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We just received some photos from Tanzania where Bibles have been distributed amongst our national church planters, their congregations and new believers! Thank you to those who gave to our Christmas Bible fund last year. You can continue to help with our Bible distribution by contributing to our Smugglers ministry!
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We received this update from Democratic Republic of Congo as they have been able to distribute Bibles from funds raised during the Christmas period for Christmas Bibles. Thank you to all who gave! Glory to God were able to serve these God's people by giving them bibles, God's word into their hands. With great joy and thanksgiving words, one of theme said; "a part the day I believed in Christ, today is my happiest and glorious day of my life. I have been praying and struggling to have a bible for years, today after my struggling and human efforts, today I have got it freely of charge. This is a God given gift to me. I will read it diligently, Keep it jealously and obey it under the power of his grace. " Praise God.
Today is Giving Tuesday! Occurring the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, millions of people worldwide begin the Christmas giving season by making a donation to a charity of their choice. -- We’re asking you to choose us! This year we have a whole Christmas Catalog for you to choose from. In case you haven't had a chance to donate to our Bible smuggler's program and the current need for Bibles you can do so in our online store (catch up with the need for Bibles in the Middle East here). We also have a whole range of items that will go to our network of national church planters, congregations, and local communities around the globe and will be a blessing to them this Christmas. Just shop till you drop on our website! Thank you for being such a blessing to so many around the world! Below is just a sample of some of the items you can order to be donated.
Bibles: Before I get started, allow me to update you on our current Bible project. Two weeks ago, I told you that we are attempting to raise $150,000 for 25,000 Bibles. We have already received over $8,000 towards that goal. Thanks so much to all who gave and prayed. Our preachers and their congregations are so effective that it has increased the need for more Bibles, which are illegal in their countries. Because of our numerical growth, all 25,000 Bibles will be targeted -- for not a region but one single country! Please consider helping us with this need by clicking here, or mailing in a check and designating it to "Smugglers". A Widow in Pakistan: In Pakistan, there is a widow in great need. Her situation is so dire that I wanted to share it with you. Our Lord gave us instructions in the Book of James to take care of widows and orphans. This command is emphasized with the admonition that while we seek to take care of others, we should concentrate on helping those of our "household of faith." So, let me share her need with you. This widow's name is Zerina Sarvar. Her husband, also a believer and faithful church member, passed away five years ago from a heart attack at the age of thirty-five, leaving her with no means of caring for their four children. Her kids range in age from ten to fourteen. To feed them, Zerina took a job working as a housekeeper while her three oldest children study in our Bible Institute and work in the ministry. (Like timothy, we train them and put them to work as early as possible.) Unfortunately, her salary is only $80 a month. Arzo, age twelve, is her oldest daughter. She works teaching the children in Sunday School and doing outreach and evangelism with the other students and is particularly effective at door-to-door evangelizing. Her two sons, Sahil and Sajeel, ages fourteen and thirteen, are good students but are also on the church planting teams. When I was there in February, they both went along with us from house to house and village to village, helping in any way they could. All her kids are bright, energetic, happy, and eager to serve in any capacity. The youngest daughter, Eshewa, is ten years old and is learning by the example of her older siblings. She eagerly serves Christ by helping mothers with their babies, helping in the kitchen, etc. Recently, during the heavy rains in March/April, their tiny house was destroyed. It was only a one-room house where they slept and lived while cooking on stones outside. The rains caused large cracks in the wall and roof, which have collapsed and are irreparable. As a result, they moved in with neighbors in their tiny "house" with two rooms, having a "kitchen" corner inside. Ten people are living in this confined space. Pastor Shaukat tells us this widow needs and deserves our help. He is asking us to provide the funds for building materials so he and the men in the church can build them a new house. Here are some incredible details that might lead you to help them. The entire budget to build this family a new house is only $3,272. It will be equal to or a bit better than what they previously had and will be built of better materials to survive future rains. In addition, they will have an indoor "kitchen" like their neighbors (but better) and electricity and running water. We are even giving them their own bathroom. (Usually, these communities have an outdoor bathroom that five to twelve families share.) We can do all this for $3,272. Isn't' that incredible! What a blessing for them and what a testimony to the Muslims living around them to see how Christians take care of their own. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see YOUR good works, and glorify your FATHER who is in Heaven." This is an opportunity for us to do so without straining our resources. You may wonder how we can do this for such a low price. That is the blessing and advantage for us, working in developing countries, where our dollars are multiplied in value. It is incredible that the cost of a dining room set or living room set here -- can build an entire house there. But, like Jesus feeding the 5000 from a single child's serving of bread and fish, we can take a little and do a lot. But consider this, had the lad, when asked by the disciples, not been willing to give Jesus all he had – what then? The willingness of that young boy will prevent us from ever knowing the outcome. As His disciples today, we are always thankful for you, who willingly, sacrificially, and eagerly give us your "bread and fish" for the benefit of others. You must undoubtedly have abundant rewards waiting for you in Glory. Please click here to help this widow and her family, select "Special Projects" and then select "Pakistan Widow House". Otherwise you can mail in a check and designate it to "Pakistan Widow House".
As you know, because we are perpetually raising funds to print and smuggle Bibles in the Islamic world where they are forbidden, we felt that we also needed to give attention to the rest of the globe. After all, everyone should have a copy of God’s Word to read. So, in August, our home team scheduled which projects we felt we would concentrate on for the remainder of the year. That in itself is no small task, as we receive requests probably at the rate of more than once a day. We have criteria for making our decisions, and the need for Bibles met that criteria. However, I wanted to get the other projects fulfilled first, and as always, you rose to the call. In fact, every project we adopted in 2020 and 2021 was fully met. If that is not a miracle, please tell me what is.
I don’t want to say that we saved the best project to last, but we intentionally met the other needs before announcing our final project of 2021, with the prayer that it, too, would be met entirely before Christmas. In late September, Pastor Steve Ware at Tabernacle Baptist in Orlando contacted me, saying his church wanted to give $10,000 to buy Bibles for the rest of the world. To me, this was confirmation that we were clearly under our Lord’s guidance, so we accepted their funds as $10,000 of the $25,000 that we had targeted. As a result, I adapted our plan, asking you to donate only $15,000 -- and you did. In fact, you gave $15,416.00 -- two days before Christmas! So then, we have been able to provide the number of Bibles per our initial request with a surplus of $416. So, that too will be used to purchase Bibles. Over the next month, as emails and photographs come to us, we will share them with you. But, until then, I think we will let you rest for the final week of the year -- unless something changes. In the meantime, expect us to have another Bible Project before summer. I would like to see us do this at least twice a year until our Lord returns. Oh, and by the way, during the last month, we also smuggled more than 25,000 Bibles into various countries where the Bible is banned, and having a copy brings the death penalty. We also raised $120,000+ for more illegal Bibles. So, I think you will agree; it was time for us to turn our attention and yours to giving Bibles to the rest of the world—Thank you for enabling us to do just that. From Him the power to Him the glory! Jon Nelms and the entire global, Final Frontiers team If you would like a reminder of this project from its initial announcement, then please see below; 12/15/2021 For thirty-five years, I have been recruiting like-minded Believers to help me support national church planters. The blessings that God has showered on those donors and me are incredible as we have followed the light He shined on our paths. These gallant servants of God, who serve where we cannot and probably would not, live humbly. I sometimes refer to their "houses" and wonder if you know what kind of structure they live in. To be sure, it is a house, but it may be less than 100 square feet (10' x 10') and be made of mud and sticks or bamboo. Yet, they are thankful for their "house" and feel incredibly blessed by God. And they are. Sometimes they ask for help so they can perform their ministries more effectively. For example, they may need a bicycle ($125) or motorcycle ($1300). Others may request help for a necessary surgery or to help to pay a hospital bill. Others request travel funds to plant a church in a remote village or rescue them from imprisonment because of their faith. We even get requests to help bury a pastor, his wife, child, or a church member who has passed and had no provision for such. Once, we had to bury forty-eight young people who three men shot with machine guns as they were praying in their house church. Their needs are as vital to them as our needs are to us. As Americans, the difference is that our needs are often our wants, whereas their needs are precisely that, -- they don't even dream of acquiring a want. Yet, through all these years and in every country (the 90+ where we have served them), there is one item they all ask for, and they ask continually. That need is for Bibles. We expend a lot of time and effort to raise funds for Arabic and Farsi Bibles as we strive to cover North Africa and the Middle East with Bibles; in the last week, we took 25,000 Bibles into just one country in that region. Their response was, "When can we get more?" They are not trying to stack copy upon copy on their bookshelf. They are merely hoping to get enough so each family in their house churches can have one and to have a surplus to give to the new converts. Imagine turning from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Animism, where you have been indoctrinated with the nuances of those faiths all your life. You have rejected them, and perhaps your family has rejected you. Yet, you have no Bible with which to learn about your new Lord and Savior. Therefore, we must provide these converts with a Bible. In August, we decided to dedicate our efforts to raise funds to purchase Bibles, not for the Middle East but the rest of the world. So I wrote to some of our national directors scattered globally, asking them the prices and number of Bibles they need. The prices range from $3 to $10, and they ask for thousands of copies. In this effort, we will be ignoring Latin America for the most part, as there are so many missionaries there who can get Bibles donated and shipped to them. So instead, we are going to concentrate on those regions where Bibles are available, but the people cannot afford one. $3 is not much, neither is $10, but when your average monthly income is only $4, you cannot afford to give a month's income to buy one. In addition, you may need six months' income to travel to the closest Bible bookstore. So, as a Christmas present to our Lord, I ask you to help us raise at least $15,000. You can donate online by giving through our donations page and selecting "Special Projects" and then "Christmas Bibles", or by mailing in a check and designating it to "Christmas Bibles". We hoped to raise $25,000, but Tabernacle Baptist in Orlando already gave $10,000, so we have already purchased several thousand Bibles for Kenya, Pakistan, and India. What will we do if you give more than the $15,000? -- We'll buy more Bibles. -- Personally, I hope you will give $50,000 for this project. When Christ was born, the angels declared that His birth would be good news for all nations. So, let's join with them and do what we can to declare that good news to those who have neither heard it nor had the opportunity to read about it. Imagine the tens of thousands of Believers who will this Christmas, for the first time in their lives, be able to sit and read the story of our Lord's birth in Luke, chapter two. They will be as amazed as the shepherds! Thank you for making that possible for them, and Merry Christmas!
For thirty-five years, I have been recruiting like-minded Believers to help me support national church planters. The blessings that God has showered on those donors and me are incredible as we have followed the light He shined on our paths.
These gallant servants of God, who serve where we cannot and probably would not, live humbly. I sometimes refer to their "houses" and wonder if you know what kind of structure they live in. To be sure, it is a house, but it may be less than 100 square feet (10' x 10') and be made of mud and sticks or bamboo. Yet, they are thankful for their "house" and feel incredibly blessed by God. And they are. Sometimes they ask for help so they can perform their ministries more effectively. For example, they may need a bicycle ($125) or motorcycle ($1300). Others may request help for a necessary surgery or to help to pay a hospital bill. Others request travel funds to plant a church in a remote village or rescue them from imprisonment because of their faith. We even get requests to help bury a pastor, his wife, child, or a church member who has passed and had no provision for such. Once, we had to bury forty-eight young people who three men shot with machine guns as they were praying in their house church. Their needs are as vital to them as our needs are to us. As Americans, the difference is that our needs are often our wants, whereas their needs are precisely that, -- they don't even dream of acquiring a want. Yet, through all these years and in every country (the 90+ where we have served them), there is one item they all ask for, and they ask continually. That need is for Bibles. We expend a lot of time and effort to raise funds for Arabic and Farsi Bibles as we strive to cover North Africa and the Middle East with Bibles; in the last week, we took 25,000 Bibles into just one country in that region. Their response was, "When can we get more?" They are not trying to stack copy upon copy on their bookshelf. They are merely hoping to get enough so each family in their house churches can have one and to have a surplus to give to the new converts. Imagine turning from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Animism, where you have been indoctrinated with the nuances of those faiths all your life. You have rejected them, and perhaps your family has rejected you. Yet, you have no Bible with which to learn about your new Lord and Savior. Therefore, we must provide these converts with a Bible. In August, we decided to dedicate our efforts to raise funds to purchase Bibles, not for the Middle East but the rest of the world. So I wrote to some of our national directors scattered globally, asking them the prices and number of Bibles they need. The prices range from $3 to $10, and they ask for thousands of copies. In this effort, we will be ignoring Latin America for the most part, as there are so many missionaries there who can get Bibles donated and shipped to them. So instead, we are going to concentrate on those regions where Bibles are available, but the people cannot afford one. $3 is not much, neither is $10, but when your average monthly income is only $4, you cannot afford to give a month's income to buy one. In addition, you may need six months' income to travel to the closest Bible bookstore. So, as a Christmas present to our Lord, I ask you to help us raise at least $15,000. You can donate online on this page, or by mailing in a check and designating it to "Christmas Bibles". We hoped to raise $25,000, but Tabernacle Baptist in Orlando already gave $10,000, so we have already purchased several thousand Bibles for Kenya, Pakistan, and India. What will we do if you give more than the $15,000? -- We'll buy more Bibles. -- Personally, I hope you will give $50,000 for this project. When Christ was born, the angels declared that His birth would be good news for all nations. So, let's join with them and do what we can to declare that good news to those who have neither heard it nor had the opportunity to read about it. Imagine the tens of thousands of Believers who will this Christmas, for the first time in their lives, be able to sit and read the story of our Lord's birth in Luke, chapter two. They will be as amazed as the shepherds! Thank you for making that possible for them, and Merry Christmas!
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