The Asia Bible Fund provides Bibles to all Asian believers who hunger and thirst for God’s Word. In this photo from about 20 years ago, two teenage soldiers with the Karen Liberation Army are glad to receive Kachin Bibles before being deployed to the frontlines in their battle against the Burmese military.

Cameron Townsend, whom we cited above, also said this great quote that may help people understand why we have such a sharp focus on providing the Scriptures in so many obscure languages. 

He said: 

“Understanding Scripture in a language other than the heart language in which we think and experience emotion is like trying to eat soup with a fork. You can get a little taste, but you cannot get nourished.” 

 In this special Asia Harvest newsletter, we give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has enabled His Word to go forth. 

A movement that has transformed entire communities and millions of lives through the Asia Bible Fund.

In the early years, Bible printing in Vietnam was done on secret presses like this one.

Our Secret Fundraiser

The famous missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once wrote,

“God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

Some people who read that we have provided over 20 million Bibles may wrongly assume that we are well-connected to some wealthy people or foundations. God has had a far better plan for us, and the Lord Jesus Himself decided to be our fund-raiser!

As this crucial project blossomed, the Holy Spirit moved on the hearts of many people to pray and give so that Asia’s Christians—especially new believers living in impoverished rural areas—would have access to His Word.

Instead of connecting us with a few large donors, the Lord chose to link us together with hundreds of normal believers throughout the world. We marvel at the wisdom of God in leading us to function in this manner.

A few individual snowflakes can easily be brushed aside, but a multitude of snowflakes can join together to stop trucks and derail freight trains.

Over the years, the median size donation we have received is $52, as the Holy Spirit has connected us with many members of the Body of Christ.

This way, the number of Bibles we have been able to provide has grown rapidly, and the Lord has gained much glory for His Name.

Above: Sometimes road conditions make transporting Bibles a challenge!

Above Left: Akha women from Laos proudly display their new Bibles.

Above Right: The Kalash tribe in northern Pakistan are overjoyed to have the Word of God.

Below: All hands are needed to move tons of Bibles from Burmese “long boats” to the villages.

Headwinds

Right now, the Asia Bible Fund faces stronger headwinds than ever before, with persecution, invasive technology, and other challenges such as war combining to create new challenges to all ministries who attempt to provide large quantities of Bibles to God’s people across Asia.

Over the decades about a dozen Asian believers have been killed for their involvement in this project, especially in China. Dozens of others have been imprisoned for years, including some who are behind bars right now.

This project has experienced every kind of stress and problem you could imagine. Satan despises the Word of God and particularly hates it when a tribe or group of believers who hunger for Bibles finally gain access to them.

The 20 million Bibles we have provided are physical, paper Bibles. Some people ask why we don't focus on Bible apps and various forms of electronic Bibles.

It's not so simple. For example, a few years ago the Chinese government blocked access to Bible apps and websites, willingly aided by Google and Apple.

A bigger potential problem is that the Communists are now writing their own socialist version of the Bible, and a future app update may automatically replace God’s Word with their perverted version, with new believers not even noticing or being able to discern the difference.

Please pray for us and all who are involved in this project.

As long as the Lord Jesus gives us strength, we want to continue to do everything possible to get God’s Word to believers in Asia so they can be nourished, strengthened, and empowered by the Bread of Life.

Below: We have found that often the people most eager to read the Bible and learn about Jesus are strict Muslims.

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