One of our ministry aims in 2007 is to continue to resource churches in the Islamic parts of our region, in countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey. We do this by distributing small amounts of books and CDs to key church leaders and laity who are responsible for teaching the Word of God to others. We are already seeing fruit from our labours.
In recent months I was able to smuggle 500 Derek Prince books into Iran and distribute them among the Azeri and Iranian pastors. They welcomed these resources with open arms saying that God had answered their prayers for materials to help them minister effectively. Iranian pastors are now getting in touch with us, showing their appreciation and requesting resources which they then distribute secretly.
In response to our efforts to enroll new believers in our Bible Correspondence Course, we now have the first student from Turkmenistan and are hopeful that many more will follow. Until recently, Turkmenistan was a very closed country ruled by a cruel dictator and a government that banned every attempt to spread the Gospel. After the dictator’s death, a new era has dawned for this country, and we are doing all we can to walk through the open doors and seize opportunities to minister to and encourage fledgling churches.
Because of your generous gifts in response to our last appeal for this region, we now have funds available to begin the translation of Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose! in the Kazakh, Uzbek and Tajik languages. At the beginning of April, I met with translators from these countries and they were very excited about this project.
To continue serving the under-resourced and often persecuted churches in this region, we are looking to make Laying the Foundations video and DVD series available in the Azeri, Farsi, Armenian and Turkish languages. The main reason for this is that many believers in these countries are more likely to watch and listen to Bible teaching rather than read books. Videos and DVDs can also be reproduced and distributed more easily in places where severe restrictions are imposed on Christians and churches.
The estimated translation cost of the ten messages comprising the Laying the Foundations series in the above mentioned languages is £6,000 which works out to £150 per message while the production cost is £1 per copy (including print and layout) for videos and DVDs. Our goal is to produce 3,000 copies of this resource in each language, which means 12,000 copies at a cost £12,000.
I sincerely hope that you will make a financial contribrution towards the production of this strategic resource that has the potential to impact thousands of young and old believers in a part of the world where spiritual darkness and oppression reigns. Churches desperately need inspiring Bible teaching and our prayers for protection and grace in their ministries.
