“The entrance of Your words gives light. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
—Psalm 119:130a, 105
When God sent His only Son into the world, His coming was announced with a unique and brilliant light. It shone where those from faraway lands could see it, drawing them to follow and find the One who is the Light of the world—the light for every tongue and tribe and nation. The message of the gospel presented in World Missionary Press Scripture booklets is for all peoples everywhere, shining a light that draws hearts to Jesus—one by one.
Ways to help shine a light that draws hearts to Jesus:
Idea #1—“Blessings for Brazil”
With matching funds of $110,000, a major campaign to fund three 40-foot containers (approximately 6 million booklets) has begun! A multitude of distributors in Brazil will be supplied with “seed for sowing.” World Missionary Press Scripture booklets in Portuguese have been reaching souls in Brazil for many years. Faithful distributors have worked tirelessly, traveling up and down the Amazon River and sharing with pastors in rural areas of northern Brazil where witchcraft, idolatry, and animistic religions dominate the lives of millions. In the major cities, churches and evangelists look to WMP contacts for effective literature to reach thousands of empty lives with words of hope.
Our partners in Brazil demonstrate the Lord’s master plan to reach their nation with His love and redemption. “We are very grateful and happy,” wrote Jonathan S. about this focus on Brazil. “As you may have seen from the photos we sent, there’s a lot to be done here, and it wouldn’t be possible without your help.”
The impact of your donation is doubled when contributing to “Blessings for Brazil.” A donation of $100 to reach 2,875 individuals becomes $200 to reach 5,750 waiting hearts.
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 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. Scripture booklets continue the effectiveness of the message, available for the Holy Spirit to use at any time.
A regular monthly donation of $20.00 for a “WMP BOX” provides 500 Scripture booklets each month for a street preacher in London’s Piccadilly Circus, for a village evangelist in central Africa, for a river ministry in Nicaragua, or for an island outreach in the Pacific—to bring light into the darkness and leave a lasting message of hope and redemption.
Idea #3—Spanish New Testaments
In many Nicaraguan villages, pastors care for small congregations of new believers, diligently endeavoring to build a strong foundation of faith in each one. When believers do not have their own copy of God’s Word, the challenge is more difficult. Spanish New Testaments from World Missionary Press, which include a 48-page Basic Study Supplement, are invaluable in developing in these new believers a hunger for more of God’s Word and daily communion with the Lord.
The need for New Testaments exists in several Latin American countries. As people respond to the gospel presented in the Scripture booklets, the need for the means of discipleship and growth becomes urgent. Many are unprepared to counter ridicule and questioning without the sure foundation of the Word of God. When requests come from major WMP distributors in Spanish-speaking countries, the plea is almost always the same, “How many New Testaments can you send us?”
A donation of $1,000 will provide 1,173 believers with their very own New Testament and Study Supplement to read and treasure.
Idea #4—A roll of paper
By producing topical Scripture booklets in 349 languages, WMP provides a unique ministry tool free of charge for multiplied nations of the world where evangelistic material and Bible teaching tools are not readily available or, in many cases, not affordable.
The need for “paper missionaries” continues to grow, even in a digital age. (WMP materials are available for downloading or reading at www.wmpress.org or on the World Missionary Press App.) “They are so eager to get a copy of the gospel in their own language,” wrote a distributor from South Africa.
This past year, in the middle of a U.S. Coronavirus lock-down, God answered the prayers of His people, enabling WMP to increase production from an equivalency of 7 million Scripture booklets to a sustained level of 10 million a month! To God be all the glory!
The basic ingredient of this whole operation is PAPER to keep the web press running. A gift of $1,077.00 provides a 1,500-pound 35-inch-wide roll of paper for producing the inside pages for 85,000 48-page Scripture booklets! (The cost per roll of paper is expected to increase to $1,110 in March 2021.) A gift of $538.50 will provide half a roll.
Idea #5—Paper for full-color covers and The Path to Life
Most WMP Scripture booklets have been given a “face-lift.” The contents are still the same precious Scriptures, topically arranged to share the “good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” Color draws the attention. Attractive, full-color covers often make literature more appealing and willingly received as something to be investigated.
Printing full-color booklet covers and the new Path to Life handouts is done on our efficient full-color press, fed by sheets of paper. Each stack of 8,500 sheets costs $370 and provides colorful covers for 136,000 48-page Scripture booklets or 34,000 Path to Life handouts or 68,000 large color covers for the variety of Bible studies that WMP produces. You can help keep color covers flowing!
Diane M. wrote, “Just want to thank you for the package of booklets received today, via USPS mailer. They arrived in such beautiful condition, protectively wrapped snugly in plain paper inside the special mailer, and so quickly, it brought tears to my eyes. We have been ‘partners’ with you in this mode of spreading the Good News for quite a while now, but your promptness and care touched me. ‘Anything worth doing, is worth doing well’ is the saying. How much more for our Lord? Thanks to all of you and blessings!”
Idea #6—Prayer support
Prayer and believing God remains the most important work that we can do for God. Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29). Each workday, down through the 59-year history of WMP, the staff has gathered for prayer and praise. Recognizing that our strength and supply come from God, we come to Him daily as one body, bringing our praises and petitions focused on specific aspects of WMP ministry: staff, donors, volunteers, board members, shipments, and national coordinators and distributors.
The months of pandemic brought necessary adjustments. Though God put it on the heart of Indiana’s governor to consider religious organizations “essential” and exempt from complete lock-down, WMP was subject to varied safety precautions which affected gathering in chapel. But we continued to honor our daily chapel time as we individually met with God at our workstations or in a private spot in the plant. Prayer requests were distributed by e-mail daily, and chapel leaders shared on the theme of the month by email with Scriptures, words of exhortation, and even links to songs or pertinent reports on the internet.
You can share with us in prayer each day by receiving our monthly Prayer and Praise letter via email or standard mail. Our WMP App also lists specific and timely prayer requests and answers. You can also follow us on Facebook or our WMP Ambassador Network (wmpambassadors.org), where daily postings keep you informed of needs and praises from major distributors and national coordinators. We welcome you to join hands and hearts with us and be a part of what God is doing in lives and communities through the power of His Word.
Idea #7—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 make the “dead” paper “come alive!” A 425-lb barrel of black ink costing $501.50 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, brochures, and The Path to Life handout) costs $22.38. A donation of $100.00 will provide color for approximately 60,000 Scripture booklet covers.
Idea #8—Contract printings overseas
WMP sends Scripture booklets to almost every country that allows importing such literature, but in some places restrictions limit what we can send. Believers in these countries need sound, Scriptural literature to help them share the gospel in whatever ways they can. Where possible, WMP contracts with in-country printers (referred by our national contacts) to print Scripture booklets. These printings may be more expensive than printing in our plant, but the need must be met. Places such as Russia, Myanmar, Pakistan, India, and Indonesia receive funding for printing WMP Scripture booklets.
With a population of 264 million, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. For economic reasons, Indonesia does not permit importing material printed in their national languages. The power of God’s Word must continue to be available to support the work of believers there.
In Russia, Anton and his team regularly distribute the Russian version of How to Know God printed there. When he hears this question, “What are you handing out?” he says, “This is a Word that will change your life.” He wrote, “The information that is written in the booklet is very important for people, because it talks about who God is and what He has done for each person.” He thanked us for the booklets because he understands the role that the Word of God plays in a person’s life.
In Myanmar, translations of the new booklets—God Loves You! and Who Do You Say That I Am?—in Burmese are in the process of being printed.
Your gift of any amount for printings in these nations will have great impact for eternity. “But the Word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9b, KJV).
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, planes, pack animals—before the package arrives at its destination. It is often the little things in a project that “save the day.” World Missionary Press uses sturdy cardboard boxes that are specially designed to hold certain weights. Boxes are strapped shut, 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.
All of these necessary “little things” involve expenses included in the overall cost to provide Scripture booklets to the world. You can help us secure the booklets for safe travel by contributing toward the purchase of boxes, strapping, pallets, or shrink-wrap.
A donation of $70.00 will provide for 256 boxes to fill one pallet. A donation of $52.27 will purchase one coil of strapping; and $111.35 will pay for 17 pallets to fill a 40-foot container. A donation of $37.44 will purchase 4 rolls of shrink-wrap.
Idea #10—Shipping to the world
The pandemic that has gripped the world and the world’s economy has strongly affected the cost and availability of sea containers to ship literature—or any commerce—from a U.S. port to a port overseas. Uncertainty has become the norm, with additional forms, tariffs, and expenses cropping up at the last minute or even while the container is at sea, bound for a distant port where a volunteer WMP national coordinator is prepared to receive and clear the shipment through customs. Sometimes booking opportunities change quickly, and the process of getting a quote and contracting a booking will need to start all over again.
Sending boxes via ship container allows WMP to get large supplies into a country at the same time, providing a local source for churches, evangelists, and ministries. The reduced cost, as compared to sending via the postal service, allows us to supply many more booklets per dollar expended and greatly increases the effectiveness of every donation.
The cost to ship Scripture booklets by container varies depending on the destination country. For example, shipping 4,215 boxes (the equivalent of 2,107,500 booklets) on a 40-foot container to the land-locked country of Bolivia will cost $11,058. The same size container with the same number of boxes can ship to the port city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for $3,174.80. Sending individual boxes through the postal service would cost $36.90 each to either Bolivia or Brazil—a total of $155,533.50 for each shipment! Shipping by container instead will save $144,475 on the shipment to Bolivia and $152,358.70 on each container to Brazil.
Your donation of any amount will help expedite freight shipments on their way to take the Word of God to waiting hands.
