El Salvador (MNN) — An organization that has a goal of
reaching every child with God's Word is celebrating a milestone. Book of Hope
International is celebrating their 20th anniversary by returning to where the
ministry began — El Salvador.
Founder and President of Book of Hope Bob Hoskins just
returned from El Salvador where the celebration was full of testimonies.
"One man said, 'I was 11 years old. I was in the 4th grade at school. They
brought me the Book of Hope. I took it home. I read it. I shared it with my
family. All my family has accepted Christ.' Now he's a pastor."
While it was a time of rejoicing, it was also a time of
preparation. "We're going to reach every child once again in El Salvador.
In 1987, there were 986,000 [children]. Now there are just over 2-million. But
we have a team in place, and we expect in one year to reach again every child in
the school system of El Salvador."
In the last 20 years Book of Hope has been able to reach
more than five million children in that Central American nation. According to
Hoskins, churches grow as a result of the outreach. "The distribution is
going on right now, and one pastor testified, 'I have 32 new children and youth
in my church as a result of the distribution in our neighborhood.' And that's
in one neighborhood."
Trained nationals go into the schools and present drama,
mime, music and other entertainment, which is a precursor to their Hope
Celebrations where kids invite their parents to attend. "That's where we
do the really, what should I say, 'in your face' evangelism and give them an
opportunity to accept Christ."
Worldwide, Book of Hope has had incredible distribution.
"We passed the 430-million mark. This
year alone we'll be putting the Word of God, Book of Hope, into the hands of
65-million children now in 120-some countries of the world, and God's Word never
returns void."
It's also very easy for people to get involved. You can go
on a distribution trip, or you can support the ministry. Hoskins says, "We
still call it the 33-cent miracle. God's enabled us to reach a point of
efficiency where it costs only 33-cents to put that book in the hands of the
child. Now, that's not just printing costs — that's transportation,
distribution, administration, every cost. We like to say that for $1, you can touch
three lives with the Word of God."
