“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people!” —Luke 2:10b
Good Tidings of Great Joy! How the world today needs good news! Only one Source can bring great joy to all people. The world needs a Savior! A Savior has come! The angelic chorus still rings today as the Word of God finds its way into the islands and nations of the world, often through Scripture booklets from World Missionary Press. God Himself provided the Savior—Jesus Christ, the Lord—to redeem man from the weight of sin and despair. Let heaven and earth rejoice!
Ways to help send out this message of hope and joy:
Idea #1—Booklets for Africa
Africa’s Christians are believing God to transform their continent into a shining light as a witness of God’s saving power. New partners and renewed opportunities with existing partners have given WMP opportunity to print for more than 22 nations in Africa. From South Africa to Chad and Guinea to Kenya, believers wait with open hands for Scripture booklets to share in the streets and villages. Over and over we hear testimonies of the value and need for booklets—how they are received and treasured. The pandemic has heightened the need and usefulness of Scripture booklets and created new opportunities for them to become even more of an integral part of many ministries.
From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, R. M. says, “It is with a joy that is difficult to express that I report the unloading of our container. Many thanks for the work you are doing for evangelizing my nation; we hope, by doing this, DRC people will one day find peace—peace with God and peace with neighbors. To God be the glory, and thanks to all of the WMP workers.”
“Without you, we could not do what we do,” was how D.K. of Uganda put it. As African Christians count on WMP, we in turn trust God to help us meet these calls for seed to sow. Current orders for Africa total more than 25 million items in many African languages as diverse as Arabic, Kiswahili, Luganda, Afrikaans, French, and Portuguese. Because of high-speed equipment, volunteers, and the same modest hourly wage for all paid workers—every $10 produces messages of hope and joy for 208 people of Africa! A gift of $100.00 can put 2,080 48-page topical Scripture booklets into the hands of those using every opportunity to share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Idea #2—A box of Scripture booklets every month
As trimmed 48-page Scripture booklets come off our binderies, about 500 are packed snugly into boxes by volunteers, weighed to about 10 pounds, and strapped for shipping. When these boxes reach their destinations in the nations of the world, they serve as convenient carriers for Christian workers distributing booklets from door-to-door in a neighborhood, for pastors and Sunday-school teachers sharing with their members, for chaplains to provide to inmates, or for street preachers to give out to a gathered crowd.
A regular monthly donation of $25.00 for a “WMP BOX” provides 500 Scripture booklets each month for a street preacher in London, for a village evangelist in central Africa, for a river ministry in Nicaragua, or for an island outreach in the Pacific—to bring glad tidings of great joy into the darkness, leaving a lasting message of hope and redemption.
Idea #3—Printing for Russia
God has opened a door for WMP to be part of a major evangelism undertaking in Central Russia. A group of dedicated pastors has banded together, committed to reaching 25 million people in 24 months. Regional plans and church involvement have been carefully laid out, involving 350 churches. For this bold effort they will need a reliable supply of Biblical literature.
Determining just what literature to use led them to consider the Bible Study on John in Russian from World Missionary Press as a major component. The study book has been abridged to meet their particular need, and a full 40-foot container with 1 million copies will soon be on the way. Careful procedures and plans have resulted in an open door to print the material in the WMP plant and send the container to Russia. In addition, plans have already begun for a second shipment, with one million copies of Who Do You Say That I Am? in Russian.
By receiving a large amount of literature free of charge, the Russian team is able to use their limited funds to cover other needed expenses in the logistics of implementing the “25 in 24” campaign. “It is a great joy for us that you and your mission are willing to participate on this project. We strongly believe the Lord has put this one on the hearts of many.”
You can be one of the many to share in this sweeping endeavor! A donation of $250.00 will provide 2,736 copies of the abridged Russian Bible Study on John for distribution in Central Russia.
Idea #4—Spanish and Arabic New Testaments
Requests for New Testaments are included in many freight orders from national coordinators and major distributors. Currently, WMP offers New Testaments in just a few languages, but keeping each of these in stock is still a great challenge. The Spanish New Testament is vital to establish new believers in God’s Word in Central and South America. To have one’s own copy to read at any time, to sense that God’s Word is personal and belongs to you, can make the words dearer and more desired. The work begun with the Scripture booklets and Bible studies is continued by studying the entire New Testament. Meeting the pent-up need for Spanish New Testaments for the coming year will require a printing of 200,000 copies. Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Honduras are waiting.
Arabic New Testaments are invaluable in African countries where there is a large Arabic-speaking population. There is curious interest in the New Testament and the story of Jesus. The New Testaments are gladly received and the truth of who Jesus is can be presented by the Holy Spirit as the pages unfold. A printing of 50,000 copies will reach into Senegal, Guinea, South Sudan, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, and beyond.
A donation of $150.00 will send 175 Spanish New Testaments to brothers and sisters in Christ who long for His word. A donation of $200.00 will provide 235 Arabic New Testaments that can open seeking eyes and prepared hearts.
Idea #5—Contract printing overseas
God continues to lead World Missionary Press to provide booklets for certain nations which restrict importing from the USA. Reliable in-country printers are contracted to print the Scripture booklets which WMP’s national coordinators are able to provide to Christians waiting to share in the joy of giving God’s Word to friends and neighbors. Such overseas printings are generally more expensive than printing in our plant; however, God continues to provide the contacts and the resources to meet the need.
Current contracts in process or pending include printings in S. Asia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Pakistan. The request from Indonesia for our 2021-2022 fiscal year includes 575,000 copies of the God Loves You! coloring book which is being well received. Printing will also include 500,000 Scripture booklets and 350,000 Bible study books.
A donation of any amount will help support believers in these countries by printing God’s Word there.
Idea #6—A roll of paper
By producing topical Scripture booklets in 350 languages, WMP provides a unique ministry tool free of charge for multiplied nations of the world where materials are not readily available or affordable. The need for “paper missionaries” continues to grow, even in a digital age. (WMP materials are available for reading or downloading at www.wmpress.org or by using the free World Missionary Press App.)
Rolls of PAPER are needed to keep the web press running! A gift of $1,147.00 provides a 1,500-pound 35-inch-wide roll of paper for printing the inside pages for 85,000 48-page Scripture booklets! (The cost per roll of paper recently increased from last year’s $1,077 per roll.) A gift of $573.50 will provide half a roll.
Idea #7—Paper for full-color covers
Most WMP topical Scripture booklets and Bible study booklets now have full-color covers. The contents are still the same precious Scriptures to share the “good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” Attractive, full-color covers often make literature more appealing and willingly received as something to be investigated.
Printing full-color booklet covers is done on our efficient 6-unit press, fed by sheets of paper. Each stack of 8,500 sheets costs $515 and provides colorful covers for 136,000 48-page Scripture booklets or 68,000 full-color covers for the variety of Bible studies that WMP produces. You can help keep color covers flowing!
Idea #8—Powerful ink on paper
What would a printing company be without ink? Ink is vital to the process of printing Scripture booklets. When black ink is applied to the rollers on our web press, words from Scripture brings “dead” paper to life! A 425-lb barrel of black ink costing $552.50 transforms rolls of blank paper into the inside pages of approximately two million powerful 48-page Scripture booklets.
A 5-lb can of color ink used to print the full-color covers of Scripture booklets (as well as newsletters and brochures) costs $23.02. A donation of $100.00 will provide color for approximately 58,000 Scripture booklet covers.
Idea #9—Shipping materials: boxes, strapping, pallets, shrink-wrap
Sending Scripture booklets to the far corners of the world entails using all types of transport—sea containers, postal delivery, trucks, buses, trains, pack animals—before the package arrives at its destination. To prepare shipments for transport, some necessary “little things” involve expenses which are included in the overall cost of providing Scripture booklets to the world.
World Missionary Press uses sturdy cardboard boxes specially designed to hold certain weights. Boxes are strapped closed, rather than depending on tape to keep them closed. Most boxes are loaded onto heat-treated pallets for transport in ship containers. After pallets are loaded to a limited height, they are shrink-wrapped to secure them until the container is unloaded thousands of miles from our dock.
A donation of $88.00 will provide for 256 boxes to fill one pallet. A donation of $53.85 will purchase one coil of strapping and $115.60 will pay for 17 pallets to fill a 40-foot container. A gift of $38.17 will purchase 4 rolls of shrink-wrap.
Idea #10—Shipping to the world
Challenges to ship to the world have become formidable. Rising prices, closed ports, congested ports, limited shipping lanes and berths, waiting for available empty containers—all make for uncertain schedules, but day after day God shows that He is sovereign and that He will make His Word known to the world. Containers that had been stored, waiting for shipping assignments, found a berth and were on the way. At times WMP had 20-30 shipments afloat en route to waiting consignees. Although delays were often encountered, shipments arrived intact and found their way to the prescribed destination.
None were lost or damaged. Surely God had His hand on His Word! This past fiscal year, more than 100 separate freight shipments (including a record high 81 containers) were sent to 96 countries, covering the globe! Shipments carried booklets in languages such as Quechua, Malagasy, German, Polish, Thai, Cebuano, and Hausa. Millions will receive God’s Word, some for the first time in their own language.
We are encouraged to continue trusting the Lord! Even with all the current uncertainties, sending via ship container is still the most economical way to send Scripture booklets, Bible studies, coloring books, and New Testaments. A container shipment of 4,215 boxes going to Nigeria will cost $18,202. Sending those boxes via the postal service would cost $155,533.00. Sending 4,215 boxes to Ecuador will cost $3,907.00, saving $151,625.00 over shipping by mail. Such savings allows WMP to print more booklets for more countries, using every donated dollar to the fullest capacity. Your donation of any amount will help container shipments continue to flow out of the plant, over the seas, and safely into the harbors of the world.