Mozambique (MNN) — After a dramatic and time-consuming process, Audio Scripture Ministries is finally embarking on its largest distribution of audio Scripture players in Mozambique in seven years.
Just a month ago, ASM was revved up and ready for its significant distribution. Over the last few years, interest in having audio copies of the Scriptures has exploded in Mozambique–far beyond what ASM could provide. In the last several months, ASM had raised funds to distribute a large number of audio players on a July 6 distribution.
"This particular project was going to be covering 900 players, five different languages, and nine different locations. The trip was scheduled to cover over 4,000 miles. So it was very significant," says ASM president Tom Dudenhofer.
But in the beginning of July, ASM hit a wall.
First, there was a production delay. The units were not prepared when ASM thought they would be. Obstacle #1.
The production delay was going to put the players in Mozambique later than anticipated–a full week later. Instead of arriving July 6, they arrived July 13. Obstacle#2.
When the audio players all finally arrived, ASM discovered that a new importing law had been enacted. The taxes and extra expenses to release the units were thousands higher than anticipated. ASM was forced to use money that would have been used to buy more players on these extra expenses. Obstacle #3.
To top it all off, in their excitement to get these new audio Bibles, some people began traveling a couple of days before the intended distribution date, walking across the country in order to arrive to the point of distribution right on time. Of course, everything was thrown off a week since the players took so long to be released. Obstacle #4.
With all of these obstacles underway, however, Dudenhofer sees opportunity. "It's really an interesting combination of things, and when you hear the grocery list, you have to draw some conclusions–like we are doing–that God has something very special planned here."
Mozambique is experiencing growth like never before. Some of these players are going to a group that has no written copy of the Word, and these audio Scriptures will serve as their first-ever exposure to the Gospel. This distribution could mean serious change, and no amount of obstacles can stand in the way. The team continues to pray, but Dudenhofer believes everything's finally in order.
"I can't contact our team in Mozambique, which means they're probably on the road right now. So I asked them to watch for perhaps God's hidden agenda on this trip," says Dudenhofer.
Now is the time to pray for impact.
"[The Mozambicans] have been through such a tremendous amount of trouble with their civil war in the past decades: their culture's been destroyed, their lives have been turned upside down, they're just barely getting back on their feet on their people. But we see God's Word touching them in ways that we haven't seen in some other locations in a long time," says Dudenhofer.
People are ready to respond. Pray now they'll finally have the chance to do so.
If you feel led to help send more Scripture players to Mozambique, contribute here.
