'Bibles for Iraq' Project Puts Word Into Welcoming Hands
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
June 30, 2004
(AgapePress) - A recent visitor to the Middle East says there is a huge need for copies of God's Word in the war-torn nation of Iraq.Vernon Brewer, president of World Help, recently met in Cairo, Egypt, with a ministry worker who helps distribute Bibles in Iraq. He says the Egyptian "Bibles for Iraq" project director had just returned from a week in Iraq, where he was overseeing the distribution process of the New Testaments the Word Help ministry is providing. "He told me that their convoy had been fired upon by terrorists," the ministry spokesman says, "and thankfully, they were not hit, but it was a close call."
Although Brewer was not able to go into Iraq because of security concerns, he says many believers are busy there. He notes, "We're networking with 72 churches. We're building a training center in the middle of Baghdad to train pastors and church planters, and we're distributing hundreds of thousands of Bibles. God's moving there, and it's incredible what He's doing."
And Brewer says Bibles are in great demand in Iraq. "I've learned that the Iraqi people love to read," he says. "They've asked us for more and more New Testaments, and because it's open right now and there's no oppressive regime, many of them are open [to the gospel]."
World Help's president says although the official handover of power to Iraqi officials took place this week, the ministry will still be able to distribute New Testaments in the region because of its network of volunteers in the Middle East. World Help has also cooperated with national pastors and church leaders in other parts of the world to equip and train more than 7,000 pastors in regions such as Eastern Europe, India, China, Nepal and Myanmar (Burma) in intensive week-long Strategic Alliances for Leadership Training (SALT). The ministry also supplies trainees with hundreds of books and resources to make their ministries more effective.
To date, World Help has distributed more than seven million Bibles, New Testaments, and books to churches, hospitals, military bases, public schools, and orphanages worldwide. As a result, the ministry reports that more than 35,000 people have publicly prayed to receive Christ -- many of them individuals who had never before heard a clear presentation of the gospel.
