When Ian Carmichael opened a Koorong catalogue last year, he wasn't expecting any great consequences. But just 6 months on, he has accepted an invitation to join the Committee of Bible League Australia and wants to help raise awareness of the Bible League's ministry.
"When I opened the catalogue, a Bible League brochure fell out", Ian explains. "It told the story of a man named Caleb in China, who got up at 3am every morning in order to read someone else's Bible. Then he was delighted to be able to borrow a Bible for a whole week, working non-stop for all 7 days to copy it by hand into five thick notebooks so that he could at last have some of God's word for himself.
"But in the Koorong catalogue itself, there was a Bible and software guide listing dozens of Bibles available to us in Australia"”32 pages of options that seemed to pander to our every wish, including Bibles who's main selling point seemed to be their fashion-conscious covers.
"I couldn't help thinking "this is just wrong', and I was chastened when I compared myself to Caleb and thought of how many Bibles we have in our home."
When Ian read more of the Bible League literature, he was astonished to discover that there are literally hundreds of millions of people in China, Africa and other parts of the world"”both Christians and non-Christians"”who would desperately love to have a Bible to read, but can't get one. And demand is growing much faster than supply. Yet the only barrier to getting these people God's word is lack of funds.
Bible League Australia describes itself as "a worldwide Bible outreach". It's emphasis is on distributing the Scriptures to people in the context of evangelism and church planting.
In 2005, Bible League distributed over 17 million Bibles, including to over 3 million people who completed evangelistic studies before receiving their Bible. Through this and other programs, 5500 new churches were planted.
As a result of his interest and his publishing background with Matthias Media, Ian, who is a member of Christchurch St Ives, was recently invited to join the Bible League Committee.
"Of course I said "yes'. The strategy that Bible League uses just resonated with me as a Sydney Anglican. It's an approach that puts a high value on the Scriptures and using them in evangelism, and with the goal of planting new congregations that reach out to the community.
"But I am also impressed by the way Bible League seeks to help persecuted Christians around the world by ensuring they have the Scriptures as a source of hope and comfort."
Mr Carmichael says the Bible League charges the small fee of $7 to place a Bible.
More information about the organisation can be found on the Bible League web site.
