International (MNN) — Ministries are teaming up to bring God's Word into a Muslim-dominated country with a history of persecuting Christians.
If it sounds dangerous, that's because it is.
"Pastors and evangelists are killed regularly in this country. Christians are persecuted. Sometimes Christian girls are forced to marry Muslim men," says Patrick Klein with Vision Beyond Borders (VBB).
He doesn't disclose the nation's name because terrorist acts are a daily occurrence, and religious persecution is rampant. Christ-followers comprise only about 2% of the population in this country, or roughly 3 million people.
"We really want to protect [the Christians] inside," Klein explains. "We don't want to cause anymore grief for them."
VBB is working with Voice of the Martyrs USA (VOM) to truck 50,000 Bibles into the closed nation from a neighboring country.
"They have a network, but we also have a network in this closed country to get Bibles to them, so we just thought, 'Let's partner together,'" Klein says.
Given the hostile nature of the closed nation where VBB and VOM are working, permission to bring Bibles across the border was a surprise, but a much-needed blessing.
"It took about a year to get permission. We've been working at it, and thankfully the Lord has really blessed us to be able to get permission," explains Klein. "There's such a great need for Bibles, and people are just hungry.
"There's a great receptivity to the Gospel in the villages. People are tired of all the terrorism and all the bloodshed, and people are just hungry for the Truth."
Klein says the so-called Arab Spring brought Islamic extremists to power in this country. As people push back against the country's dominant religion, they start looking elsewhere for answers.
"People are questioning Islam, and they're open to the Gospel," says Klein.
Even former terrorists are being transformed by the Truth they find in Jesus Christ. The last time VBB and VOM worked together on a project like this, Klein says, a terrorist obtained one of the Bibles.
"He read the Bible, got saved, and he's given out 600 Bibles to more terrorists," says Klein.
Over the next few months, VBB and VOM hope to send approximately 20,000 Bibles into the region. But they need your help.
"It's about $3.35 to print and ship them into the country," says Klein. He credits the project's affordability to a direct relationship with the Bible printers.
"Because of the big quantity of 50,000 as a total project, we were able to get the price down as low as possible," he explains. Even with a highly-reduced price, they're still looking to raise $65,000 USD.
You can help this project happen by clicking here.
Pray that as people receive God's Word, they'll find salvation through Jesus Christ. Pray also for the country's leadership.
"Pray that God will really touch the Islamic leaders in this country," Klein requests. "There is Sharia Law in the country, which makes it very difficult for Christians."
Pray that Christ-followers in this country will remain strong in their faith, and that there will be unity among believers. Pray also for openness for the Gospel.
