Mission Cry’s work in Mexico is focused in the largest state, Chihuahua, which is located on the northern border. Mission Cry has experienced favorable treatment in its shipment deliveries, despite the risk of fraud and demands for extra payment of duties. 

Mexico is reported to be about 77.7% Roman Catholic and 11.2% Evangelical Christian. In Chihuahua, the population is about 72% Roman Catholic and 6% Protestant.

Bible distribution in Mexico builds relationships with Jesus Christ. Photo provided by Mission Cry.

Jason Woolford with Mission Cry says, “People are encouraged in Mexico, in some non-Protestant churches, not to read their Bible and to only hear from the priest, and so we’re making huge strides in people understanding that there’s a relationship with the Lord.”

Recently, security guards in the city of Chihuahua tried to prevent Bible distribution.

Jason Woolford with Mission Cry says, “We had to get strategic. We had to pray.”

“Our Mission Cry missionary, Abe, and his family started going to bus stops and were having conversations with people getting on and getting off the buses.”

One woman who was a Jehovah’s Witness originally was not interested in talking to the missionaries. But through their conversations about the one true God, she gave her life to the Lord and even took a large number of Bibles back to her old church to minister to them.

Mission Cry missionaries in Chihuahua are also reaching people at apple orchards and onion fields, which are common to the area.

One onion field owner initially would not allow the missionaries to distribute the Bible on the property. When he became sick, his brother took over management and allowed Bible distribution there.

“It’s just so powerful what the Word of God is doing,” Woolford says.

Mission Cry is getting ready to place its next order of Spanish Mission Cry Bibles.

Mission Cry works to supply people around the world with free Bibles. 

To join in this ministry, please pray for the evangelism happening in Chihuahua and that more people will come to experience a personal relationship with God. Click here to donate to future shipments.

Header Photo Provided by Mission Cry 

Now, it has finally been released. Jason Woolford says, “They were trying to make our recipients abandon the container. We kept praying and believing that while the Muslims in customs there were causing problems, we would just have a miracle. And we’ve had one, indeed. The container has been released. The distribution has already begun.”

Officials either want to sell the Bibles for their own profit, or they want to destroy them for religious regions, Woolford says.

Seminaries

The container holds thousands of Bibles and Christian books for churches and seminaries in the island country. Woolford says, “It’s so great to see our brothers and sisters receive them. They have been wanting books for their Bible College so that they can have more students come in. Because the students can’t even afford to go to school, let alone buy books.”

“People that are listening have now made it possible for these students, who want to be ministers, to have free seminary materials.”

Corruption among port officials in the Philippines has increased over the last few years. Continue to pray for materials to be sent there.

You can also donate used Bibles or Christian books. Woolford says, “Lastly, we cannot do what we’re doing without financial help and support. When we send a container, it costs about $11,000 to send. But that has nearly half a million dollars worth of free Bibles and Christian books that we give away. I ask that you would partner with Mission Cry.”

Header photo courtesy of Mission Cry. 

One challenge facing ministry right now is getting containers of Bibles and Christian books into countries hostile to the Gospel.

Nigerian children. (Photo courtesy of Victor Nnakwe via Unsplash)

“We’re seeing heightened problems. [Some are] trying to stop the shipments into countries [by] trying to charge more fees,” Woolford says.

Many of those receiving Bibles and books find themselves experiencing persecution and hardships as well. However, God continues to use the materials to reach people.

“[One of our distributors] went into a hospital where there was a Muslim, and he began to minister to [him] and gave him a Bible from one of our shipments,” Woolford says. “That Muslim asked Jesus into his life and is serving God and distributing our materials.”

How to Help

Mission Cry needs Bibles and Christian books in order to meet the large demand around the world for the Word of God. At one point, they even faced a shortage of these materials. You can visit their website to learn more about the types of Bibles, reference materials, and Christian books they accept.

“The average home in America has six Bibles sitting on a shelf. People can send them to us and then we’ll get those overseas to somebody who needs them,” Woolford says.

(Photo courtesy of Ben White via Unsplash)

The best way to send Bibles and books to Mission Cry is via USPS media mail or a volunteer state coordinator. Visit their website here for more information.

If you don’t have any extra Bibles or books, or you want to help even more, you can donate to send a Mission Cry Bible. These Bibles only cost $2 to produce, so your donation will go a long way.

Another way you can help is by keeping Mission Cry and those who receive their resources in prayer.

“Pray that we continue to have favor and that those who are are believers in these different countries will rise up and take positions in leadership so we can continue to get the Word of God around the world,” Woolford says.

To learn more about Mission Cry and their ministry, visit their website.

Header image courtesy of Colin Carey via Unsplash

“I had to dig for more,” Schofield says, “so I contacted Mission Cry and got involved.”

Getting Involved

Schofield began collecting his own used Bibles and books, then wondered if he could do even more.

“I knew from the interview that most households have 5 or 6 Bibles that aren’t being used. That certainly resonated with me. Then I started thinking a little bit broader,” Schofield says.

“I involved my church and [held] a Bible drive. I came up with about 200 Bibles in my first year just from my own church alone. I couldn’t mail all those, so I decided to take a trip up to Michigan [to Mission Cry].”

Photo courtesy of Samantha Sophia via Unsplash

Schofield dropped off the Bibles he collected and met Woolford on his visit. The relationship grew from there. Schofield is a state coordinator, overseeing Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. He collects Bibles and books from people in these states when he has time and drives them to Mission Cry once a year.

“It’s basically [a] 100 hundred mile radius, which I feel is pretty reasonable for me to be willing to travel to get Bibles, although I’ll go beyond that just because I believe in this,” he explains.

Power of the Word

Ultimately, Schofield sacrifices his time and energy to collect Bibles because he believes in the power of the Word of God.

“The Word of God is so incredibly important. When you think about it, you’ve got the most powerful thing in the world sitting on your shelf or in your closet in your home. What a great opportunity to be a part of sending His Word out around the world.”

Schofield wasn’t sure how many Bibles he would be able to collect during the pandemic. However, God remained faithful even with the complications caused by COVID-19.

“Even during the pandemic, when most churches were closed and a lot of partners were not open to, God still provided 400 Bibles this year,” he says.

Photo courtesy of Ben White via Unsplash

Schofield reiterates how God is faithful to work through those who are willing to serve.

“I think that if you step forward and you say, ‘I’m willing to do this, I’ll give it a try’ you’ll be amazed at what God will do through you,” he says.

Prayer and Support

Woolford encourages people to pray about how they can get involved like Schofield has.

“[Everyone] has the opportunity [to] be a missionary right here in the United States, collecting Bibles and Christian books and figuring out a way to get them to Mission Cry,” he says.

To learn more about how you can support and be involved in Mission Cry’s ministry, visit their website here.

Header image courtesy of Jonathan Simcoe via Unsplash

With the help of their supporters, CRI sends resources to believers all around the world.
(Image courtesy CRI)

USA (MNN) — Old Bibles. Old books. They typically sit on our bookshelves collecting dust. What if they could literally transform the life of a pastor, or even better, an entire church?  That’s what can happen when you donate them to Christian Resources International in Fowlerville, Michigan.

CRI Executive Director Jason Woolford says, “For the last 60 years, we’ve encouraged people around the United States to send us their extra Bibles and Christian books sitting on their shelves. Then we have taken those and sent $272 million worth of donated Bibles and Christian books to over 170 nations.”

These are books requested by Christians around the world. Woolford says they’re going to “people…who are yet to be saved, to the person who got saved, the person who wants to be a leader, the person who wants to be a pastor.”

Some people in nations requesting Bibles can purchase them, but many “don’t have the money to even buy Bibles, even if they are there. So, for them to be able to get a Bible or a Christian book, and look at the back of it and see that when it was new it was $50 or $60, that’s half of their income for a month. They’re so blessed.”

How many requests for Bibles and books does CRI receive? Woolford says they receive “literally hundreds of thousands of requests…whether they come from the mail or a telephone call.”

Woolford says while there are many who send used Bibles and Christian books, equally as important is funding. Without that, the books would stay in Michigan. How much does it cost to send a Bible or Christian book? “It usually works out to about $1 a book.”

Research indicates that each Bible or book is shared by 19 other people. The books or Bibles you donate or fund can be the difference in a pastor preaching from the Word of God, or preaching from what he remembers hearing from the Word of God.

This is a great project for a family, Sunday school class, or entire church.

If you can help support CRI with a donation of Bibles and/or books, or through a generous financial donation, click here.