Reading God’s Word Has Sparked Revival in a South African Church

The Gift of Giving

Giving.

It looks different for each of us. Much depends on where the Lord has called us in the different seasons of life, our giftings and abilities, and even our physical locations. For pastor Mark Penrith, the Lord has gifted him with the ability to live and preach the gospel in an area of South Africa where there are many struggling churches.

“There are about 15 Baptist churches around us, many of which are really, really struggling,” Mark comments, “So as we’ve received ESV Bibles here at Benoni Baptist Church, we’ve worked to get those resources to the struggling congregations. And we have used this platform to develop relationships with them.” Though Benoni Baptist Church is located just outside the bustling city of Johannesburg, you don’t have to go far to find poverty and places of great need.

South Africa is made up of a lot of small towns that are dead or dying. They usually have no industry and there’s no financial gain to be had, but there are populations of people living in houses in these areas that are getting harder and harder to live in. The massive advantage to giving resources to these towns is that they would have had no mechanism for getting that kind of literature to churches unless it was through donations and distributions.

By providing Bibles to churches in the surrounding area—many that don’t have access to Bibles—they are proclaiming the good news and allowing men and women to read God’s Word for themselves. The results have been powerful. At Dunnottar Baptist Church, Mark explains that the Bibles they have given have caused exponential growth. “God has taken this little congregation from having ten attendees just a few months ago [when we first gave them some Bibles], to last Sunday when we joined with them to have a combined service, they brought about 35 people. And so in a very short space of time, they seem to be growing. The Lord is doing something.”

Through the power of God’s Word and the generosity of donors to Crossway, these ESV Bibles that Mark distributed to this and other churches are making an eternal impact. Right now, you have the opportunity to be a part of this effort to provide Bibles to those in need. This Tuesday, December 2, is Giving Tuesday. Your financial support will put the gift of God’s Word into the hands of someone in great need.

Mark has seen the power of God’s Word everywhere he goes, strengthening his own church and bringing sight to the spiritually blind of a neighboring church.

Give the Gift of a Bible

Your gift of $3.50 will provide a Bible to someone in need. Crossway is providing one million Bibles to men and women who may not have their own copy. Join us in this effort and allow someone to read God’s Word for themselves. Would you consider partnering with us? Learn More.

The Power of the Daily Reading of God's Word

When Mark accepted the position as lead pastor at Benoni Baptist Church a year and a half ago, he and his family brought down the average age. This aging congregation, though committed to the church, was not attracting younger people. “It almost seemed like a gray hair brigade. In fact, they didn’t have many in the church under the age of 60.” While Mark rejoiced at the faithfulness of these brothers and sisters in Christ, he also felt the importance of bringing younger generations into the church.

Since his arrival, the Lord has been bringing about a “revival in our church. We’ve had to come up with seating solutions now to fit everyone in the building. The average age has come down to below 45. My daughters are 20 and 22 years old, and they have helped to bring a large group of young adults to the church. God has been so good.” Through this revival has come a renewed hunger for God’s Word. Seeing this interest, Mark started a WhatsApp group called “Read Through the Bible in a Year” and invited any interested church members to join. “In our congregation, which has grown to 180 members,” Mark shared, “we’ve now probably got at least half of our membership base going through the Bible at the moment. And the intention is that over time people read the entirety of the Bible.” For some, this will be a first.

There’s been great camaraderie and accountability in his congregation because of reading through the same passages of Scripture together each week. Mark has even used one of their mid-week Bible studies to “show folks how to do basic exegesis and then how to get to Jesus from that text. Then after we’ve gone through the chapter I open it up to questions from any of the passages we’ve read in the past week.” Through this exercise, Mark has seen with fresh eyes the power and impact the regular reading of God’s Word can have on a group of believers.

There’s nothing better for a congregation in the long run—no single Bible study program, no topical talk—than just being exposed to God’s Word, handling the texts themselves, appropriating God’s Word, and looking back on a legacy of having read God’s Word from cover to cover. Even in my own life, the first time that I read through the Bible in its totality, all of a sudden I understood the big picture. And on any given Sunday, you’ll, Lord-willing, have a better understanding of how what you’re reading fits together with what’s being preached. It fits into the meta-narrative of Scripture.

That’s why Mark and his congregation are also passionate about making it possible for people to read God’s Word for themselves.

God's Word Brings Life

Through partnership with Dunnottar Baptist Church (the church that just a few months ago had ten attendees and has now grown to around 35) and Bible distribution from Crossway, Mark’s church has been able to provide copies of the Bible to this growing congregation. Bongani, pastor of Dunnottar Baptist Church, shared that Bible access has been integral for their growth.

Most of our people are not working at all. So these Bibles have allowed every person to have a Bible to read from on Sundays, because some can’t even afford to buy a Bible. And for Bible studies we have on Wednesday afternoons they are available for everyone attending to use them. Lately we’ve been having more young people coming to church, and most of them don’t have Bibles either.

Bongani has learned through caring for this congregation that, because of the financial constraints on nearly all of those in his congregation, the best thing he can do with these Bibles is to keep them at church for his members to come and use them any time they want throughout the week. This assures that everyone attending on a Sunday or Wednesday morning has a copy. Bongani explained a little bit of the cultural context behind this decision.

We often have visitors to the church because perhaps one of our regular attenders will invite their friend to come with them. I do believe that people are powerfully convicted through the reading of Scripture. If you look at men like Martin Luther, it’s the Word of God that convicted him. So it is powerful. And if you read it for yourself with understanding, it has a great impact. It changes lives. So when we have visitors coming in, and they come in with no Bible, then they have access to a Bible during church. I had one experience of a young man coming to our church, and after church he stayed to read the Bible. He came to me later and said, “I have realized that you say these things about God during the service, and when I opened the Bible and I read this which is in line with what you were preaching.” I have now had the opportunity to disciple him, and we can both use a Bible because of having them at church.

Now, every Sunday, each person attending the church can use a Bible, and they can read for themselves the passage of Scripture that Bongani is preaching on. Though someday Bongani hopes to have access to enough Bibles to allow everyone in the congregation to take one home for themselves, they’ve been able to make the most of what they have and rejoice in the gift of having Bibles to read.

An Opportunity to Give the Gift of God's Word

Through God’s Word, men and women discover the hope of eternal life. There is no greater truth than that which is found in the pages of the Bible! That’s why Crossway is committed to gifting Bibles to those in need. Bongani further emphasized his belief that “the Word of God is the final authority. It is good for people to have Bibles in their hands so that I am able to point to the passage and everyone in the congregation is able to see it for themselves. The key is that people should learn to read the Bible for themselves.”

We invite you to join us as we seek to provide one million Bibles to those in need throughout the Global South. Would you consider joining us and give on this Giving Tuesday to provide God’s Word to men and women throughout the Global South? Your gift will allow someone to read the Bible for themselves!

Pray for God’s Word to continue to transform lives in Mark’s and Bongani’s churches as congregants have the opportunity to read the Bible for themselves.

Pray that God would equip Mark, Bongani, and others to preach the Word faithfully Sunday after Sunday so that more would come to know the saving work of Christ.