International (MNN) — Quick: is
Book of Hope a ministry or a product? Book of Hope's founder Bob Hoskins wanted
that answer to be clear.
However, Hoskins says one day, "I received a
letter from a missionary saying, 'Half the children in our country are
illiterate. How are we going to get
Jesus' story to them?' "
UNESCO says one
in every five people on earth can't read. That's over a billion souls that
can't be touched by a book.
Hoskins knew then that they had to
respond to the changing technologies that were bringing the world closer
together. "We had to communicate not
only to those who were readers, but also to those who could not
read," which led to other media
development for sharing the Gospel.
They developed and released the
film The GodMan, which has been viewed by more than 10 million children and
youth in hosted showings, and by hundreds
of millions more via broadcast TV.
That brought another question:
why did a ministry called "Book of Hope" use a film, and the
Internet? It was time for a name change. "What we really are about is
God's Word for every child. So the name 'OneHope' encompasses the Book of
Hope, The Godman film, and the internet ministry. We're starting to do text
messaging of Scripture to children and youth in some countries."
Hoskins and his son, Rob, along with their ministry board
of directors and leadership team, prayed about a new name to better reflect
this expanding vision. OneHope is the
name God led them to for the following
reasons:
*OneHope captures the original vision
God gave: to rescue children and youth from the despair and lies of the enemy
by providing them with the one and only hope for eternity.
*OneHope is perfect in an age of
relativism when children are not only taught that there are no absolute truths, but
also that there are many ways to God. The ministry believes it is critical
they understand there is only One Hope for the future, and that they can
find this Hope in the Scriptures.
*OneHope also reflects the proclamation
of the Living Word, the Savior, whether through print, film or some other
media.
The OneHope team wants to reach
over 70 million children with the Gospel. Bob Hoskins Sr. says, "One dollar will
deliver the Word of God either through the Book of Hope or The Godman film to three
children. Those books are presented by
volunteer Christian workers who've been trained in churches to begin to
disciple them to become real followers of Christ."
Click here to learn how to help spread God's Word through OneHope.
