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

Addressing the Need: A Lack of Bibles

“Before [the Bible distribution], in many churches around us only the pastor had a Bible, making church services and other group discussions difficult,” recounts Pastor Mweri Nganje.¹ Mweri serves as a pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in Nyali, Kenya, located on the southern Kenyan shore of the Indian Ocean. The churches in his community represent one of the countless communities facing the same problem: they don’t have Bibles. Even though nearby city Mombasa’s population is well over one million, resources like Bibles are still hard to come by, given economic and supply challenges. The major city of Nairobi is an eight hour drive away—and that’s if you have a car and good road conditions.

So when Crossway ministry partner Ekklesia Afrika received a shipment of 10,000 Bibles to Kenya from the One Million Bibles Initiative, the coastal region where Mweri comes from was on their distribution list. Ekklesia recognized that there were many churches who would benefit from having new Bibles, but they realized they needed to prioritize the ones who didn’t have any aside from the pastor. And even then the pastors often, Ekklesia reports, “have copies that are completely worn out.”²

Crossway’s prayer is that, through partnering with donors in the One Million Bibles Initiative, brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the Global South can receive a copy of God’s Word—many their very first. You can join us as we seek to finish the initiative this year and continue to respond to the needs of these believers. And by God’s grace, access to Bibles will continue to transform lives.

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Getting Churches on the “Same Page”

Without access to the Bible, how can someone accurately understand what Scripture is calling us to? Without the ability to test what is being taught, they can easily fall prey to false teaching or misunderstanding. Even if these believers desperately want to follow God and obey his commands, they’re left at a significant disadvantage and risk without having a Bible to read and study for themselves.

These circumstances occur time and again in places where the gospel isn’t accessible, enabling it to be taken out of context and misapplied. Ekklesia Afrika’s report of their Bible distribution provided a specific example of how this played out in one region.

[O]n a recent Bible distribution trip to Kenya’s [c]oastal region, we encountered a community deeply affected by the influence of Islam, the prosperity gospel, and pervasive poverty. The tragic consequences of false teachings were starkly revealed in early 2023 when over 400 people died in the Shakahola area after being led by a cult leader to starve themselves to “meet Jesus.” This underscores the urgent need for biblical truth in the region. We are grateful that 15–20% of [the] Bible[s] were distributed here, providing much-needed Scripture to churches, including those whose members had been drawn into the cult. For these churches, having access to the Bible is a significant blessing.³

Mweri reports that after his church received Bibles, “now most of our members have their own copies, greatly enhancing our understanding. . . . Having a uniform translation—the ESV—means everyone is literally on the same page.”⁴ Alongside Mweri, another anonymous pastor explained the difference he’s seeing now as he looks out over his congregation as he teaches: “we’re using the Bibles during Sunday services and it’s really encouraging to see members following through as the service leaders and preachers point them to Scriptures.”⁵

When the church family can be on the same page, reading the text and holding their leaders’ teaching up to the truth of God’s Word, they are more equipped to understand the teaching and give an explanation for why they believe what they believe. Through the power of the Spirit, lives are being changed in the many locations where Ekklesia Afrika distributed these 10,000 Bibles.⁶

Bibles Are Changing Lives

In part of a report Ekklesia compiled to share about the Bibles distributed, they emphasized the importance of these Bibles this way: “the church in Africa faces a significant shortage of essential biblical resources, likened to a body with blood (resources) but without veins (distribution networks).”⁷ We in the West live in a world flooded with resources and the distribution networks needed to distribute them. Yet, the same is not true for hundreds of thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.

As prison ministry leader James Mwuara shared after receiving Bibles for prisoners, “The Bible is the most powerful tool for changing prisoners’ lives. This gift is invaluable to those who have no other means of obtaining one.”⁸ It’s likely that James would agree to this statement being even more broadly generalized: the Bible is the most powerful tool for changing all of our lives.

This Christmas season, would you consider joining us as we seek to provide this invaluable gift to brothers and sisters in Christ in the Global South? Your gift of $40 will support the printing and shipping of 10 Bibles to places like these communities throughout Kenya. You’re invited to partner with us as we share the Word of God—the most powerful tool in changing lives!

Praise God for his provision of donors to support the One Million Bibles Initiative. Pray for the last Bibles to be supported to reach the one million mark, and for the Lord to prepare the hearts of each of the recipients to receive the Word.

Pray for a second shipment of 8,500 Bibles that was delivered to Ekklesia Afrika last month for distribution. Pray for wisdom as the Ekklesia team determines where these Bibles are most needed in their network.