Bibles.

Will Crossway profit from the sale of Bibles subsidized by this initiative?

Crossway will not profit from the sale of any Bibles subsidized by this initiative. We will sell Bibles at our manufacturing cost to ensure our partners can resell these Bibles at the most affordable prices possible.

How is the cost of a Bible being determined?

While we initially anticipated that each Bible would cost approximately $5, including the costs of printing and delivery to each location, we have since been able to reduce those costs. We constantly monitor production and shipping realities, knowing that the costs may change based on any variety of factors.

The progress bar shown at the top of the One Million Bibles home page reflects the cost of $4 per Bible. We pray that the costs will remain lower than expected, so that more Bibles may be distributed for the same cost!

Why physical Bibles? Can’t people access Scripture on their phones or online?

We recognize the value of both digital and print Bibles and work to distribute both wherever possible. Crossway freely offers the ESV text on our website and app, so that anyone around the world with sufficient access can read the ESV Bible on their personal device. However, the reality is that internet connectivity and smartphone usage are not reliable, widespread, or affordable in much of the developing world and among the people we are trying to reach through this initiative. While it’s true that smartphone and internet access have increased in developing countries in the last ten years, there is still a large gap between access and actual usage. In 2021, 78% of the total population in sub-Saharan Africa and 66% of the population in South Asia were not able to functionally access mobile internet.

A physical Bible, however, bridges this “digital divide” by granting its recipient immediate access to Scripture—no internet, data, or smartphone required. With these current global realities, we have made it our mission as part of this initiative to provide direct access to Scripture in physical form to those who haven’t had it before.

Sources:
Anne Delaporte, “New insights on mobile internet connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa”, GSMA, Accessed November 2, 2023, https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/new-insights-on-mobile-internet-connectivity-in-sub-saharan-africa/

Nadia Jeffrie, “The state of mobile internet connectivity in South Asia: the coverage gap is narrowing but the usage gap remains the largest in the world”, GSMA, accessed November 2, 2023, https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/the-state-of-mobile-internet-connectivity-in-south-asia/