Christian Resources International in need of Bibles

(Photo courtesy of CRI)

International (MNN) — Every day, people are hearing the Gospel message for the first time and giving their lives to Christ. The sad news is many lack what they need to keep growing.

“An interesting statistic is 122,000 people are getting saved every day, and the alarming fact is a majority of those people are attending churches where the pastor doesn’t even own a Bible,” says Jason Woolford, executive director of Christian Resources International.

That’s why over the last 59 years, CRI has sent over 272 million dollars’ worth of free Bibles and Christian books to over 170 different nations. But it’s not always easy. The material CRI sends all comes from donations, which can be inconsistent.

“At this particular time, we’re kind of low on Bibles, and so I’m asking [people] to go and seek out Bibles that they can send in to us,” Woolford says. “We’re going to send those and give them away for free to somebody in Africa, India, China, Philippines, etc.”

Many useful tools exist to help Christians–especially pastors and missionaries–learn more about God and study His Word in-depth. But CRI knows there is nothing more important than the Bible itself. Without knowing and understanding God’s direct words, spiritual growth is impossible.

“[God] says above all, take up the shield of faith and the sword, which is the Word of God,” Woolford says. “I find it interesting that…as He talks about the shield of faith, He says that [faith] comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God only, that it comes by no other way, and without faith it’s impossible to please God.

“Somebody can get saved by asking Christ into their life, but if they don’t have God’s Word, if they don’t know what God has to say about the rest of the situation that they’re going through, or that someone they’re ministering to is going through; they will not know how to minister to them.”

Joseph is partnering with CRI to bring God’s Word to Kenya.
(Photo courtesy of CRI)

Besides sending shipments of Christian resources, CRI also sets up distribution centers where pastors, missionaries, and local believers can receive Christian resources for free. There are currently distribution centers in the Philippines, Nigeria, and most recently, Kenya, where one million dollars’ worth of resources are sent every year.

“We’ve just recently done this in Kenya. We’ve bought and purchased a sea container and filled it with half a million dollars’ worth of free Bibles and Christian books. [We] sent it to our CRI missionary there, and he’ll be training up pastors monthly–not just sending them away with training, but sending them away with the Word of God and Christian books,” Woolford says.

This is only made possible through the generosity of people like you. And with CRI’s current need for Bibles, your help is greatly needed. There are multiple ways you can support CRI’s mission, whether through donating your gently-used extra Bibles and Christian books, or through a financial gift. Click here to learn more about CRI’s ministry and how you can help.

Source: Mission Network News