Bibles For Asia- Bible League

How fun we get to fan the flames for Bibles for Asia! We don't often realize the kind of sacrifice they're having to make in order to continue being Christians.

Sometimes as Christians we look the other way and we say God will look after them. We can fan the flames for Bibles for Asia! Five dollars sends a Bible or a hundred sends twenty!

Go to TruthNetwork.com and click on the Fan the Flames Bibles for Asia! This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast. On Finishing Well, we help you make godly choices about Medicare, long-term care, and your money. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, which is why I love talking to my friend Michael Woolworth with the Bible League.

I've got him on the line right now. Michael, God is working and the Word of God is going out, but people still need Bibles. And our listeners, they can help in this amazing process.

Is that correct? Well, Stu, thanks for a few moments together. You've been a great friend of Bible League, Truth Network listeners. You've been incredibly kind to Bible League and those whom God has called us to serve. This is our 85th year of ministry, Stu, and Truth Network's been right there with us for quite a few years. You know what? Today ought to be an encouragement to you, listeners.

Why? Because we pray that the gospel would take grip all over the world, places we don't even think about when we wake up in the morning. But one place this is happening, Stu, is in the region of Asia. Now listen, if you follow Barna Research, they'll tell you quite candidly that church growth in America is somewhat stunted. But in places like Asia, this is where it's happening. This is where it's growing fastest.

Let me give you some perspective. 500 million evangelical Christians in that part of the world right now. There's a growth of about 4%. That's about 20 million new believers every year in countries like China, India, Malaysia. The list goes on and on.

Now listen, that's quite remarkable. Why? Because in the past decades, growth has been stunted there. Think about the storied past of this part of the world.

The Vietnam War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot's regime. You know, many of those that he killed in Cambodia were evangelical Christians. Right now in India, if you tell somebody, this is what Jesus has done for me. You know, they can throw you in jail. They can even execute you. There's laws on the books that are criminalizing Christianity.

So the fact that there is immense growth happening right now is cause for praise. It's another great problem, Stu, is that we know that as many as 9 of 10 new believers have no access to the Bible. Here's the way to understand that. Now if you're driving, don't do this. But hold up both hands, right?

You're probably looking at 10 figures. Put down a thumb. 9 of 10 believers right now in Asia have no access for a Bible. And Stu, that's why we've chosen to come together as two ministries, Truth Network and Bible League to try to do something about it. It's not enough to get angry or to get mad about it.

It's an opportunity right now to do something about it. So we've said by the time we observe the somber holiday of Memorial Day and throw some brats on the grill, we'd love to be able to tell 3500 Bibleist believers that we know by name in Asia at Bible League, your Bibles, they're coming. No, I love that. Michael Woolworth with Bible League.

And I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk. And of course we, every so often, we throw the mic open and we dedicate a segment to a wonderful partner, someone who is spreading the gospel along with us and who's passionate about reaching people for Christ and about something like this, getting Bibles in the hands of Bible-less believers. I can't even believe that's a thing.

But friends, it is a thing. And we're grateful to all of our amazing affiliates and so many folks that stand with us here at Truth Talk and that stand with our partners like Bible League. So, Michael, very practically, how much is it if I say I want to give, we're trying to reach 3500, 3500 believers who have no Bible to put a Bible in their hands. You show us, tell us how that Bible is actually going to get to them. For those that may not be familiar with your amazing ministry. And then tell us, break it down, how much per Bible, can you really give a Bible for nearly like five bucks, like the cost of a latte?

Talk to me. Well, you know, you think with inflation up I'd come on here today, Stu, and say, OK, it's eight bucks. It's eight bucks today. Stu, it's still five dollars. That's the average cost to put a Bible into the hands and the hearts of new believers all across the region of Asia.

But here's how we do it. We never go into a village and say, willy nilly, hey, anybody want a Bible? We know all of these Christians by name were connected to the under-resourced churches in all those countries I mentioned.

China, India, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal, many, many others. And we know these are Christians that have come through our Bible studies eight to 12 weeks. People are coming to Christ and they learn very quickly, Stu. You don't keep Jesus to yourself. You share him with others.

That's why the growth is so immense there. And so at the end of about an eight to 12 week study, people learn who is Jesus? How is he both God and man?

What's it mean to die to self? When Jesus says, if you want to be great in this kingdom, you learn to serve, right? And so they come through this study as they profess faith in Christ. They're connected to a local evangelical church. And we promise them a Bible in their own language at a level they understand why, because these churches, Stu, are situated where there are no Christian bookstores.

There's no discount retailers. There's no Amazon to drop a box of Bibles into their village. And so this is an opportunity right now, Truth Network listeners, to help us make good as an 85 year old ministry on the promise to give them a Bible in their own language. It's exactly what they need as they've come to saving faith.

They've left all the isms you hear us talk about in that part of the world. And they're now followers of Jesus. They need the word to grow in his grace and knowledge. Stu, it's $5 a Bible. $5 will send a Bible.

That's $5. So a gift of $50, that's 10 Bibles. $100, that's 20 Bibles. A $500 tax-deductible gift today will put the Bible into the hands of 100 Bibleist believers in Asia.

Let me tell you real quick how you can get involved two ways. One is a toll-free number. It's 800-YES-WORD. 800-YES-WORD. That's 800-YES-WORD.

Or you can give generously. Just click the Bible link banner. You'll find that at truthnetwork.com. Truthnetwork.com. Again, 800-YES-WORD.

Truthnetwork.com. Again, we've got a big goal. 3,500 Bibles to Christians that we know by name in Asia.

We want to do that by the time we flip the calendar for the month of June. And Stu, I know it's a big goal, but there's a group that can get it done. It's the Truth Network Listening Family. And many of these believers that are getting Bibles, they are under a lot of persecution, I guess, for their faith. These are countries of the world where in some cases it's illegal to own a Bible, but imagine you love Jesus. You came to know Christ maybe through a broadcast or some Internet site, and you have no Bible to read, to grow by, to study the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels.

And I can just say, well, I'm studying Exodus right now. I crack up any number of Bibles at my disposal, and there I'm in it. But Michael, it's not so for hundreds of thousands, and we're just trying to get 3,500 of these Bibles out. So five bucks, a Bible goes to someone who's not only going to read it, they're going to grow in the faith, and they're going to spread it.

I give Bibles away all the time here in North America, and I will continue to do so. But it's interesting that I rarely have someone see that Bible and say, oh, please give me that. Oh, listen, I'll pay you for it. It's almost like, hey, listen, you've got to read this, friend. It'll change your life. And I've got to come up with all kinds of technique and persuasion and, you know, good spiritual content and comments to get them to take the Bible, read it, say, this changed my life, which is true.

Imagine the thought of giving a Bible to a Christian who is just gung ho to read that thing and to absolutely share it and, you know, just, you know, take it to the next level. I mean, that, Michael, excites me. And you have testimonies, don't you, of all kinds of people and how that's changed their life. Well, we absolutely do. And Stu, I'm glad that you do that here in America. I'm grateful, too, that you've got a listening family that can not only have great concern for what's happening here in America, but you can also look abroad to places like Asia. And, you know, this is a safe investment and we've worked together for several years. We will promise to do everything that we're talking about right now, and that's getting Bibles into the hands and hearts of these believers.

Stu, you also said something else that's really important. As people leave Islam, as they leave Taoism, as they leave Buddhism, Hinduism, all those isms, right? There is tremendous pressure to convert back.

Your families, your communities, they'll totally reject you. Sometimes you can be beaten, you can be thrown in jail, you can be granted a death sentence, right? So there's tremendous pressure. But there's also this great need to be grounded in the Word. So much of what people know that are coming out of spiritual darkness about Christianity is a caricature.

It's not true. It's incomplete. And so how wonderful it is when you can open up the Bible.

You can study it. Stu, you're in Exodus right now. You know, that's where the law is laid out. You know, you can understand, what is God's will for my life? What's the character of God? It's laid out right in Exodus 20. You can go to 1 Peter 5-7, where Peter writes, Cast your cares on him, for he cares for you. You find out very quickly that you're not, you may be outnumbered as a believer in your village, but God knows you intimately. So all of that is possible when you can open up your own Bible in your own language at $5. In our final few minutes together, let me just read off a couple of names, a few names of people that are praying for Bibles, if I may, Stu.

Danilo is in the Philippines. A former Buddhist just came to Christ in the last few weeks. He's praying for a Bible in the Filipino language.

Daiku is in China. He's a former atheist shunned by his family after he came to Christ. He's praying for a Mandarin Bible.

Inars in Thailand lives north of Bangkok. She's a widowed mother of three. She's praying for a Bible to raise those children to know and love Jesus. And then Jitu is in Bangladesh.

She lives among violent, radicalized Muslims near Dhaka, the capital. But more than anything, he's praying for a Bible. And Stu, when we get toward the end of this campaign, I can tell you, I look at amazement at all of those who have given. It's going to be gifts all over the board.

Do something that's meaningful to you and your family. When that happens, Stu, I know because of tax season and inflation being up, you're sacrificing somewhere in your budget to see this happen. But again, by the time we hit Memorial Day, we want to be able to tell 3500 Bibleist believers in Asia, the part of the world where Christianity is growing fast, is that, hey, the Bible is you're praying for.

They're on their way. Praise the Lord. Yeah, be an answer to someone else's prayer.

How awesome is that? Where you just say yes to God and none of this is your money anyway. And none of this goes to Michael. This goes to buying a Bible for a Bibleist believer. And that could change their entire life. I know someone out there could write a really big check. And you know what?

It don't matter the amount. It's all God's anyway. But we've had so many generous listeners. I believe the last campaign we did last year, we hit our number, man, everyone stepped up and Bibles were planted and sent.

Who knows how many souls have been saved from that? Maybe you can't go to one of these countries where Christians are persecuted. Maybe you can't translate a Bible into their language, but you can send five dollars or five thousand dollars, whatever God puts on your heart, to send a Bible to a Bibleist Christian who desperately needs it in Asia.

We can't even mention too many specific places because of the threat and because of security issues. Michael, give us the number one more time for listeners that want to support. And thank you to all of our wonderful Truth Network listeners, partners, affiliates who support getting the word of God out there. Yes, Stu, five dollars sends a Bible. 50 cents, 10, 100 sounds 220.

You can do the math. The number to call is 800-YES-WORD. That's 800-Y-E-S-W-O-R-D. 800-YES-WORD. Or just click the Bibles for Asia banner. You can find that at TruthNetwork.com.

That's TruthNetwork.com. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Michael. We really appreciate your ministry.

And we'll hope to have you on again maybe a couple weeks with an update and another challenge because this is an opportunity, man. Like in church, we don't think about it this way, but in Corinthians, you know, Paul said God loves a cheerful giver. When they passed that plate, party broke out, you know, in the Corinthian church because it's a privilege. We're sending things on ahead. We're literally paying ahead to the greatest eternal trillion dollar ROI.

Can you believe that? That kind of return on investment where we could say ROE, return on eternity. God bless you, Michael Woolworth and the Bible. Give the number one more time. I kind of like it. It's catchy and it's easy to remember. 800-YES-WORD.

800-Y-E-S-W-O-R-D. That's 800-YES-WORD. We don't take these great results for granted. We know it's by God's grace and you've got a wonderful listening family. We're looking forward to meeting this goal together. Amen. God bless you, Michael. Thank you so much for being on.