International (MNN) — The Faith Comes By Hearing Bible.is app just introduced a few new additional features.
App subscribers can now watch the "JESUS" film on the app. They can also download audio Bibles in over 600 languages directly to their mobile devices. Thus, once downloaded, they can be accessed even without the internet.
These are fun capabilities for people who already have regular access to the Bible. But for the world of missions, these additions can be game changers for the Gospel.
"For many people in the world, maybe they speak a trade language, maybe a major language, but their heart language is something completely different," points out FCBH Vice President Troy Carl. "Hollywood isn't producing movies in their language. You don't see very many books in their language. And in many cases, the Bible is the only thing that's ever been translated and then recorded in a dramatized format in their native language."
People are able to watch a film in their own language with the "JESUS" film. How fitting that it would be the story of Christ.
The effect the application has had on missions has been astounding already. "We hear about it to the tune of tens of thousands–even hundreds of thousands–of testimonies around the world thus far," says Carl.
Now, the Word of God is even more accessible. The downloadability of audio Bibles through the app allows missionaries to take the Word of God into remote areas of the world which do not have access to the internet. They can show a film of Jesus' life at the click of a button.
Yet, more than all of that, the app is allowing the Bible entry into countries that Christians could never enter.
"Where it would typically be dangerous, or even difficult, to provide Bibles to certain areas of the world, through technology people can easily access it–listen to it in the privacy of their own home or in some other area that is safe," notes Carl. "And it's really been an effective ministry tool for missionaries around the world."
Lives are changing around the world due to this new technology, says Carl. "Because the Bible is available to them freely and quickly, and they can hear it in their own language and engage with it, their lives are being transformed."
Now, even more testimonies are sure to pour in about lives transformed.
FCBH has over 600 languages recorded and available via the Bible.is app. But there are still 1,586 translations of the Scriptures that have yet to be recorded. Recordings of the Bible are especially vital to regions with high illiteracy rates, which are many of the remote areas in which this type of technology could be most useful.
You can help FCBH in their work. It costs just $9.90 to record three verses. $25,500 will cover the recording costs for the entire Bible in one of the hundreds of languages in need. To help with these projects, give through the Bible.is app or click here.
