Persecution Blog

Should We Still Smuggle Bibles Into China?

  Today, Todd Nettleton, Director of Media Development for The Voice of the Martyrs USA, and a few others, answered the question concerning whether or not we should continue to smuggle bibles into China.

The short answer is YES!  The reason, we must remember that China is still a restricted nation, and that it is still a communist nation.  Christians in China are still being persecuted.  In fact, all you have to do is visit http://www.chinaaid.org on a frequent basis and you can see how much Christians in China are still suffering.

The good news is that The Voice of the Martyrs is still able to send bibles to China through our Bibles Unbound program.  If you're not familiar with our wonderful program, please visit http://www.biblesunbound.com for more information.

And may I share with you also, how much I have loved participating in the Bibles Unbound program, because when I consider how easy it is for me to receive a bible any time I want, and then consider that a mere donation of 30.00 a month will send 5 New Testaments to someone in a restricted nation, I can't think of a better way to spend the money the Lord has given me.

May the Lord richly bless you as you spread His word to the nations where Christians are longing and thirsting for THE WORD.

Click here to read more about Bibles Unbound, and here to read the full article Smuggle Bibles into China?

Bibles Unbound Update

If you're on the Voice of the Martyrs email list and are apart of their wonderful Bibles Unbound program, then maybe you've already seen this great news, however, if you're not on the list, let this encourage you to become involved in Bibles Unbound.  You'll love it.

“They Get a New Testament; I Get the Gift of Joy”

June 29, 2010

At VOM we get many testimonies from Bibles Unbound participants. Their stories encourage us as they tell how they’ve been blessed by the persecuted church. Recently, Monica shared how sponsoring New Testaments has blessed her and brought her joy.

Monica had sponsored five New Testaments to China and five to Colombia each month. Then she said God put it in her heart to sponsor 30 New Testaments a month.

“That means that every morning when I wake up I will be greeted with the thought that one more person in the world is receiving one of my New Testaments. When I recall this, I pray for that person. How exhilarating!”

Gospels sponsored by Monica are being sent to Colombia, India, Egypt and North Korea. “Sometimes, during the day the Lord reminds me that another New Testament is being delivered, and I get thrilled all over again. Sometimes it is hard to contain my joy. They get a New Testament; I get the gift of joy.”

We are grateful to faithful believers like Monica who are supporting the mailing of New Testaments monthly, then praying for the safe delivery of God’s Word to people who have never read it before. These are seeds sown in good soil, and God has promised a harvest. We are also thankful for our brothers and sisters inside restricted nations gathering names and addresses of people who need to read God’s Word.

We appreciate you being a part of Bibles Unbound. Check www.BiblesUnbound.com often to see when new operations are added. Also, please forward this e-mail to Christian friends who care about persecuted believers around the world. Pray with us that God will open additional opportunities for VOM to mail New Testaments to even more nations in the coming months.

For Those in Bonds,

The Bibles Unbound Team

India Desperately Needs Bibles

Speaking of Bibles Unbound, we have a brand new opportunity for you to help send bibles to India.  Click here to sign up today and tell a friend, your Sunday school class and anyone who will listen. You'll be glad you did.

We are pleased to announce a new addition to our Bibles Unbound family — the country of India. Known as the world’s largest democracy, India may seem an unlikely country to need Bibles. However, this country of more than 1 billion people has the most unreached people groups in the world, according to the U.S. Center of World Mission. Nearly 88 percent of India’s 2,500 people groups are ignorant of the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

India, in Southern Asia and spanning from Pakistan to Burma, is plagued by religious violence. Christians are attacked an average of three times a week, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. In 2008, the country experienced its worst anti-Christian violence in recent history when Hindu radicals raided Christian villages in Orissa state, killing more than 100 people, burning thousands of homes and displacing more than 70,000 people. But despite this violent persecution, Indian evangelists continually request one item above all others — God’s Word. 

Sakhya Nayak, a 22-year-old mother, is one of the thousands of Christians displaced by the Orissa attacks. Hindu radicals raided Sakhya’s village, killing her grandmother and her father-in-law, Samuel Nayak, a pastor. They burned Sakhya’s home and everything she owned. During the attacks, Sakhya fled to the forest, hiding from the roving band of killers. During that time, she wished for only one thing — a Bible. “When we were in the jungle, only one man had a Bible that we used to read and pray with,” Sakhya said. “When we read the Bible we get strength. The Bible is more precious than gold.” 

The Voice of the Martyrs has heard the request of our persecuted brothers and sisters in India who have painstakingly gathered the names of many in India who have never held a Bible. Together we can spread the light of Christ throughout this unreached nation by sending the Word of God.

India Bibles Unbound operations will be “Virtual Only.” Bibles Unbound will send to India for you, Bibles from a location outside the United States. The exciting news is this process saves money and allows us to provide complete Bibles to India. You can view the names of people who will receive the Bibles you sponsor on your personal Mission Page so you can pray for them. 

Please continue to pray for Sakhya and all the Indian Christians who remain joyous in the Lord despite persecution. Pray for the unreached people groups in India and the evangelists who courageously seek to spread the gospel among them. 

For Those in Bonds,

The Bibles Unbound Team

NORTH KOREA COVERT 6 OPERATION FINAL REPORT

 If you're like me, then you LOVE the Voice of the Martyrs Bibles Unbound program and one of the reasons I have loved the program is because Bibles Unbound has been so blessed to send bibles in areas that may never receive them. One of those areas is North Korea, which as you may know, is one of the most closed nations to the gospel.

I just received the following report about the success of this program in North Korea. Read on...

Have you been anxiously awaiting word that the Bibles you sponsored have successfully reached their destination in North Korea? Wait no more! Bibles Unbound is pleased to announce the successful completion of the operation. Thanks to your help, 10,000 Bibles have made it into the hands of believing and non-believing North Korean men and women.

Mr. Lee, one man who received a Bible through this operation, explained that before he defected to China he believed Bibles were evil. As a young boy he had been taught that American missionaries did bad things and that the books they carried were bad, too. He admits that when a Bible was passed to him in China, he was afraid to read it. But once he began, he discovered that the words in the Bible are not evil, but instead teach us how to be forgiven and glorify God by doing good. After reading these “good” words, Mr. Lee placed his faith in Jesus Christ. He then began smuggling Bibles into North Korea, despite the extreme danger. One time he was betrayed and some of the Bibles were destroyed, but he soon returned to smuggling more Bibles into North Korea.

Even as you read these words, Mr. Lee may be making the perilous journey back to North Korea to deliver God’s Word to those who so desperately need and desire it. Mr. Lee is not alone in his dangerous mission. Many North Korean Christians are dedicated to smuggling God’s Word and delivering it to those who need it. Please be praying for these faithful smugglers and the precious cargo they carry. God’s words have the power to transform lives, and together we can pray for transformation in the 10,000 lives reached with these Bibles. Your brothers and sisters in North Korea are so grateful for your partnership. Please continue to lift them up in prayer as they serve God in North Korea.

For those in bonds,

The Bibles Unbound Team

Changes to Bibles Unbound

For those of you who may have missed this email concerning Bibles Unbound, and for those of you who may like to join Bibles Unbound.  Here is the latest news from Voice of the Martyrs Director Tom White.

Dear Bibles Unbound Partner:

First, let me take a moment to say THANK YOU for your participation in Bibles Unbound, packing and mailing New Testaments into restricted and hostile nations. With your help we’ve been able to send more than 1.2 million New Testaments into restricted nations. We know these “seeds,” though planted in hostile soil, will produce fruit.

I am writing to give you some important updates about Bibles Unbound; in doing so I have good news and bad news.

Part of the good news is that Bibles Unbound continues to be very effective at getting God’s Word into restricted nations. We know the project is effective, but one measure of its effectiveness leads me to the bad news: foreign governments are taking extraordinary measures to prevent delivery of the New Testaments. Egypt was first, where customs officials rejected a 2,000-pound container of mail because it included a handful of BU New Testaments. In recent months we’ve seen it again, this time in China.

Since the inception of Bibles Unbound in 2007, VOM has regularly sent test mailings of New Testaments into various Bibles Unbound nations to ensure that BU mailings were arriving without undue delay or government interference. After a recent test mailing to China, we learned that none of the mailed packages was delivered. We know the packages arrived safely in New York, and we believe they were delivered to the Chinese postal system, but they did not arrive at their final destinations. We tried a second test with similar-sized packages that contained other books (not New Testaments), and they arrived safely.

We continue to explore this situation with our shipping vendors, but it appears for now that direct mailing New Testaments to China has been cut off.

Back to the good news: We will not give up on getting God’s Word to those in restricted nations who hunger for it. Christians inside these nations are still working to collect the names and addresses of those who want to read God’s Word. VOM will continue to work with our contacts to deliver Bibles to those who need them in restricted nations, despite the wishes of their governments.

Because of increased foreign-government interference, VOM’s leadership has decided for the time being to move all Bibles Unbound participants to VIRTUAL status. This means you will no longer receive New Testaments each month to pack, pray over and mail.

However, you will continue to receive the names of people who will receive God’s Word each month because of your contributions. Please continue to pray faithfully for these people.

More good news: Because this change will reduce postage costs, we will be able in most countries to deliver a FULL BIBLE instead of only the New Testament. Those hungry for God’s Word will have all of it—from Genesis to Revelation—to feed their souls and draw them to Him.

Our work and our challenges are constantly changing. If in the future it again becomes possible to mail Good News packages directly from your home to restricted nations, we will inform all BU partners. Until then, we will transfer your monthly BU participation to a virtual program.

You may log in to www.BiblesUnbound.com to update your account or to choose a specific virtual project in which to participate. In the next 60 days, we will announce a new country where we are delivering Bibles; you may want to join that exciting effort.

If you have questions regarding these changes, feel free to call our office at 918-338-8400 or email [email protected].

Thank you again for standing with us in this effort to share God’s Word with those who don’t have free access to it. Entire governments may work against us, but I’m thankful that God is bigger than any obstacle we may face.


For those in Bonds,


Tom White
Executive Director
The Voice of the Martyrs—USA

Consider Giving Bibles Unbound as a Gift to Your Mom

 Now that April is ending and May is just around the corner, most of us are thinking about our mothers and how we will celebrate Mothers Day this year.

For me, Mothers Day is always bittersweet because my mom came to know the Lord a year before she died, and so I always think about my mom who is in heaven with the Lord.  Which got me thinking about all of those moms out there who still do not have bibles of their own.  Have you ever thought if it that way?

Well, Bibles Unbound is a great ministry and as I was going through the Bibles Unbound site this morning, I took a screen capture of the section where we have noted how many individuals are still waiting for a bible, and I thought, what if my mom was one of those people?  What would I do in order to make sure she received a copy of the most important message that God ever gave us?

Well, here's an idea for you.  If your mom is with the Lord like mine is, why not consider joining Bibles Unbound and giving bibles in honor of your mom.  Imagine how cool it would be to know that some other mom out there received a bible because you remembered how vital the bible is to you.  

And may I encourage you to join the North Korea covert operation because, as you can see, North Korea is in dire need of bibles.

And if your mom is still living, why not get together and you can both join Bibles Unbound and give bibles together.  Personally, I think it's cool to do special things like this together as a family.  So I hope you consider making a difference for those moms in other nations who have yet to receive the best gift of all.

To learn more about how to join Bibles Unbound, please visit our Bibles Unbound website and watch our videos and learn more about the different operations.  And may the Lord bless you and your mom.

Christian Girls and Women in Egypt Receive New Testaments

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to go to a nurses convention in order to hand out bibles.  It was a very cool experience because not only was I able to give out bibles to someone who didn't have one, but I had the opportunity to share about how Christians in persecuted countries pray, sometimes for decades,  for a copy of the bible.

In fact, I had a conversation with one nurse who was resistant to taking a bible, and after I shared about the persecuted church and how they desire scriptures, and how fortunate we are in America to have bibles all around us, she took a copy of the New Testament I was giving out.  Which leads me to this newest update from Bibles Unbound.  If you receive bibles unbound email updates,  you may have received this, if not, please keep reading because this will inspire you to join the program, if you aren't already participating.

We get many wonderful testimonies from our Bibles Unbound mailers, and sometimes we cannot wait to share the effect your mailings are having around the world. The stories inspire and encourage us, and we think they will encourage you as well. Recently, VOM contacts in Egypt shared how New Testaments are changing the lives of young girls and women.

VOM contacts held a meeting in “El Minia” governorate in Egypt to minister to girls and women, who are often treated as second-class citizens in their own country. “Generally, in most of Upper Egypt governorates and villages, the girls are treated in a bad way, they don’t get enough education and they get married while still young,” VOM contacts said.

More than 350 girls and women from several small villages attended the meeting. “Each one got a copy of the New Testament. They were very happy to receive it and start to read it,” VOM contacts added. “God blessed the meetings by his presence; many girls knew the Lord and were affected by his love and mercy.”

We are grateful for your faithfulness in receiving New Testaments monthly, praying over them and sending the Word of God to people like these girls and women in Egypt. These seeds are sown in good soil, and God has promised a great harvest. We are also thankful to the many believers in restricted nations who gather names and addresses of people who need to read God’s Word.

Thank you for your critical work with Bibles Unbound. Please check www.biblesunbound.com often to see when new operations are added. Also, please forward this email to other believers who care about persecuted Christians around the world. Pray that God will provide more opportunities for us to mail New Testaments to even more nations.

For those in bonds,

The Bibles Unbound Team

What Would You Do For A Bible?

Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him" (NIV)

Today as I was pondering what to share with you, I had the simple question "What Would You Do for a Bible?" come to mind.  I know that you may recall that old commercial what would you do for a Klondike bar, but a Klondike bar isn't nearly as valuable as a holy bible.

Would you sell all of your possessions in order to earn the money for a bible if you didn't have the money and that was the only way you could earn one?

Would you hand copy the bible so that you could have it?

Would you jump up and down and spin in circles and look like a fool on national television if you desired a bible that much?

Seriously, what would you DO for a bible if you didn't have one and you knew that it contained the true answers to life, eternity, salvation and godliness?

I have heard numbers of stories of our persecuted brothers in Christ who have done things that I'm not sure I would do.  But one story that impacted me about the length of how people who understand the value of the scriptures is how they would hand copy meticulously so they could have only ONE page of the bible. 

Most of us in America, if we're honest, wouldn't take the time to hand write out even a small book of the bible if our lives depended on it, but I bet you that if someone told us to copy something that involved a secret code to earn tons of money and the only way to find out the code, we'd do it. 

The persecuted church honestly convicts me, because I know as a Christian in America, I have free access to any and all bibles that I could ever want.  And I know that as a result I don't value the bible as highly as someone who has to pray for years, or even die for the freedom to read the bible.  How about you?

So this is why I wanted to stimulate your thinking a little bit today, and just offer a reminder about The Voice of the Martyrs Bibles Unbound program.  I've told you before that this program is my favorite and I've been apart of it every year it's been going.  And it's amazing to see how the Lord has used this simple program to minister to countless thousands over the past few years.

So if you would like to join and be a member of Bibles Unbound and find out how you can have the blessing to ship bibles in restricted nations every month, please visit the Bibles Unbound page and get started.  The rewards will last for an eternity.

Bibles Unbound Update

Just in case you didn't receive the recent email sharing about the lastest with Bibles Unbound, I wanted to share it with you.  This is very cool.

Homeschooled Girls Mail Bibles to China

At VOM we get many testimonies from Bibles Unbound mailers. Their stories inspire and encourage us with their faithfulness, and sometimes we just have to share them. Recently, Paul Gerardi shared how mailing New Testaments to China has blessed and enriched his family.

Seven-year-old Ann and 10-year-old Jana, Paul and Brenda’s adopted daughters from China, assist their parents in putting the packages together. Praise God, the Gerardi’s are a great example of the many faithful BU participants mailing God’s word into restricted nations. This family and others like them have now mailed more than one million New Testaments!

“Jana and Ann were each adopted from China while still infants. When we read about Hudson Taylor and his work in spread the Gospel in China, the girls became very excited and asked if they could help spread the Gospel to their home country, too… [They] decided they wanted to send Bibles to China so the Chinese people could hear the word of God and grow in their Faith.”

“Each month the girls look forward to getting their delivery of Bibles to mail out, and the names of those waiting for their copy, “ Paul added. “After the Bibles are packaged, prayed over, and sent, the girls put the recipient names into their prayer journals where they are lifted up to God regularly. We monitor the progress of the Bible deliveries on the Bibles Unbound Web site. We are truly grateful to The Voice of the Martyrs and Bibles Unbound for this program, which has become an essential component of the missions work part of our children’s education.”

We are grateful to faithful believers like the Gerardis’ in the United States who are receiving New Testaments monthly, praying over them and sending the Word of God to people who have never heard it before. These are seeds sown in good soil, and God promises a harvest. We are also thankful for our brothers and sisters inside restricted nations gathering names and addresses of people who need to read God’s Word.

Thank you for being a part of Bibles Unbound. Check www.BiblesUnbound.com often to see when new operations are added. Also, please forward this e-mail to Christian friends who care about persecuted believers around the world. Pray with us that God will open additional opportunities for mailing New Testaments into more nations in the coming months. 

Bibles Unbound the Movie

 It has been awhile since I've reminded you to tell your friends about Bibles Unbound.  Personally, this is my favorite ministry activity to participate in every month because I know that somewhere in the world, someone is receiving God's word and there is no greater gift than that.

So we have made it very easy for you to share this wonderful ministry with your friends, because all you have to do is click here  to visit the Bibles Unbound website and see the Bibles Unbound movie.

If you are already a member who is sending bibles, we want to thank you again, and ask you to share your experiences with us.  Thank you for all you do!