A ministry serving the needs of young people around the world has reached an incredible milestone. According to Book of Hope’s John Young on September 15th they distributed their 100-millionth copy of the Book of Hope. Young says the use of this scripture book has grown by leaps and bounds. “We began in 1987 and from 1987 to 1998 it took us approximately about 10 years to reach the 50-millionth copy – distribution. And, within the past two years we’ve doubled that to reach 100-million.” Young believes the Book of Hope could be one of the tools used to see the Great Commission completed. “I really believe that the Book of Hope is one of the tools to help motivate and facilitate kids to reach their world for Christ. This generation, the 14 to 18 year olds that God is raising up right now could be the generation that gets it done.” The Book of Hope has been translated into 44 different languages and is being used in more than 90 countries.
News Archives
Ministry teams are in place as people from all over the world gather for the Olympic games in Sydney. Southern Baptist International Mission Board‘s Craig Martin is in Australia looking at how groups are trying to reach the world for Christ. One local church began to prepare early and helped construct a tent city to house the ministries. “Often times there are not things in place that make it convenient for people to be able to share, so what happens is that you have people coming to do ministry but they spend the majority of their time probably looking for hotel rooms and try to find where they are going to stay and figure out how they are going to do food.’ The tourists that don’t have tickets to Olympic events are often the target for the ministries. ” You have a non-threatening situation combined with people with time on their hands and I think it’s worked out nicely.” The various ministries represented sometimes use music and drama to attract attention. And, many are working together providing interpreters to ensure the Gospel is heard.
Next, the Bible has become a bestseller in the country of Mongolia. Missionary Rick Leatherwood reports that the day after the first Mongolian Bible went on sale, all 10-thousand copies were sold. Leatherwood and a team of translators worked several years to produce a Bible that the Mongolia people could understand. The growth in Christianity is evident, as the church in the formerly communist country has grown from fewer than 50 people in 1991 to about 10-thousand today.
Talks between the US and India may not have any effect on the persecution of Christians there.
A mission group believes young people today may see the completion of the Great Commission.
Back to the Bible gives this update surrounding their work in India. An encounter late last week between the guerrilla group of Maoist Communist Centre and a private army of Muslims, left nine people dead. Violence between the lower and upper castes in the second most populous Indian state of Bihar is common. Local police have reported 85 deaths from this area since May. Please pray for Back to the Bible’s ministry in India; officials there say they often faces opposition.
Next, Audio Scriptures International is nearing the end of the first stage on their Arabic New Testament project. Pastor Mofid Wasef is nearly finished narrating and recording the contemporary version of the four Gospels. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will open the understanding of Muslims to accept Jesus as Savior and God. Pray too, for significant numbers of Muslims who have been open to the Gospel in the last couple of years, and for those whose lives have been threatened.
China’s trade talks with the U-S piques the interest of believers.
