USA (MNN) ― Audio Bibles are being deployed around the world, from "boot camp" and base chapels to veteran's hospitals and war zones.
Faith Comes By Hearing's Jon Wilke explains what they're doing. "The Military Bible Stick is a portable audio player. It's about the size of a pack of chewing gum. It's pre-loaded with a dramatized New Testament. We've especially designed this one for the military for low-light situations," so that it can be taken along on missions, or used in close-quarters, or in day-to-day activities on a base.
Why use a digital player with the Bible? Wilke says it's one way of reaching today's generation more effectively. He says young people tend to listen to portable audio devices around two hours a day--that's more than enough time to listen to the Bible. On the FCBH 40-Day Plan, participants can hear the New Testament by listening just 28 minutes a day.
How will the Bible Sticks be distributed to the military? Through the military's "churches," which in this case are the chaplains, says Wilke. "Faith Comes By Hearing has recently partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ. That's a chaplain network of about 350 active duty and reserve chaplains. They serve the 1.4 million people in active duty."
The ministry has already been testing the sticks on the field. They've sent out about 1,500 and have had great responses. Because they're so well-received, FCBH has already placed an order for 4,000 more that will be ready for distribution in June.
When asked how many are they hoping to distribute, Wilke said, "They're going to be doing distribution with the Bible Sticks, so we can get today's service member into the Word of God. We're more interested in life-change than we are in distribution. It's more about letting God do His work through His Word in today's military members and their families."
Pray for the funds to come through to support this project. Pray, too, for the military families touched by this project and for those who are deployed, that they will receive comfort from the Word of God and respond to the hope of Jesus Christ.
If you're interested in helping fund this project, click here.
