Harvest Gives 25,000 Bibles to New Believers

Communicating the message is what church is all about, according to Pastor Greg Laurie of mega-church, Harvest Christian Fellowship.

That is why the church placed a New Believer's Bible into the hands of all the thousands who confessed a decision for Christ during the annual Harvest Crusade at Anaheim, Calif. July 15 to 17.

"We believe that if someone believes in Christ, they should walk away with a Bible in their hands," said Paul Eaton, Administrative Pastor of the Harvest Church.

The initiative, called Share the Word, and the fundraising campaign to place a Bible into 25,000 pairs of hands, began only weeks before the Anaheim crusade. The fundraising was successful.

The New Believer's Bible utilizes the popular New Living Translation made by Tyndale founder, Kenneth Taylor, who developed the translation for the sake of his children who had difficulty understanding the King James' Version.

The Bible includes a preface for the new believer that expounds on what to do after receiving Christ. Faith can grow when you pray, read the Bible, fellowship with other believers, and share your newfound faith in Christ.

Share the Word is just one of several methods employed by the church to make the Word of God as accessible to the new believer as possible.

Another approach, utilizing the Internet, allows the church to reach so many more across the world efficiently.

Eaton said the thing he's noticed over the last ten years is that there's so much more accessibility electronically. Comparing the Internet's capability to reach greater numbers of people with the 15th century printing press, he said, "It's almost information revolution all over again."

In addition to the 100,000 who attended the Crusade in person, there were 28,000 accesses to the live broadcasting online.

Relaying the Gospel message is what the Harvest church is interested in, and no matter what form communication takes, it makes sure that it does not overshadow the message itself.

"You got to keep the main thing the main thing," said Laurie.

Eaton agreed, "When you're done with all the window dressing, all the worship, or various tools that you might use, including video, lighting, or big screens, it all needs to come back to the main thing, which is the Word of God."