Bibles for China

An estimated 25,000 mainland Chinese come to Christ each day, and few of them have Bibles.

Evangelist terry Law of Terry Law Ministries/World Compassion in Tulsa, Okla., has been a longtime friend of mine who always seems to be on the cutting edge of where God is moving. Long before any of us had an inkling that the communist world might be crumbling in Eastern Europe, Terry was taking his singing group, Living Sound, into Soviet bloc countries, sharing the gospel and making contact with the underground church.

I had the privilege of traveling to Russia with Terry in 1990–before the fall of communism there–to work on getting Bibles into that country. I shared that vision with the readers of Charisma, and you responded more generously than at any time in the history of the magazine.

More than $250,000 poured in–most of it from you. Later, I had the privilege of being with Terry as we watched the first Bibles for Russia come off the press in Sweden.

Four years later I made my first trip into China–the last of the communist superpowers. I was arrested at the border for smuggling Bibles and waited for more than two hours while the Chinese authorities decided my fate.

Though I was never in great danger, I learned from my experience that the Bible is not welcome in China, despite what some American Christians have reported. And the incident allowed me in a small way to identify with the suffering church.

It also motivated me to raise money to send Bibles to China. We were able to do that, in large part because you responded to my plea for help and sent in more than $50,000.

Now we need your help again.

Terry called me recently and told me that he urgently needs to raise $280,000 to deliver a very large number of Bibles to Chinese believers. Because of the clandestine nature of this project, details are sketchy. We do know that the Bibles have been paid for, are being held in storage and that the cost is only 16 cents for one of these Bibles to be delivered into the hands of a Chinese Christian.

Imagine: for half of what it costs to mail a letter in the United States, you can deliver a Bible to a Christian in China! And Terry told me that it’s estimated that for every Bible delivered in China five people will be won to the Lord.

Certainly the need for Bibles in China is great. An estimated 25,000 mainland Chinese come to faith in Christ each day, and few of them have Bibles.

Even many pastors don’t have one. And because they don’t, these new believers either hear sermons preached from what a pastor might have–which is often just a brief portion of the Bible–or they get into theological error based on oral teachings that aren’t based on God’s Word.

When Terry called he sounded determined. He said he had depleted all his sources for funds. But he remembered how we had responded when the need for Bibles in Russia was so great.

Once again we need an equally generous response to meet this need.

I have seen the need for Bibles in China and have responded with a generous gift myself and intend to give another large gift. So when Terry asked me if I would present this need to you, I immediately wanted to cooperate.

Terry needs the money this month before the window of opportunity closes. Since the Bibles are already paid for, he just needs to transport and facilitate the distribution of the Bibles to various parts of China, from which the final deliveries will be made. He has pledged that every penny of the proceeds will go to this project alone–none of it will go to overhead.

Consider this: for $32 you could see 200 Bibles delivered. That means an estimated 1,000 people could come to the Lord as a result.

To help Terry, write to Terry Law
Ministries/World Compassion, P.O. Box 92, Tulsa, OK 74101; or call toll-free
(888) 492-2858; or e-mail Terry at [email protected].

Can you think of a better investment to make this summer? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to meet 1,000 Chinese believers in heaven and know you helped take the gospel to them because of your investment in Bibles for China?

Stephen Strang is the founding editor of Charisma. He invites you to attend Charisma’s 25th anniversary conference, being held in Orlando, Florida, Aug. 3-5. To register, call (888) 772-2223.