Bible only answer for world’s troubles

USA/Iraq (MNN) — Another foreign worker in Iraq has been executed by Iraqi militants and the world is angered and shocked by the escalating violence by these radicals. As the world wonders how to address these problems, one organization has the answer — God’s word.

The International Bible Society’s Tom Youngblood says getting the Bible into the hands of these people is the only answer. “Is the Bible relevant to all people? Absolutely. It doesn’t matter where they live. It doesn’t matter what faith or background they’re focused on. If they will open the Word of God (whether they’re Muslim or otherwise), and understand what it says, and make that step of confessing their sin and trusting in Christ, the Word has done its work,” says Youngblood.

IBS is doing all it can to get God’s word into the hands of people around the world. In fact, they’re celebrating a milestone. “From our calculations, it looks like, in those 194 years of ministry, up to this point, 402-million Scriptures have been distributed,” says Youngblood.

Youngblood says that represents many languages. “IBS has translated, directly ourselves, Scripture in 88 of the world’s languages. And, in partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators over the years, that number would probably come very close to 660 languages,” he says. This has allowed missionaries to reach people with the Gospel in their own language.

While the milestone is a great accomplishment, Youngblood says they’re celebrating something else. “To me the celebration around 402-million Scriptures is the fact that lives have been changed for eternity. The population of heaven (has) been increased. The word of God is a seed. And, there’s a whole bunch of that, that has sprouted and the harvest has been awesome.”

Youngblood is asking people to pray that IBS will be able to prayerfully prioritize future project. He’s also asking that the Church in the United States will have a renewed desire to read the Bible. He says that will could have a profound impact on the world around us.