Bible League

Kingdom Pursuits, where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into Kingdom Pursuits. Now live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore. How fun, Kingdom Pursuits! Today we are scheduled to have Michael Woolworth with Bible League on with us for the entire hour.

And interestingly, sometimes these things happen where you can't get Michael Woolworth. But we are in the middle of a huge campaign with Bible League right now, as they are opening the floodgates and Bibles for Africa, right? This process that we're doing runs through June the 1st, and our goal is to bless 3,500 Bible-less believers in Africa.

And again, it's a beautiful campaign. I don't know if you're familiar with it. I hope you are. But the Bible League is $5 a Bible. $60 will bless 12 people. And to take part in that, all you gotta do is dial 1-800-YES-WORD.

That's 1-800-YES-WORD. Or click the Bible League banner at truthnetwork.com. Again, we're hoping to have Michael Woolworth with the Bible League here. But in the meantime, you know, the idea of Kingdom Pursuits is how does God take your passion and use it to build the Kingdom? And so for years and years and years, and many people don't realize this, that I have had a lot of dear friends that have mentored me to some extent. And they helped build your passion. In other words, there's people in your life that helped you get a passion for the Word of God, helped you get a passion for Jesus.

And so I'm here. I'm blessed to have and win the studio with me, Randy Epperson. And Randy is actually a cousin of Stu. Many of you may not have met him.

They're distant cousins. But Randy worked for me at Bob Neal Chrysler Plymouth Jeep Eagle. And when I was just a baby, baby, baby Christian finding my way, and Randy was a little bit more—but I just want to introduce Randy as it looks like we finally do have Michael Woolworth with us. And so Randy, say hi to the folks. Good morning, everybody. It's great to have you. Well, thank you. And I think it's amazing how, you know, everybody needs a little help, right?

Absolutely, yes. Some of us need more than others. I know Michael is—what he's asking for us to do is help these people in Africa, et cetera, with the Bible, right? But at some point when you got the Bible, it's nice to have somebody that comes along beside you that loves the Bible like you do and that will mentor you a little bit along the way.

So since we have this moment, I'm curious about anything that sticks out in your mind about the early Robbie Dilmore that was just like losing his way but trying to find his way. You know, people may find it strange, but at that dealership every Saturday morning we had a Bible study. And in that Bible study we had some very interesting comments, and there was a lot of growth. We became very good friends in that group, in that small group. I think that it helped me more than it helped Robbie because he kindly calls me a mentor, but I'm not worth being called a mentor.

Oh, yes, you are. And I got to tell you, it means the world when you've got somebody who shares your passion. And Randy is now joined us here at The Truth Network.

I'm so excited to have him on the team. But I need to introduce Michael Woolworth, who's here with us. And again, the idea today is Bible league.

And so we want to open the floodgates for Bibles for Africa. Welcome, Michael. Well, Robbie, I woke up my voice not quite 100 percent today. But friend, you've been a great friend, a great brother in the Lord. You've helped us over many, many campaigns. 13, this is our 13th campaign together, Robbie. And so I'm going to suffer through this hour together with my voice. I feel great.

For some reason, my voice is just not what it could be. But you're right, we're focused right now on the continent of Africa. Why? This is the part of the world where Christianity is growing in the greatest numbers. So, Robbie, it's not the U.S. We tend to think that America leads the charge on church growth.

We're kind of down the list a little bit. But it prompts you to look at where is the church, the big C church, right? Growing around the world. It's places like Latin America. It's the Middle East, right? It's the region of Asia. You think about the incredible growth in India and China and the spread of Christianity there.

But high atop the list where it's happening in the greatest numbers is the continent of Africa. And because we see this incredible growth, as many as 9 of 10 new believers, Robbie, go without what is so basic to the Christian faith. And that's simply having a Bible. But enter the Truth Network, Listening Family, and Call by Call, Click by Click. We're doing something about it. Give you a quick update on this campaign that we're calling Open the Floodgates Bibles for Africa. We started out just really a couple of weeks ago, Robbie, at zero.

We said, can we get together? And if this is a major issue facing the global church on the continent of Africa, can we do it for 3,500 waiting believers that we know by name at Bible League? And we're halfway there. We've seen 1,800 answers to prayer. If every $5 Bible is an answer to the prayer of a waiting believer, Robbie, we've seen 1,800 of those taken care of. We've got the final 1,700 to take care of. We've got a date of June 8. That's when we'll wrap up. We'll rejoice in whatever God has done through the Truth Network Listening Family. But again, we're halfway there. We've got the other half to take care of.

And we've got stories. It's not enough for us just to say, hey, would you help us bless Bible-less believers in Africa? I want to take you to places like Madagascar, Kenya, Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If we have time, we'll go to Ethiopia. But again, if you can bear with my voice this hour, Robbie, we'd love to tell you about believers in Africa who have kingdom pursuits, and they can just use a little bit of help from all these wonderful Truth Network listeners today. Yeah, that's fascinating. Last Saturday I was struggling with exactly the same thing.

And I strained my voice, which was a mistake, because I spent lots of days trying to get it back. But $5, this is an amazing opportunity. Like, man, do you realize that here's this person, that they're going to take this Bible and what it will do for their faith and for simply, like, I'm going to do it here shortly.

I'll be honest. If I do it every time I do this, I'm going to give $100, and it will be 20 Bibles, right? And there are 20 people out there that will have an opportunity to have the light come on, that they'll have God moments when God speaks to them through His Word that opens their heart, brings light in such a way that they'll be on fire, and they'll go share it with other believers. And we just get to take one little small part, God blessed us with some money, however that works, and amazingly, for $5 we get to send a Bible. And the beautiful thing about Bible League, as Michael will tell you, and I'm just explaining this because he would anyway, but I'm trying to save his voice as much as I can, is that they not only get the best priced Bibles, they get the ones in the heart language of the people that are going to receive them, and they get them printed as close as possible as where they're going to ship them, so their cost is down on that. And the whole idea, again, is to effectively as possible put the Bibles in people.

And these aren't just random people. These people have asked for Bibles. In other words, we've got 1,700 more people there in Africa that are literally saying, we would like a Bible if you could get it for us, okay?

And so they're hungry for God's Word, and what an opportunity we all have today, right? All you have to do is go 1-800-Yes-Word, which, you know, is 1-800-937-9673 to me, and I'm just going to use that number, 800-937-9673, or easy, and the way I'm going to do it here in a minute. You can go to KingdomPursuits.com, see the Bible League banner, click on that, and boom, it'll take you right to the Donate Now button. It'll walk you through it.

In two minutes, you'll be done. Or you can go to TruthNetwork.com if you prefer than Kingdom Pursuits. Either one of those got the Bible League banner. You click on that, and you donate, and boom, boom, boom. So simple, so easy, and man, someday in heaven, we will be rejoicing with some people that, like, wow, I got to touch your life in such a simple way. Yet it would make a profound difference, right, if they had the Word of God, because, you know, and Randy, you know this, what the Word of God did for my life, there's no explaining.

I was saved by the Word of God. It lights me up every single day. I can't imagine coming to work without spending some time in it, and I can't imagine these people in Africa wanting it and it not being available. But, you know, we've got to go to a break here in a minute, but we have so many amazing stories that Michael is going to share with you. Again, from all over the continent, and it's so neat, because we get this update every, you know, spring, fall, and those kind of things. But one more time, it's 1-800-937-9673, or if you forget that 1-800-Yes-Word, or you just go to Truth Network, or KingdomPursuits.com.

You click on the Donate Now banner. We're going to be back with all sorts of Michael Woolworth and stories. It's going to be amazing.

Stay tuned. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And so blessed today to have with us Michael Woolworth with Bible League. And again, we're giving Bibles. We're opening the floodgates of Bibles for Africa. This is running through June, I think, the 8th, he said, and the goal is to bless 3,500 believers. They've already gotten to 1,800, so we just need 1,700 more Bibles. We've got 1,700. We can get them at $5 a Bible.

Again, $60 will get you $20 towards that. And this opportunity is going on throughout the rest of this week and next week. And it's 1-800-Yes-Word, 1-800-9379673. Michael, you've got stories for us, right? Well, Robby, I do apologize for my voice. My prayer is that you can catch a glimpse of what God is doing, even though my voice is not quite what it could be. But yeah, we want to give you a glimpse into what God is doing all over the continent of Africa, the part of the world where Christianity is growing in the greatest numbers, and yet as many as nine of ten new believers, members of our spiritual family, Robby, and I'll go without God's word. And it's happening because of people like Lalli. I've shared this story before, but let me do it again by way of an update of Lalli, the village witch doctor, who was what? All about voodoo, black magic, shamanism, all of that spiritual darkness. She lives, by the way, in the rainforest of Madagascar, Africa.

That's the remote island nation just off the southeast part of that continent. But Robby, people would come to her for spiritual guidance. If they had an enemy and they wanted her to throw a hex on that enemy, that's what Lalli would do. But there was a Christian, somebody who had come to saving faith, received a Bible from Bible League in a previous Bible League campaign, and she invited Lalli to come learn about Jesus with about 15 others week by week. They would go through this study and learn, who is Jesus?

How is he both God and man? What does it mean to die to self and to put on Christ in the day to day? And Lalli became a believer. Now listen, she started going to that study not because she cherished Christianity. She thought, okay, one more thing for my tool belt of witchcraft, but I can tell you she was confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. She saw herself as a sinner and she realized there's no other name under heaven by which to be saved except that of Jesus. She became a believer, Robby.

We made a big deal about it. She was connected to a local evangelical church. We gave her a Bible, the Malacasy language, with about 50 others who would come to Christ. Lalli read her Bible every single day.

Talk about a student of the word. When she came to the text in Luke 19, as she was reading through the New Testament, she came to Jesus who encountered Zacchaeus. Remember the wee little man who climbed up in the Sycamore tree for the Lord?

He wanted to see that guy, right? And when salvation came to that man, it says in the text that he says to Jesus, I'm going to give away half of what I own to the materially poor and I'm going to make things right with those that I've deceived as a tax collector. And when she came to that text, Robby, she knew what she had to do. She went to literally dozens of families that she had misled through witchcraft over the years, and she would unfold for them the same gospel in the way that it was unfolded to her. And I can tell you today that there are 200 families that have said, we want to follow Christ, right?

But the story does not end there. Each of those families, around 2100 adults and children, have each gone on to let another family to Christ. So there is another need for 200 Bibles there in remote Madagascar Africa. Now listen, we have a great heart for the under-resourced church. God does as well.

Robby, I know you do. Listeners, I know you as well have an incredible burden for the under-resourced church. Now listen, what doesn't characterize the under-resourced church? Well, they don't lack any love for God. They don't lack a zeal to see others come to the saving faith in Jesus Christ.

God has them planted. Under-resourced simply means God has them planted where it's difficult to live out your faith. Sometimes you're singled out and targeted, monitored, beaten and jailed simply because you believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Other times you live in extreme poverty.

Maybe you make a dollar or two a day, right? But for others it's living so remotely. They have no access to a Christian bookstore, no discount retailer, no Amazon to drop a box of Bibles into their village. But Robby, enter the Truth Network, listening family. Just as we've seen 1800 answers to prayer, our prayer is in the moment we can take care of these 200 Bibles needed by these new believers. These are members of our spiritual family who are not asking for our pity. They're not asking for an airline ticket out of where God has them planted. They're simply praying for the precious word of God today. And it comes at $5 a Bible today. That's beautiful.

Absolutely. Again, 1800, yes, word. 1-800-937-9673. Or just go to Truth Network or KingdomPursuits.com. It's easy.

It took me all of—when I finally figured out how to use my phone, it took me all of about 30 seconds. So we've got Stu Epperson's on the line. We need to hear from Stu this weekend. Hey, buddy.

Hey, Michael Woolworth and Robby Gilmore having voice struggles? I just had to call in, man. Isn't that a—that's crazy, man. There's a war out there. Oh, my.

It's a perfect storm. But I'll tell you, you know, I lost my voice recently at the religious broadcasters. And when I walked up to people, when they found out, all they could is just laugh their head off, you know, because I guess I like talking too much. But, you know, this—what you guys are doing is just so important. I had to call in and just say thank you. And I had to call in, too, to say, look, the whole Truth Network, everything we do, all that we are, and all the great Christian stations, and Michael goes on to do this, is we're all here because of God's word.

Right. And, you know, what does Proverbs 30, verse 5 say? Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.

Jesus says, sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is truth. So what our listeners are doing and what we have just the joy, the privilege of doing, thank you, Michael, for the privilege, man. We should be effucius in our praise and our thanksgiving to you for allowing us to, for five bucks, give someone a book, the book of God, that will change their life forever. So we're all in, brother, and we're grateful for you.

And I'm just—I love hearing these stories, and I just love having you on. Now, this is the show with the big ratings, Kingdom Pursuits, Robbie, but Michael and I did record a couple days ago when his voice was full steam ahead, and he's going to be on Truth Talk Live today. Oh, wonderful. Truth Network, right?

At 4 o'clock, 4 o'clock across the Truth Network, yep, and all across the country. So Michael, buddy, you better be ready. You better be by those phones, because we're going to try to finish this up today. And Stu, I know what my riddle is for today. Everybody call in that knows what effucius means. Well, I'm going to look—hey, as soon as I get to a spot right before over, I'm going to look it up myself. That was wonderful, Stu. Your vocabulary never ceases to amaze me. Hey, listen, man, I tell you.

Well, you guys are awesome. The Word of God, man, it's quick and powerful, still changing lives, and Peter tells us we are to crave it as newborn babies, the sincere pure milk of the Word, and this is what we're given the privilege. Imagine being a pastor in the middle of Madagascar, Kenya, with no Bible. Maybe you have a Gospel of Luke. Maybe the missionary happened to have a Gospel of John, you know, when he came through, and we are able to give him a whole Bible. We're able to—and you guys have the names, the people.

You're so strategic in how you do it. You use that money wisely, and it's just remarkable, and we're just going to hear it. We're going to see people in heaven that listen to— that, because of people listening today, they call that number, are going to have the Word of God, and it changes everything. It's the only book that you can read where the author is always present. It's the number one stolen book.

It's the best-selling book in the world, and every time you open it, you're getting a text directly from God Almighty. I'm going to hang up. I love you guys. Thank you, Michael.

Thank you, Robbie and Randy. God bless. 1-800-Yes-Word, or 1-800-937-9673, or go to truthnetwork.com. You look at the Bible League. That's the name of Michael's organization, Bible League, and click on the banner. It'll take you 30 seconds.

You can go that way, or you can go to kingdompersuits.com. Either one, and before you know it, you're donating, and it's an amazing thing. Michael? Yeah, let me say thanks to some of those who have gotten involved, Robbie. Bob of Draper, Utah, said, I'm in, a 20-bible gift. Terry of McClellanville, North Carolina, said, Robbie, Michael, count me in at $50 for 10 Bibles. And then Kevin of Raleigh, North Carolina, said, I want to be a part of this, another $100 tax-deductible gift for 20 Bibles. And again, we've got a goal to bless 3,500 waiting believers that we know by name at Bible League. And again, we're halfway there.

We've got until June 8th, so a couple more weeks to continue whittling away at the remaining $1,700. And Robbie, that's how we get there. Again, it's listeners from all over your wonderful listening area and getting involved at different levels. On the other side of the break, I want to take you to Kenya, Africa, tell you about a pastor who goes the extra mile. This guy will walk 20, I should say 31 miles each way, 31 miles each way to reach a tribe, the Maasai tribe.

But before we do that, Robbie, let me just mention the names of two people praying for Bibles right now. Kofi is 50. He's in Ghana, Africa. He lost 23 family members to the country's civil war in the 90s.

You might remember that. But he's a day laborer. He works on a cocoa plantation and was invited by a friend, a Christian, to come hear about the gospel. Today, Kofi is a believer.

He has no access to the Bible, but he's praying for God's word today. And in Mabel's inner 20, she's a former animist near Nairobi, Kenya. She believed that, what, there were spirits and places and things. She also prayed to dead relatives for blessings and protection. She had no peace until a pastor in her small village there in Nairobi, Kenya invited her to come learn about Jesus.

Today, she's a believer praying for a Bible in the Swahili language. And again, people like Bob, Terry, Kevin, we've heard from Rose of Winston-Salem have all said what? We want to be a part of this. Let us in. Let's be a part of this. Let's help meet this goal together. And again, Robbie, on the other side of the break, I'd love to take your listeners to Kenya, Africa and tell you an incredible story about a pastor who walks 31 miles each way.

And then what does he find at the end of that trek? I'll tell you, coming up. Oh, it's so fun. And you can imagine the joy of a pastor being able to hand that New Believer Bible knowing that they're going to walk through that together and the joy that that person can find every day in the Word of God that I'm hoping you listening, right, you get that joy every day to pass that along to somebody else. Again, 1-800-YES-WORD or go to Truth Network or KingdomPursuits.com. Click on the Bible League banner and away you go. It won't take you 30 seconds until we come back. Sounds like we're going to Kenya and other places across Africa.

Have fun. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the Kingdom. And I'm hoping that your passion like mine is for the Word of God. And what an opportunity we have to join with Bible League this spring in their campaign, right, to open the floodgates of Bibles for Africa.

As the Word of God is spreading across there and lives are being changed, generation after generation after generation will never be the same because of a $5 gift for one Bible or 60 for 12, or if you got 100 that you might consider, you know, there's 20 of those Bibles that are going to be headed into hands that change generation after generation. So I guess we get to travel now, Michael. Well, you know, we're taking you on this worldwide tour of Africa. No passport required, no jet lag tomorrow morning.

And again, I do apologize for my voice, but Robbie, what a delight to be on with you. And, you know, talk about what God is doing in Africa. Think about what has characterized this continent for not merely years, but for centuries. What is that? Well, it's idolatry, right? It's pagan practices and beliefs.

It's witchcraft. It's the spread of radicalized Islam. You would think that Christianity stands no chance here, but this is where Christianity is growing in the greatest numbers in the world. And because of this incredible growth, I tell you, ministries like Bible League, now in our 87th year, we struggle to keep up with the incredible move of God all over that continent.

And so I want to say thanks to people like Wendy of Richmond, Virginia, who said, Michael, Robbie, I'm in. $100 tax-deductible gift for 20 waiting Christians. Clint of Durham, North Carolina, said, I want to be a part of this, a $55 gift today for 11 Bibles. And again, we're halfway to our goal to bless 3,500 waiting believers, 1,800 answers to prayer to this point. Praise the Lord for that. 1,700 to go. We've said June 8th is kind of the final day to get this done, but Robbie, it's so great, even during this hour of Kingdom Pursuits, to see people getting involved with this today. So we're simply connecting you with unmet Bible needs.

You know, it's 500 here, 300 there. And the next story, it's a need for 200 Bibles through the story of a pastor by the name of William. What is he? He's an itinerant pastor.

He will walk 31 miles each way, Robbie, to reach his congregation among the Maasai tribe. Now, this is the tallest ethnicity in the world. I mean, these people are taller than Stu Epperson, right? When I was there, Robbie, we met a 9-year-old kid. He was already 7 feet 3 inches tall.

Yeah, I'm about 5'8", so I was a little envious of that height. But what awaits this pastor at the end of those 31-mile treks each way? Well, it's people like Anya. What's her story?

Fourteen years of age, and what Anya was subjected to is something that most teenage girls are subjected to among the Maasai tribe there in Kenya, Africa. And it's two what I call unhealthy traditions. One of those is female circumcision. I won't get graphic about that, only to say there's no known health benefit. It's painful.

It's embarrassing. There have actually been laws passed in parts of Africa that would outlaw that. But because the Maasai tend to be a little disjointed from the government, they tend to get away with it.

That's the first thing. The second thing is arranged marriage. A lot of these young girls, 12, 13, 14 years of age, are forced to marry older men who don't know them, who don't love them.

In fact, they look at these women really as possessions, not as a person to love and nurture. But that was Anya's story. And she was, again, a young married teen at 14 years of age to a man three times her age.

But I can tell you what happened. She became a believer. William led her to Christ. And she said, you know what?

I'm going to live out my life in an admirable way before my husband. In fact, he's a former Sunni Muslim. He's a former Sunni Muslim, Robbie. But I can tell you, long story short, he became a believer, but the story does not end there. William would gather about 40 young women, all in their teen years, in the same situation as Anya, and they would all come to Christ. And they were married.

And so you know what they did? They led their husbands to Christ. And so what you've seen are 40 couples on fire for Jesus right now. And they've seen about 200 people come to Christ as they simply invited others to come learn about Jesus in their small, remote village among the Maasai tribe there in Kenya, Africa. Now, Robbie, I don't always wake up and wonder, what is God doing among the Maasai in Kenya, Africa?

But I can tell you, he is not forgotten. And so there's an incredible need right now. In the midst of some of these very troubling things, I often wrestle with, you know, how detailed should I be when I share these stories with these brothers and sisters they're up against? But we want you to know so that you can care and so that you can prayerfully respond. So there's 200 believers that have come to Christ through the ministry of this pastor, willing to walk 31 miles each way, and then through the ministry of Anya, who came to Christ, living out a very, very difficult relationship with a man again that she didn't know she didn't love.

Today she loves him. And together they love the Lord Jesus, and they're leading people to Christ there in Kenya, Africa. Darrell Bock Yeah, it's so amazing, isn't it, that God hears the cries of people all over the world that are ongoing unbelievable things, yet his word comes in. And it changes, like you said, that not only their current situation with their husband is they both fall in love with God, they'll fall more in love with each other undoubtedly, but then those children growing up are going to be brought up in a whole different world than they were brought up into as a result of what's going to happen in that tribe and that we get to be a part of that for $5 a Bible or whatever that situation is. Like, man, God, what an opportunity you gave us today, this Memorial Day weekend, where we have a chance to honor all those who sacrificed for us.

It's pretty cool that we can sacrifice a little and make such an impact in Africa. Again, you do that by going to 1-800-YES-WORD or you can dial 1-800-937-9673. That's easier for me.

800-937-9673 or go to truthnetwork.com, kingdompursuits.com. Click on that, donate now, pretty easy, especially I did Apple Pay, boom, boom, it didn't take me 20 seconds. It's more efficient than it ever has been, Michael, I got to tell you. You guys have really gotten good at it. Well, we want to make it easy on you.

You know, we train our operators to get you on and off very, very quickly, and that online transaction, as you say, we've built in Apple Pay and Google Pay, all that high-tech stuff, right, simply to give you an opportunity to be an incredible blessing to these waiting Bibleist believers all over the continent of Africa. Rob, you know, it is Memorial Day weekend. I know the correct way to observe this is to remember those that never made it out of uniform.

It's very appropriate to remember those that are serving, those who have served, but it namely is those who did not make it out of uniform, right? I think about, you know, the idea of combat and how the Bible is described in Hebrews is what? A sword, right? I mean, it's absolutely necessary as you fight the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And it doesn't matter if you're in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, or Chicago, where I'm at, or somewhere on the continent of Africa. You're in a fight. You're in a battle. And so what we're doing today with every $5 gift is, one, equipping a saint for the battle. And even though these are believers half a world away, Robby, they're still members of our spiritual family. They need our support today.

Let me tell you two more before we go to break that are praying for Bibles. Dorcas is a widowed mother of three. She lives near Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia. Sadly, her husband was murdered by the El Shabaab terrorist cell.

They absolutely hate Christians. But she received Christ after she walked about an hour each way to an evangelistic service that was led by a Bible-league-trained pastor. Today she's a believer. She's praying for a Bible to raise her children to know and love Jesus. And then Kwame is a 50-year-old Christian.

He's in Rwanda, near the Ugandan border. And he became a believer two years ago, Robby. He was trained to share Christ. He uses a Bible study from Bible league. You know, he's led 92 Rwandans to Christ, and together they're praying for Bibles in the Swahili language. And Robby, there's not a place on earth where Bible league ministers, where we're not connected to the local evangelical church. So that ought to be a comfort to your listeners. We've been properly vetted by Truth Network.

We've worked together. This is our 13th campaign, and the result is what? Thousands upon thousands of Bible-less believers all over the world who really had no hope of a Bible now have God's Word.

They're using those in their kingdom pursuits. And Robby, we get to be a part of it today. We're 50% of the way to our goal to bless 3,500. We're working on the final 1,700, and it's because of people like Vicki of High Point.

North Carolina said, I'm in. 20 Bibles. Robin of Dayton, Ohio, said, Michael, Robby, count me in at $50 for 10 Bibles. And then Allen of Ogden, Utah, said, I want to be a part of this, a $100 tax-deductible gift for 20 Bibles today.

Isn't that awesome? It's just so exciting to see what God is doing. You know, when I was in Israel a couple weeks ago, I got to see the caves where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls. And he's going to protect his word. And part of the way to be able to do that is like, wow, you get to be in the Bible.

You get to be part of his story. All you have to do is 1-800-YES-WORD or go to truthnetwork.com, click on the Bible League banner, or kingdompersuits.com. We'll be right back with a little bit more of Traveling Through Africa with Bible Eve. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom. And I'm so grateful for all the Truth Network and their passion for the Word of God that it's so much fun to come together and talk about these kind of things that God is doing around the world. And we're so blessed to have with us Bible League today, and they are opening the floodgates, really, of Bibles for Africa. And it's out to bless 3,500 believers there through June 8th. And so we've got a little time to do it. We've gotten 1,800.

We need 1,700 more. And Michael is sharing some amazing stories. So I'll turn it back to you, Michael. Well, you got hit with some voice issues about a week ago, and I guess it's my turn, Robbie. But anyway, you've been incredibly kind listeners to put up with me for about an hour. But Robbie, my voice is weak, but I can tell you in my spirit, I'm overjoyed that this listening family really gets this. They're getting involved. They're helping us reach this goal, again, call by call and click by click. You know, before I came on the air, Robbie, I did a quick Google search. I just put in Christian News in Africa.

And here's the results that came up. 70 Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kidnapped, tortured, and beheaded inside a church by a terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State. In Ethiopia, religious violence escalating, resulting in churches being burned down, pastors murdered by radicalized factions. And then in Somalia, the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, is suspected of killing any Somalian who converts to Christianity. And, Alyssa, that's just a few entries from a simple search, Christian News in Africa. Now, one would think with all of that persecution, all that hardship, right, that Christianity stands no chance here. But this is where it's happening in the greatest numbers. And yet as many as 9 of 10 new believers go without what is so basic to walking with Jesus. And that's happening, and it's having a Bible.

And so, you know, we're coming together today and just mentioning unmet needs here and there. Let me tell you about Pastor Ruses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That story I just shared. The same Islamic State group that murdered those 70 Christians in the news only weeks ago, right, attacked his sons. This man, Ruses, pastors there, and his wife had two sons dying 11 years of age. And, Robby, one day those sons went missing.

They put together a search party. They found out that, what, those boys had been murdered at the hands of this terrorist cell, again, that absolutely hates Christians. Now, listen, a lot of churches would retaliate with violence.

That would happen on the continent of Africa, but not this one. This church did what they knew best. They gave this man and his family time to grieve the loss of those boys. They prayed, and they felt like God was directing them to go to neighboring villages where these terrorists and their families lived. And they would invite them to come learn about Jesus. And I can tell you today, through the grace and the gumption of these believers who take to heart what Jesus, as I tell you in Matthew 5, love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you. And then James, in his epistle, where he says, Count it all joy when you suffer these trials. And so, through the grace and the gumption given by the Lord Jesus to these believers, Robby, they have seen 200 come to Christ. Almost 200 families have said, What? We want to follow Jesus.

And some of those are former radicalized Muslims. So there's a need right now for 200 Bibles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Then one more quick story from Mozambique, Africa, just off the Indian Ocean, a pastor by the name of Lumo preaching away one Sunday from Galatians 2. I've been crucified with Christ.

I no longer live. But Christ lives within me. And Robby, there was a ruckus at the door. About 25 Muslims had come to that church. They pulled this man out of the pulpit, dragged him down the aisle. His church and the congregation looking unhorrified. But they take this man to the front lawn where they beat him nearly to death.

I know that's somewhat graphic, but you know what his crime was? Very simply, it's not for what he believes, but for how he lives out his faith. He's been inviting Sunni Muslims, some of these radicalized, to come learn about Jesus.

And I can tell you in a very quiet, winsome way, there have been about 150 who have come to Christ. But there's incredible pressure on them as new believers to convert back to Islam or perhaps pay the ultimate price, right? And so these Christians today, they're not asking for our pity.

They're not asking for an airline ticket out of places like Mozambique or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What are they asking for? Well, they're praying that what? They would love God with every fiber of their being. They would pray that they would obey him in every circumstance, that they would see those that hate them not as the enemy, but as the mission field. And then, Robbie, they're quick to say, we need Bibles if you're targeted, singled out, monitored, beaten, all of those things, simply because you believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. You need to be able to open your Bible and be reminded of God's precious promises. And that's why people like Rudolph of Clayton, North Carolina, said, I'm in, I want to bless a dozen waiting Christians today. Miriam of Toledo, Ohio, she said, I want to be a part of this at $50. And then Wyatt of Winston-Salem said, Michael, Robbie, I'm in a $250 gift, enough for 50 Bibles.

And that's why we're at the midway point. This is a listening family, Robbie, that truly gets this. And we're praying that we can get it done together. It's been incredibly kind to suffer through my voice.

But, Robbie, again, I feel great. I've got joy in my soul as we see the Truth Network listening family getting involved with this today. What an opportunity when you think about it. That's what these people are asking for is Bibles. And how easy it is to just click on the Bible League banner at either TruthNetwork.com or KingdomPursuits.com, and away you go. Within a few moments, you can donate what God has put on your heart to donate. You can certainly be in prayer for all these wonderful Christians that are down there, as well as, as always, 1-800-YES-WORD.

It's 1-800-937-9673. Michael, thank you for the battle. And we are praying for your voice, my friend, that it will hold up. And we're so grateful to all those listening, all those that were able to contribute, and those who are praying for us.

So God bless you all. And now stay tuned. You've got Encouraging Prayer coming up with Dr. James Banks. Really exciting episode followed by new Mike Zwick show, If Not For God. Pretty exciting stories I think you will hear if you are buckled up to the Truth Network this holiday weekend. Then you can hear Michael and Stu a little bit later on today at 4 o'clock. Stay tuned.