United Kingdom (MNN) — For God, there is no individual who isn’t worth the trouble, nor any people group too large for Him to chase after.
The Chinese Bible
This truth played out when a random Chinese Bible was discovered in a Biblica office in Europe. The Bible was from old stock. Not knowing what else to do with it, the Biblica staff decided to send the Chinese Bible with a set of English Bibles bound for Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Shankill side of the Peace Wall in Belfast, United Kingdom 2014. (Photo Courtesy of Beth Stolicker)
More specifically, these Bibles were actually headed to the Shankill Road, an area known for its great darkness from The Troubles.
During this period, a civil war gnawed at the city’s insides, stemming from the Shankill and Falls roads. But today, in the same building where terrorists once gathered, a church now does community outreach. And it’s just this place where these Bibles were being sent.
“We weren’t sure whether it was relevant. We didn’t know if there were Chinese speakers on the Shankill, but we thought we’d put it in any way,” Biblica’s Executive Director for Europe Lindsey Holley shares.
“And when one of the workers at the church opened up the box, he saw this Chinese Bible and thought, ‘Why have they included a Chinese Bible?’ But [he] put it to one side and didn’t really think about it.”
It wasn’t until a distribution day in the community that the Bible was thought of again. On a stand, outside of the church filled with biblical resources, sat this single Chinese Bible. Then, God’s plan fell into place.
God in Action
Sure enough, a Chinese couple who spoke very little English walked up to the stand. And Derek, the man working at the church, was able to hand this Chinese Bible over to the people God intended it for.
Belfast, Northern Ireland (Photo Courtesy of Nick Birse via Flickr https://flic.kr/p/YpHiVV)
“He said the look on their faces said everything. They went from strangers in what must have felt like a very, very foreign land to feeling like someone special. And, that God would talk to them in their language,” Holley says.
“And, I just love how God used such an unusual situation, with just one simple Bible. It wasn’t thousands, it was one simple Bible. And yet it ministered to this couple, but it also ministered to Derek who got to see God’s work and God’s amazing, miraculous hand at work in this situation.”
What did this encounter mean? That God values every person and can use unusual situations to reach people with His Gospel. He celebrates each new person who comes to Him, as Jesus explains in the story of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep.
Praise God for His love and His wisdom! Pray for more stories like this to take place, whether it’s with a single stranger on the street or a crowd in a church. Pray for the hearts of the folks in Northern Ireland and the rest of Europe to be turned towards Christ and to be transformed by His love. And finally, pray for all people to know they are precious in the eyes of Jesus.
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Learn more about Biblica’s work in Belfast, Northern Ireland here!
