New convert being baptized in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
USA (MNN) ― Bible Pathway Ministries' Rita Guerra says the demand for Bibles and study helps is growing faster than they can answer in Africa.
There's a sense of urgency to getting Bibles in while there's still time, particularly in Nigeria. "Militants in the north are coming in with Sharia law; they're really pushing. This is our problem--getting Bibles over there. We've got three big conferences scheduled for the last part of November. Right now, we're scrambling to get them copies of the Word."
Many of their church partners have small churches with a single Bible. The pastors need help. "They don't have Bibles, never-mind additional materials to study the Bible. The preachers in those countries don't realize that there's something else to read besides the Bible. We just send the basic things: the Bible, the Bible study, the concordances, anything to help them understand."
That makes participation in other events even more difficult. Take, for example, the Bible Reading Marathon. Participants work together across denominational lines to read through the entire Bible aloud.
One such marathon is scheduled to take place in Liberia. But Bibles there are scarce, partly due to their expense, says Guerra. Aside from the fact that the Bible being used for the marathon may already be in much-loved shape, if you add hundreds of people paging through the delicate leaves, more damage may result, and a replacement may be out of the question.
Other partners have hundreds of requests and have turned to the ministry for help. The ministry acknowledges daily requests from around the globe, with as many as 8 or 10 people making requests in a single letter because the cost of postage is so high they cannot afford to pay for the stamp alone.
But, Bible Pathway can't do it alone. "We need the Bibles, either new or used, and the postage to help ship them overseas." Click here if you can help them.
