Volume 47   Number 4                                                           December 2004

On our recent trip to the Philippines, the Lord blessed Louis Garbi and me with a happy experience and an opportunity to work with the brethren there. This work was good in a lot of ways, for it provided much encouragement to the brothers and sisters there. It also provided brethren here in the U.S.A. a way to serve our brethren.

It was our observation while with the Filipino brethren that there seems to be a large need for Bibles in their common languages. By their standards Bibles are very expensive-about $7 for good hardback pew-style Bibles. This is about 3 days' wages for many workers in the villages and rural areas. We went to a lot of churches that seemed to have a severe lack of Bibles. We attended several churches that had large numbers of children who did not have access to Bibles. This may be an area we can help in a great way.

We purchased a large number of Bibles eight years ago, and it seems to be a need once again. We plan to try to gather funds for such a work. Charles Biery has agreed to handle the funds and the accompanying transfer to the Philippines to purchase the Bibles. Charles is a faithful brother in this and other regards, and due to his banking experience he is a perfect servant to help us with this. Our initial thoughts are to potentially provide as many as 1,000 Bibles. This would be a huge burden for 1 or 2 churches, but if we can gain the help from a large number of churches and brethren this would not be nearly as daunting. The difficult part might be distributing such a number, but that can be worked out once the funds are gathered.

If you are interested in helping we urge you to contact any of us involved in the Philippine work. It is my conviction there is no better way to edify the church and help them preach Christ to non-believers than to provide copies of God's Word in the common languages of the people.

Let us once again rise up to serve some of our brethren overseas with some of the blessings the Lord has provided. The Lord has used our country's blessings for many good things, and no use has been greater than the abilities to help distribute copies of God's Word to seeking souls. Paul tells us the Word of God is what gave the Jewish people a great advantage in the first century. (Romans 3:1-2) In practical terms we in this country have a great advantage over much of the world, for Bibles are in much abundance and very inexpensive here. However, this is not necessarily the case in other parts of the world. We can help provide many copies of the Scriptures to those who desire it. Let us use the Lord's blessings once again for perhaps the noblest of works-Let us help provide Bibles for those who need them.