Answers to FAQ - March 2024

Biblia Global operates in a unique way that is different from other ministries. While we don't think everyone needs to operate according to our method, we do believe God has called us to this unique approach, walking in faith and obedience to Him.  Here are some answers to questions we have received recently for those who may be new to our ministry:

Q: Who receives the Bibles you fund?

A: Christians in closed countries who have no other way to receive God's Word. Most of those we serve have one, a combination, or all of the following characteristics in common: they live in closed countries; face persecution from the governing authorities for their Christian faith; lack financial resources to purchase a Bible if one were available, and nearly all the time, a Bible is not available for purchase; live in very remote areas within a closed country. We have heard many times from those we serve that their church and larger people group have been praying for decades for a physical copy of God's Word in their heart language.

Q: How does Biblia Global meet that need?

A:
We have a network of contacts - indigenous ministry volunteers, western missionaries, and partner organizations - who work with us to get Bibles to those who are asking for a Bible and have already been identified. We cannot share the names of these partners for their safety and the operating methods.  We aren't westerners tossing Bibles out the back of trucks to just anyone who wants one; We are working with local pastors and church networks to identify the need and strategically get the Bibles, some for many decades. In most cases, the need is so great, only one Bible is given per family of 5-9 people.

Q: Do you have paid staff? Do you have offices in the US we can visit?

A:
Biblia Global is an all volunteer run organization that doesn't have paid staff or have an office we pay overhead for. All of those who volunteer their time to make the organization run have outside employment or income that pay their family's bills and serve the organization from their homes. This is how we keep out administration costs low. Those administration costs we do have are paid for by those who give to the "General/Where most needed" fund and generally amount to less that 5% of the total expenditures in a given year. 100% of donations given to Bible projects go directly to those designated projects!

Q: How does Biblia Global raise funds?

A:
We pray! We ask God to move in the hearts of people and churches to give; and to connect us to new partner churches and donors. We have never solicited new or old donors or employed professional fund raisers. We share project updates, pictures and testimonies of the work so those who give can see how there donations are used and the impact their giving has. We share corresponding giving opportunities to give in this newsletter and on our website as a way to respond to God's movement. An excellent summary of our financial approach can be found here

Q: If I take the total project expenses for past years and divided it by the number of Bibles you fund in that year, the resulting cost per Bible is less than the $4 - $14.50 you state on your website of what a Bible costs to print and deliver? 

A:
The discrepancy is simple.  The cost to print and deliver a Bible is approximately $4 - $14.50 USD. What we pay to fund for Bible projects each year may be just the printing, just the delivery costs of the Bibles that someone else paid to print, or a just volunteers carrying into a closed country what has already been printed and shipped.  Or the project cost is a combination of all three costs! Sometimes we pay for Bibles to be printed at the end of a calendar year and the printing takes 3-4 months so we don't pay for the shipping until the next calendar year, thus further splitting the costs over multiple years.

Rest assured we seek to use the funds God has entrusted to us in the most efficient, cost effective manner, trying to get the most "bang for our buck", while getting believers the actual Bibles they are asking for. If the believers want the words slightly larger so they can read the print easier? We work to make that happen. Do they want the words of Christ in Red?  We will pay the extra for that cost. And again, 100% given to a Bible project goes to that Bible project.    

Q: Why don't you share more about your organizations leadership and board of directors on your website?

A:
We work in a highly sensitive security environment. While we desire to be as transparent as possible with our organization there is a good amount we cannot share publicly. This is to protect the individuals and their families who serve our organization, our methods of operation, our contacts and the indigenous believers we serve.

We hope you understand we cannot answer some sensitive questions so we can keep getting God's Word to God's people! While westerners may ask what they think are benign questions, we don't know who is behind a keyboard or even an initial personal interaction, if that person is safe, working at the behest of a foreign intelligence agency, or would use the information given to tear down the work.  Please help us keep this important kingdom work safe by not sharing sensitive information publicly!

The Heart Touching Story of Four Akha Woman

Three of the Akha woman on the journey to the Christian training center. Their face are obscured for security purposes. 

Earlier in 2022, Biblia Global funded the printing and delivery of 10,000 Akha Bibles in the old Akha dialect that the majority of Akha read and write in.  This was the second printing of the full Akha Bible we have helped print, the first being in 2019.  While the current distribution is ongoing and we will be sharing more pictures and testimonies at a later date, one encouraging story of Akha Christians whom these Bibles have gone to deserves to be told now.

Four young Akha women from a closed SE Asian Country decided to follow Jesus and become Christians. We don’t mention this country for security purposes. As a result of their decision, they were kicked out of their village and disowned by their families.  One of our in-country partners arraigned for these young women to take part in a 6-week training course in sewing, hair dressing, farming, and animal raising as a way to learn vocational skills to support themselves financially down the road.

The Akha woman receiving their Akha Bibles.

As a part of this training school, these four Akha woman would be able to take part in daily fellowship and Bible devotions and learn how to lead worship. Upon graduation, they were hired on for another 6-week term to help at the school and to give them continued time to be established in their faith and earn funds to support themselves. A Biblia Global courier team recently got to meet these girls in person and bring in several dozen Akha Bibles for these woman and for the other Akha believers who are coming to Christ in this country. How amazing it is to see God working in these, and other Christian men and women's lives, and to be able to bring them their first copy of the Bible in their heart language! Each believer that receives a Bible - funded by you our donor - whether brought in by a Biblia Global courier team or through other methods has equally compelling stories that we will get to hear one day when we reach heaven. These Bibles are not just going to random people, but brothers and sister in Christ whose lives are being radically changed by the living God.

The Akha woman receiving their Akha Bibles.

We look forward to sharing more stories of the Akha receiving God's Word in future newsletters.

Another contact from this same closed SE Asian country has requested 2,000 Bibles per year for the next three years in another language for a total of 6,200 Bibles specifically for pastors.  We provided 600 of these same Bibles in 2019. Please pray God will meet the financial need for us to provide God's Word for the servants of the church in this place over the next three years.

Another set of contacts in a closed SE Asian Country requested 100 Blue Hmong Bibles this month which will be delivered in 2023.  All these Bible projects are funded by our generous donors who give to the Bibles for Asia Project and the General Fund.

Living for Christ in the Midst of Opposition and Social Chaos

Living for Christ in the Midst of Opposition and Social Chaos

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13, ESV

Our first mission at Biblia Global is to equip Christians in restricted places with the Word of God. As we equip those Christians, there is a tremendous amount we can learn back from them as they live as shining stars in dark, oppressive places. In the United States, life has become darker the last 12 months. We have faced increased societal chaos, lawlessness, the flipping of good and evil in the public square, and the silencing of opposing voices and views. If we are willing to listen, there is much that the church in closed countries can teach us as we navigate our darkening landscape …

2021 Myanmar Coup Update

2021 Myanmar Coup Update

Myanmar opened significantly to the outside world in 2011 having been highly restricted for many decades. It was extremely difficult to get Bibles in outside of official channels before 2011. It would not be a stretch to say that the many Christians who belonged to minority people groups were famished for the Word of God when the country opened up in 2011. Since 2015, working with our partners and contacts God has allowed to get 100,219 Bibles to the Lahu, Tedim Chin, Falam Chin, Asang Khongcaa Chin, Kachin, Pwo Karen, Akha, and Sqaw Karen. Thank you Lord! The situation in Myanmar has become significantly worse since the Coup d' etat on February 1, 2021.

2020 Matching Gift Challenge

Exciting news! Our friends at aaa.ngo will once again match all donations given to our Bibles for Asia project from Oct. 1 - 31, 2020, up to $20,000! 100% of your donations will go toward the printing and transportation cost to get a Bible into a waiting believer's hands. Our goal will be to raise $30,000 on top of the matching gift challenge for a total project goal of $70,000. This will allow us to print and transport at least 20,000 Bibles.  Please pray we can meet this goal, as we can't do it without the Lords help!

May 2020 Update

 May 2020 Update

How has Biblia Global been affected during the current COVID-19 pandemic? We are fortunate that we have very low organizational overhead, have no rent to pay for office space, and our ministry is 100% volunteer run. Everyone who is involved in this ministry (board members, volunteers, coworkers, contacts, partners) are able to connect to each other remotely, so in a sense, we have been well positioned for the current environment where …

Praying for the Church in Wuhan and China

Praying for the Church in Wuhan and China

In the midst of difficult and uncertain times, the Church and Christ's love shines all the brighter. One Church In Wuhan, Hubei Province, shared how to pray during the recent coronavirus outbreak:

“Greetings to church members, brothers and sisters who are concerned about the epidemic in Wuhan. In the face of the current epidemic, you all and the people of Wuhan are "united and share the same fate". We thank our brothers and sisters at home and abroad for their attention, greetings and prayers. As the church established by God in this city, not only do we need to protect ourselves and take care of our families, we also need to care for our neighbors with the love of Christ, and do our best to help. Let us live a life of love and hope, and glorify our God! We call on you to pray together:

  1. First facing the great epidemic, we should confess our sins and that of the people, may all people repent and return to God. We pray for comfort from God, our heavenly Father, so that the brothers and sisters of various churches will experience God's faithfulness, and truly understand that God is the ruler and the "King above the waters". The plans God has for us are to prosper us and not to harm us, and to give us hope and a future. Jesus Christ is our peace.

  2. Second, we pray for those in power and ask God to help them get wisdom, honesty and love from God when they issue relevant policies and make emergency plans, including timely epidemic reports and related reassuring efforts.

  3. Third, we pray for the safety and health of frontline medical staff and their families; we pray for the supply of medicine and relevant medical equipment; we pray for the health of patients and their families, and we pray that the epidemic would not continue to get worse.

  4. Fourth, disasters make people who do not know God see their own vulnerability. It is time for us to introduce Jesus to those in need, so that they can turn to God. We pray that all the people of the earth may know the name of God and fear him. Fifth, we pray for ourselves and our families. May the Lord give us courage and strength, so that we can put our trust in him. When people face difficulties and uncertainties, hope and love are the most powerful forces that make them feel strong and calm.” [1]


[1] Wang, Ruth, “Wuhan Church: ‘Take Care of Yourself, Your Family, and Neighbors with Christ's Love’”, ChinaChristianDaily.com [home page on-line]; available from: http://www.chinachristiandaily.com/news/category/2020-02-03/wuhan-church---take-care-of-yourself--your-family--and-neighbors-with-christ-s-love-_8810?fbclid=IwAR3zBR064GvPgPOBLJsQcEKcQG1PXUlAWVlf9Z5MsIYsJutIhbSu2YQNLrU accessed 22 February 2020.

DONATIONS TO BIBLES FOR ASIA DOUBLED IN OCTOBER 2019!

Exciting News - aaa.ngo will double all gifts given to Biblia Global's Bibles for Asia project from October 1 - October 31st, 2019 up to $40,000! We will use all funds raised by this matching gift challenge to print and deliver Bibles (with hymnals when possible) through our Bibles for Asia project so waiting Christians may have their first copy of God's Word.

Give today to help us meet this goal and take full advantage of these matching funds!

Changes to the King Sooper Neighborhood Rewards Program for Biblia Global

Beginning March 2019, in an effort for King Soopers to simplify their community giving, they will be launching the Community Rewards Program. This program will be replacing the Neighborhood Rewards Program. No longer will you need to reload gift cards to support Biblia Global – all you now need to do is link your SooperCard or Kroger loyalty card to Biblia Global and shop with King Soopers, City Market, or Kroger just like you always do!

Rapids: An update on the growing oppression of the church in China

Rapids: An update on the growing oppression of the church in China

At the beginning of 2019, the situation for China’s Christians remain the worst the church has seen since the end of the cultural revolution under Mao Zedong in 1976. The Chinese church in 2019 is facing significant obstacles as they navigate living in authoritarian China with living faithfully to Jesus Christ. While eradication of Christianity in China does not appear to be the end game of the communist government, thought control in the official church, shaping the official church into the image of the atheistic communist world view, and strangling all other forms of Christian practice outside of the official church, seem to be the goal.  Reports are coming out of a new major push between 2018 and 2022 to implement thought reform within the official church to make it more “Chinese” and malleable to the government’s control. In support of this push are plans for a major re-translation and annotation of the Chinese Bible to find commonalities and “correct understanding” of the Biblical text to match the Communists government desired view of Christianity

Donations to Bibles for Asia Doubled in October 2018

Donations to Bibles for Asia Doubled in October 2018

Exciting News - aaa.ngo will double all gifts given to Biblia Global's Bibles for Asia project from October 1 - October 31st, 2018 up to $20,000! We will use all funds raised by this matching gift challenge to print and deliver Bibles (with hymnals when possible) through our Bibles for Asia project so waiting Christians may have their first copy of God's Word. Give today to help us meet this goal and take full advantage of these matching funds.

Black Hmong Receive First Bible Translation in Their Language!

Black Hmong Receive First Bible Translation in Their Language!

A number of years ago, Biblia Global donors helped fund Bibles to Black Hmong (Boua) Christians.  We have received reports and pictures of these Christians receiving their first Black Hmong Bibles in 2017.  This is a brand new translation into Black Hmong and the first translation of the Bible into this people groups language!  Faces have been blurred and location cannot be disclosed for security reasons as this is a highly sensitive region. Thank you to all our supporters for making projects like these possible!

In Memory of Brother Chalit

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Many of you will remember reading in past reports about an 80 year old Lahu pastor named Chalit (we called him Mr. S at the time).  One of our volunteers (pictured at right with brother Chalit) traveled to a Lahu Bible distribution in 2016 and met brother Chalit and heard his story.  One of the founding fathers of the Lahu Baptist convention, brother Chalit had traveled 150 miles from the Chinese-Burmese border to get his churches first Bibles.  The church had waited many decades to receive their first Bibles.

The lack of Bibles was causing many problems in the Lahu churches, so beginning in the year 2000, Lahu pastors and Christians started praying that the Lahu people would have their own Bible in the next century. God began to answer their prayers in 2015. By 2016, brother Chalit came the 150 miles to get his churches first Bibles.

When I (Tim) went to the next Lahu Bible distribution in November of 2017, I received bittersweet news: brother Chalit had gone to be with the Lord just three days before the meeting.  It was clear by the look on many of the pastor's faces when this news was shared that brother Chalit had a tremendous impact on many in the room.  He had been faithful to shepherd his flock.

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I was struck by the fact that he was finally able to get his sheep their first Bibles after all those years of waiting and praying, then died only one year after receiving his churches first Bibles.  What if we had been delayed by a year? I have heard many stories and testimonies of believers dying before they saw their prayers answered for their own Bible.  News of brother Chalit's death made that reality clearer for me and has animated me since then to work as hard and as fast as I can to get Bibles to the tens of millions of believers who are waiting.  Our work is not just getting God's Word to waiting Christians however; we are being used by God to directly answer these precious believer's prayers.  Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 describe the prayers of God's people as being incense which goes up before Him.  That prayer for Bibles by the Lahu and many, many other people groups reaches God's throne as a sweet aroma. God then responds in his timing and wisdom. We get to be a part of Yahweh answering those prayers!  What a privilege to be a part of this.

We and our friends and partners keep pressing on to make sure sure that no Christian dies before their prayers for a Bible can be answered. We work so that shepherds like brother Chalit see their sheep equipped with the Word of God before they go to their heavenly reward.

500: Why the Protestant reformation is just as important today as it was 500 years ago

500: Why the Protestant reformation is just as important today as it was 500 years ago

Why is the reformation still relevant today, 500 years after Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517? Boiled down to its essence, the reformation was about getting the Word of God into the hands of the common people, in their heart language; it was about viewing the actions of the church through the only authoritative lens, the Bible. The reformers called this sola scriptura. Today millions of Christians still do not have God’s Word, even though it has been translated into their language. Their situation is the same as the situation of Europe during the first 15 centuries of the church; they can’t get God’s Word.  We still need modern day Martin Luthers and William Tyndales to make bold moves to get these believers the Word of God.

Wat Mahathat and the Buddha Head in a Banyan Tree

Wat Mahathat and the Buddha Head in a Banyan Tree

While undoubtedly a cultural treasure and tourist destination – it is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site - when I first encountered the Buddha head in a Banyan tree at Wat Mahathat, I saw something much deeper and symbolic. Outwardly, the Buddha head is smiling and appears to be at peace.  Yet despite his appearance, the reality is the Buddhist head is complexly strangled by the tree!