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A ministry with the mission to share Christian books in countries lacking theological resources has launched a project to help American Christians share Bibles in areas where the average third world pastor has zero Bibles.
Christian Resources International (CRI) executive director Fred Palmerton was troubled by statistics from Christian Booksellers Association and Zondervan Publishers which indicate that the average American Christian owns nine Bibles while the average third world pastor owns zero Bibles.
In reaction, CRI has launched Operation Bare Your Bookshelf, a project that makes it easier for American Christians to send Bibles and Christian books to believers overseas.
The ministry would send mailing materials as well as the actual request letter for Bibles to the interested American Christian after the person fills out an online request form.
According to CRI’s “extensive first-hand” reports gathered over the past 50 years, the average developing church has at most access to one copy of the Bible which is often shared with other pastors, and perhaps one or two theological books.
The Michigan-based ministry receives more than 250 letters a month from pastors or Christians overseas for Bibles and Christian books, with some pastors not having even a New Testament.
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CRI’s Palmerton said that everyday more than 122,000 people become Christian – most from Africa, Asia, and South America. However, these new Christians attend churches where the pastor does not even have a Bible.
Doug Burnie, a CRI volunteer, regularly uses old ambulances and school buses to Guaymas, Mexico, to donate Bibles and Christian books to churches, charities, clinics, and schools. Burnie found out the second time he met a Mexican pastor that the pastor had traveled 800-miles to Guaymas to receive the free Christian books. The pastor said he had shared the11-pound bundle of books he received the first time with six other pastors in his community.
While pastors such as the one Burnie met in Mexico go without Bibles and Christian resources, the average American Christian has nine Bibles. The nine Bibles usually include Bibles in different languages, study Bibles, children’s Bible, Baptismal Bibles, confirmation Bibles, bridal Bibles, and old Bibles that have been replaced by newer versions.
“The resources that are desperately needed in the developing church already exist,” said Palmerton in a statement. “They are gathering dust on the bookshelves of American Christians.”
For more information visit: www.bareyourbookshelf.com.
