USA (MNN) — The devastation in the United States Gulf Coast has presented a unique need that demanded a response from the World Bible Translation Center.
Gary Bishop of the WBTC explains: “Most of our work is done in Third World countries. Rarely do we actually distribute Bibles in the United States. And only something like a widespread natural disaster would cause us really to spring into action here in the United States. But because of the circumstances, which, in a lot of ways, positions people very much like dislocated people in Third World countries, God moved us to respond to this.”
As the tremendous destruction has unfolded, early on, says Bishop, it was noted that there were many similarities between the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of December’s Tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
People’s reactions to the trauma are similar as well, and they’re struggling with the psychological disruption that’s happened, says Bishop: “And so they’re really searching for answers to life’s really perplexing situation, and so what we know is, that so often, ultimately, only God’s Word will answer why something this terrible and this widespread could happen to people.”
As requests for Bibles began coming in, the WBTC knew they needed to respond. Operation Blessing and Campus Crusade for Christ have already requested a total of 80,000 Bibles to distribute as they ministered to people’s needs. Through those partnerships, the WBTC expects to distribute more than 100,000 Bibles to hurricane survivors.
Bishop says that when people were evacuated from the New Orleans Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston, the first thing they wanted was food and water, but after that, they asked for Bibles. That is a signal, says Bishop, that people have begun to grasp the devastating loss, and are seeking answers:
“When all of that psychological dislocation takes place, there is a struggle for the answer of: ‘How could something like this happen to me? And what is to become of me?’ And so, the ministries that we’re partnering with, obviously are going to meet those physical needs, but then they’re also going to take those opportunities…” to meet the spiritual needs of people.
Bishop says, “It really is a combined effort and presenting Jesus in the way that we believe He would want us to, which is ministering to all the needs they have, and being sure they understand His love for them.”
The World Bible Translation Center’s emergency Bible response was not a budgeted item. They need help to fund the expedited printing and distribution of God’s Word to those displaced and devastated by the hurricane. To donate, contact WTBC by clicking here.
