Bible League

This is Robbie Dillmoor from the Christian Karkai and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Every hour, another believer goes to heaven because they were killed, executed, martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. I'm Stu Everson, this is Truth Talk, and this is a very special time, just this quick segment with my friend Michael Woolworth of the Bible League. Michael, what does the Bible League and our partnership with you have to do with all these Christians who are being martyred worldwide? Well, Steve, you've been a great friend of the Bible League.

Thank you for advocating for us and asking your listeners to get involved, and we've done that kingdom work, holy business of putting the Bible into the hands of believers around the world who have been denied God's Word. Yeah, you mentioned persecution. Let me tell you a very startling statistic from Pew Research. They're the ones who will tell us that every five minutes outside of the US, a Christian is martyred. 12 every hour, Stu, that's what works out to be about 105,000 every year, but put to death, again, simply because they believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. You will also tell us, if you look at all the Christian persecution in the 20th century and so far in the 21st century, it outnumbers, it outweighs all previous 19th centuries, and that absolutely mind-boggling. I mean, that tells you that we're addressing something right now that's very, very serious in the life of the Christian community around the world.

But you know what? It's one thing to lament about it and complain about it, but we're doing something about it, and only $5 of Bible will tell you more about that in just a moment. Stu, in our 84th year of ministry at Bible League, we know Christians by name all over the world who are singled out, targeted, monitored. They've been shunned and rejected by their families and communities. They've been beaten.

They've been jailed. They've been threatened with death, again, simply because of their Christian faith. And so to be able to open your own Bible and to read verses like Romans 8 where Paul writes, you know, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. So you can go to 1 Peter 1 where Peter writes, in the testing of your faith, that is the persecution you face, you glorify God because you know it brings Him honor both now and for eternity. Scriptures like that mean everything. It helps you to endure. It helps you to persevere. And so at this time what we're doing as Truth Network and Bible League is we're not only putting the Bible into the hands and hearts of persecuted believers, we're also supporting the fruit of their labor, Stu, and that is they know that Jesus is not to be kept to oneself.

He is to be shared. And with all that they're going through and the places where they are and places like Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, they're seeing people come to saving faith. And so it's so tempting to want to pray away to suffer that they endure, and yet they know God is working through it. So again, we want to just put this before your listeners and give them an opportunity to get involved by supporting the persecuted church today.

Yeah, what a beautiful thing. And I love, this is one of my favorite parts of being a talk show host on this program. Honestly, Michael, is the opportunity I have to interview people like you, and it's almost like it's a give-back we do.

It's a major give-back we do on Truth Talk, on all of our awesome affiliates, nationwide worldwide that carry this program, on our podcast network, to invite our listeners who are hearing great content, friends, you're listening right now to my voice on whatever radio station, outlet, podcast, platform, wherever it is, you are the beneficiary of hearing the Word of God and hearing some encouragement. But there are so many believers around the world who don't get that and don't even have a Bible. So we're just asking you to prayerfully consider being generous, generous with $5, generous with $500. That'll give 100 Bibles.

I hope my math is right. I'm not a great math guy, but Michael Woolworth is with the Bible League, and he's just a wonderful guest. Well, Michael, this really is, I mean, $5 from my pocket to your ministry gets a Word of God, a Bible, to a believer maybe in India, communist China, Africa.

Talk about how it works so our listeners will know where this is going, and likely it's going to a believer who is embattled on the front lines of sharing the gospel with people in a very difficult circumstance. We worked together for several years, Stu, so your listeners are probably thinking, okay, with inflation up. I bet that guy is going to come on here and tell us it's no longer $5, it's $8. But no, it's $5. That's the average cost of putting a Bible into the hands of the person that we're talking about in their own language, Stu, at a level they can understand. Let me tell you how this works.

Let me flesh it out for you. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire on the continent of Africa, a pastor by the name of Rusas, and his wife have three sons, eight, six, and four. Stu, one day those sons went missing. They found out after putting a search party together, people in their church and community, went out looking for these boys. They found out that a terrorist cell that hates Christians, always in the news in that part of the world, found these boys, they executed them. They killed these boys, sadly, because they hate Christians. But rather than retaliate with violence, as some churches would, Rusas and his wife, in the midst of their grief, and others in their congregation, would go to the villages where they knew these terrorists were hanging out.

They would invite them, their families, others in those communities, to come learn about Jesus. They used a Bible study from Bible League, about eight to twelve weeks in length. It teaches, I call it Christianity 101, and the Gospel of John paired together. It's a little six-by-nine booklet, Stu. We have used this for eight decades around the world.

We've refined it in places so people understand what we're talking about. But they've gone through this study, and about 150 people in a story that's filled with tragedy and loss. It's a little hope-filled, and many of these were part of that terrorist network. Listen, do you ever listen to the news and you think, okay, how do I come alongside the persecuted church? How do I do anything that would stop the work of terrorists around the world? This is a very specific story.

It's very fresh. It's part of this campaign that we're calling Stand With Them. There's a need for 150 Bibles, and what we do at the end of that study, Stu, is we promise these new believers their very own Bible, in their own language, at a level they can understand. Let's say today we're not only supporting the persecuted church, people that constantly hear, you don't matter, we don't want you here, die.

But every gift that's made says, what? We're with you, we're for you, we're half a world away, but we want to step into your story and do something about it. We've said together as Truth Network and Bible League, by the end of October, around November 1st, we want to be able to say to 3,500 persecuted believers who are Bibleists, that we know by name at Bible League, we know where they live in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. We want to be able to tell them, look, from the Truth Network, listeners who understand what you're going through, these Bibles you're praying for, they're coming, they're absolutely coming.

Wow, I love it. Talk about maybe what happens when they get a Bible, Michael. What kind of impact, tangible impact, have you seen from the field? Maybe a letter you've received of someone who's just extremely thankful and grateful.

We have noticed a trend all over the world, Stu. Again, this is the 84th year of ministry. We've noticed that when somebody receives the Bible, they impact about a dozen people. They will lead others to Christ. They'll be able to strengthen another believer who has no Bible, somebody in their congregation or community. So we can say with confidence, about a dozen people are impacted for every Bible that you send.

You do the math right now. A gift of $5 is a Bible. It's not two Bibles, I should say, because of a limited time match.

It's two Bibles. And when you do that multiplier of 12, it's an opportunity right now, Stu, to impact a lot of people for the cause of Christ. And so we hear of Christians who have great joy, because they've often been denied God's Word by corrupt governments and majority religions.

But let me say this. If you're defined as somebody who is singled out, targeted, monitored, beaten, jailed, all of those things I mentioned earlier, and you can open God's Word, and you can read where Jesus says in the Great Commission, I'm with you always. Or where Paul writes, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. Listen, that means everything to you, because a lot of times these believers, they live where they're outnumbered. They wonder if, you know, does God really know me intimately?

Does anybody else really know what I'm going through? And again, to be able to open the pages of Scripture and be reminded of God's precious promises, that helps you endure. It helps you to persevere. And again, I know we often wake up, we say, Lord, I want to be a blessing, but there's so much signals coming my way. Where's their good investment?

So, if you can find something better than this, go chase it. But we're praying that at $5 of Bible, that story I just mentioned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you know, there's 150 Bibles needed right now. Overall, we want to do this for 3,500 persecuted believers, but you know that Truth Network is not going to let just anybody out of the year, they've vetted us, we've worked together, they're able to come and say, you know what, Bible League, they're going to follow through with everything they say they're going to do, they're going to squeeze every dime to the glory of God. And again, this is an opportunity for you to do something of eternal impact.

While so many of you started your day-to-day in the Word of God, so many of you will end your day reading the Bible, I hope you'll meditate on the Word as you go to sleep, it'll really help you sleep, I call it a probiotic for the heart and for the soul. But imagine not having that Word of God, imagine not having, and Michael's doing something about it. Michael, how could, I know our listeners are generous, I know they want to support you. What number do they call, what's the best way for folks to get on the horn and maybe give a credit card or send a check to send Bibles to people that don't have Bibles, many people who are suffering for Christ, who would love to open God's Word and feed on God's Word and preach God's Word? Well, you can do that today for $5 of Bibles. So, Stu, a gift of $100, that's 20 Bibles, $150, that's 30 Bibles.

And we have friends of Bible League know that you and I are having this conversation today. Stu, they've agreed to match every single gift that's given regardless of size. And listen, I know with inflation up, if you're giving to persecuted believers, you're sacrificing somewhere in your budget.

I don't know if it's a pizza you're giving up or some lattes, but we're so appreciative of that. So, every gift will be matched. Think about that multiplier of 12, which means your gift right now impacts a lot of people for the cause of Christ. Two ways to get involved, 800, yes word, that's 800-Y-E-S-W-O-R-D, 800, yes word, or you can click the Bible League banner, find a stand with them, Bibles for the persecuted church banner at truthnetwork.com, that's truthnetwork.com, 800, yes word, or truthnetwork.com, and Stu, by the end of October around November 1st, we'd love to be able to say to 3,500 Bibles persecuted believers, your Bibles, they're on their way. Praise the Lord. Yeah, just the joy of giving someone a Bible who loves the Lord, they come to Christ, maybe they've given their Bible away to a Muslim or someone didn't have one, and now we can be directly a part of this.

Give the number one more time, Michael Ward. Call this number, it's that money ain't ours anyway, it's all the Lord's, and be generous, go to thetruthnetwork.com, the link's there, you can donate online, but what's the number again, Michael, one more time for folks to donate a Bible? Yeah, truthnetwork.com, or 1-800-YES-WORD, that's 800-Y-E-S-W-O-R-D, it's about a two minute call, whether that's online or a two minute transaction with an operator right now, an eternal difference in the lives of persecuted believers. Stu, God bless you, appreciate your friendship, and listeners, thank you, you've been incredibly kind to us, and we're praying that you'll stand with the persecuted church by sending God's word today. Praise the Lord, thank you my brother, and thank you for what you're doing, I'm going to somehow get my pudgy little fingers going on my phone, and I'm going to go to that website and donate $100, that's $100, that's 20 Bibles that is going to go right over there, right?

So do the math. A hundred Bibles, let's do, we're going to match that, we're going to match that, so that's double that amount today, take advantage of that, and again, give knowing, we're going to follow through with everything that we promised to do today. Praise the Lord. God bless you, folks, stay in the Word, read the Word, study the Word, memorize the Word, meditate on the Word, and give away the Word of God through Bible, League, International, they've been doing a lot of time, they are legit, and they are helping folks, this is the life changing, the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharpened into its sword. So let's all be a vehicle to make that happen. Bless you Michael, thanks so much my friend, you are such a blessing. This is the Truth Network.