Bibles for Believers provides Bibles free of charge to Christians who are too poor to afford one, helping converts become disciples. We currently have projects in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Burundi and Zambia, providing Chewa, Bemba, Shona, Portuguese, Kirundi, Tonga, English and several other language Bibles.
Thousands of Sena speaking Christians in Malawi do not have Bibles. A few years ago, Barry Funnell and Word for the World, completed a full translation of the Sena Bible. After an initial print run the Sena Bible has been sold out and there are none available at the MBS (Malawian Bible Society).
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Bible Placement in Central Malawi - April 2009
Ons span is terug van Malawi. Hulle het 105 kerke binne 5 dae besoek. 2 700 Bybels is afgelewer by Christene wat daarvoor gebid het en na die aankoms daarvan uitgesien het. Vol vreugde het mense die geskenk ontvang wat julle, ons vennote, gestuur het.
Our team is back from Malawi. They visited 105 churches in 5 days. 2 700 Bibles were delivered to Christians who had been praying and waiting with anticipation for their arrival. Joy overflowed as people received the gift, you our partners sent.
More about this Bible Placement / meer hieroor...
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Your Gifts in Action
Read the report about the Bible Placement at Nhamathanda and Gorongoza during September 2007 added October 16, 2007
Testimonies - Outreach participants share their experiences added Aug 2007
What Price are you willing to pay to Follow Christ? English / Afrikaans
Article about HIM and Bibles for Believers
Article about the 2000th church planted by HIM and the role of Bibles for Believers. Article published by World Christian Ministries and written by John Lindner. Read More..
Why do Bibles cost so much?
Many indigenous translations cost more than expected. What affects the price of Bibles? Read more..
It is estimated that over 500 million believers worldwide do not have their own Bible - over 200 million in Africa alone. The church across the world has prayed for mission for decades. God has answered these prayers and thousands of churches are being planted and millions are turning to Christ each year (see 2008 statistics). However, we are in danger of making converts and not disciples. Millions do not have access to the Word of God.
Churches across Africa, India, China, Asia and South America have gone without Bibles for years. Most missionary organizations, church planting movements and evangelists simply cannot provide Bibles out of their budgets. Even where evangelism and church planting has been done in the most responsible way possible, organizations have been victims of their own success - more people are coming to faith than can be catered for in terms of Bible distribution or placement.
It seems as if the Churches which have sent the missionaries, supported the evangelists and prayed for lost souls have not realized or been made aware of their huge backlog. Many Christians do not realize there is a real danger in producing converts and not disciples.
Many young believers and new churches have come under the influence of bad teaching, controlling leadership and cultic doctrine. Without the Scriptures these churches and believers could just as well be living in the Dark Ages. Just as before the Reformation individuals had no insight into the Bible and had to believe anything taught from the pulpit, so today millions live without exposure to God's life giving Word. In many places even the leader has no Bible.
In this atmosphere thousands of new denominations spring up. People are led astray, factions abound, knowledge of God dissipates, and people cannot discover God's will in the pages of Scripture. New believers do not understand Grace, God’s Sovereignty or His love. They cannot find comfort in the Word. Many continue to live in pagan rituals and sinful immorality.
People need the Lord. People need the Word. The only possible solution to this crisis is for every believer, and every church, to make a concerted effort to get the Bible into the hands of poor fellow believers.
There are three main reasons for the lack of Bibles.
1. Translations
It is true that there are still many people groups without a Bible or portion of Scripture in their language or dialect. However there are wonderful organizations addressing this challenge. Furthermore, many people speak a second language that does have a translation. While it should be our goal that every believer has the Word in his or her heart language, access to a second language does help.
2. Illiteracy
In many places literacy and illiteracy does play an important factor when it comes to accessing the Scripture. However, most families have at least one person who can read; or if necessary, a friend at church. The problem is that even if everyone could read and no Bibles are available, no one has access.
3. Poverty
This is the overriding problem when it comes to the lack of Bibles. In many places a Bible costs a significant portion of a person's annual income. In some places even more than that. Bibles are available at some shops in some cities or at the Bible Societies. These can be hundreds if not thousands of miles away. For rural people who seldom if ever leave their villages the Bible is completely inaccessible. For this reason Bibles for Believers works alongside churches, church planting organizations and in partnership with those who can give, to purchase and deliver God's Word to God's people.
As you read this consider for a moment how many Bibles you own. What would it be like if you did not have a Bible and you did not know a single person who does own a Bible?
Now consider this: How much are you willing to sacrifice so that brothers and sisters in Christ may receive a copy of God's word?
You can make an eternal difference with a simple gift.
