The USA is home to a large number of refugees, immigrants, people groups, and languages. Whether the language is Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Soomali, or Italian, the Word of God is the same. “I come from a Telugu-speaking place,” Prem V., in Indiana, pleads. “I need to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with my mom and other family members who don’t read or speak English.”
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“I use the booklets in my service as a chaplain in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. The population I serve are non-citizens, currently numbering around 500 and representing over 40 nations and multiple languages. There is a steady turnover in the make-up of those whom I serve because they arrive and depart - some released here and others returning to where their citizenship lies. Seeking to know the God of the Bible and to explore Christianity is an active pursuit of many I meet with daily.” -Donna L. The world watched in dismay at the upheaval which caused thousands to flee, seeking safety and hope. WMP is reprinting 75,000 copies of the Gospel of John in Dari, a language of Afghanistan. These, along with Help from Above in Dari, will be used in the USA, Europe, and parts of Asia—wherever this migration settles.
"I Just wanted you to know that we received the Scripture booklets that you sent. Thank you so much, as this will be an invaluable tool in our outreach to the over 50,000 Venezuelan refugees currently residing in Trinidad. It has been impossible to source Spanish language tracts locally, and we are very grateful!" -Sunil L., Trinidad “I volunteer packing travel bags for Casa Alitas, who helps asylum seekers from Guatemala and Honduras get to their destinations. I put a Spanish booklet in each bag. Last Saturday alone, there were 400 people being cared for, but I did not pack all of their bags. I think that all of these requested booklets will be used within two months.” -Tiffany A., AZ, U.S.A.
"I have been utilizing WMP booklets while working with Syrian refugees and Kurdish orphans in Northern Iraq and doing Bible studies with tea for refugee women. I have been sharing your Scripture materials since 1980." -Anonymous, U.S.A. (Attached to an order for Arabic Scripture booklets...) “I am a Christian man, 50 years old, in Sweden. My church gives out coffee free to people in the middle of town, Uppsala, almost every weekend. At the same time, we share the gospel about Jesus Christ to people. There are many refugees who have come to Sweden from the Middle East and most them are Muslims. They are often very open to listen to the gospel. I’ve read the booklet, The Way to God, in Swedish and I thought it was very good. I met a Swedish evangelist in Stockholm this spring and we evangelized among the Muslims in a suburb. He had the booklet, The Way to God, in a few languages and I gave it to people who knew the language. I also read it in Swedish and thought it was very good, according to my faith in God. I saw the internet address at the backside of the booklet and searched it with my computer.” -Tobias E., Sweden “We are on furlough from Costa Rica. I came across a few hundred of these booklets in a closet in our camp in Costa Rica. I read through a booklet and loved how it presented the Gospel. We used these booklets in our ministry—evangelism and medical outreach. It was amazing to see God work. We had distributed over 400 booklets to the people of Costa Rica and refugees and saw in a year over 200 people making decisions for Christ." -Robert B., Canada Scripture booklets needed in Europe BY JULIE BOURDON Europe (MNN) — As violence in the Middle East rages on, refugees are flooding into Europe.
Helen Williams of World Missionary Press says that Christians in Western Europe want to help. And so, they’ve shared the one thing that is most precious to them: the Gospel. Many of them have asked for assistance. “World Missionary Press provides Scripture in many different languages. Even if you don’t know how to speak your neighbor’s language, you can deliver a wonderful message. (Photo courtesy of World Missionary Press).scripture booklets that are designed to introduce people to the one true God, the message of salvation, and then bring them to a decision.” Williams says explaining that the requests for scripture booklets in Europe have been immense. Many of these refugees have not previously been exposed to the Gospel. Their presence in Europe is an exciting opportunity. “We hear politically that it’s a difficult situation—and it is—for the countries in Europe, and yet it’s an open door for the Gospel,” Williams says. Stories from the field: Munich, Germany In Germany, a team of Christians were waiting for Syrian Muslims to arrive. “When they got to Munich, someone introduced them to the Scriptures and to the Gospel and ten of them were born again. And these ten have gathered together to reach out to the rest of the Muslims that are coming through.” The Christians who got to witness this wanted to emphasize their amazement at God’s power in changing hearts. So now, as hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are living in Germany, the team wants to reach all of them. Scripture booklets could expedite this process. World Missionary Press is working on getting them scripture booklets in Arabic and any other languages they may need. Helsinki, Finland Williams explains that when refugees get off the train in Helsinki, Christians are usually waiting for them. In many cases, when they go to give them a booklet that shares the Gospel, refugees will show them they’ve already received one. This means on the road between Syria and Finland, Christians have been considerate of their need for the Gospel. Sweden World Missionary Press also received a letter from a woman in Sweden. A woman was asking for more booklets. She saw the plight of the refugees around her, and the only thing she knew to do was to share with them her greatest hope in Jesus Christ. Williams explains that the individuals and groups handing out the booklets are simply people who are wanting and willing to give hope, and they’ve taken a look around them to see the need of the refugees. “These people have hungry hearts and they have needy hearts and now’s the time.” Someone might wonder why, when the refugees have lost everything they have, Christians might choose to give them a booklet of scripture. “I think a lot of it comes from their own experience with the Lord,” Williams says. God was their comfort in their own time of pain and loss, and so that is what they want to give to these people who seem so hopeless. “Many of these people are offering the scripture booklets along with food and water and blankets and shoes,” Williams says. Scripture Booklets in your own neighborhood The situation in Europe is not unique in that there are people all around us every day who for one reason or another have not heard the Gospel. Some communities may stick to themselves, having come from one country. There could be language barriers that have kept others from reaching out to them. “I think if people have open eyes, they’ll find that there are people all over who would love to have the Word in their language, and they never have totally understood it, never been reached,” says Williams. There are opportunities at your own front door. So, look around you. You never know who has or has not heard about the hope found in Jesus. If you find a group in need, contact World Missionary Press for resources. Support You can be a part of what is happening in Europe by assisting World Missionary Press. They currently have requests for around 72 million pieces of literature. They’re working on new languages, connecting with new distributors, desiring to get the Gospel into more heart languages. To help, click here. Williams says their greatest need is for prayer—for their mission, for the people that are reaching out, and for the people that are being reached. When refugees flee to other countries, they usually have nothing. “What they’ve lost is what this world has. Their possessions— maybe they’ve lost family as well— but they’ve lost their place in society, many of them, they’ve lost the homeland.“ Some of these things are not replaceable. Much of the trauma will affect them forever. So merely meeting their physical needs, while necessary, is not enough. “That’s what the Word of God does—it offers hope that is outside of this world, that cannot be taken away.” |
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