“May your unfailing love come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your promise; then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.” (Psalm 119:41-43)
“You Are Water for a Thirsty Soul”
It was 9 p.m., and Faisal’s Bible distribution team was exhausted. After delivering Bibles to eleven Pakistani villages in three days, they had taken a shortcut to get home faster. Just before being robbed by bandits, they had distributed more than 700 Bibles to believers among the Sikh people in the ancient Hindu city of Nankana Sahib.
The journey had been dangerous and tiring. These workers seek out Christians who do not have a Bible, relying on local contacts to provide the names of those who need one. Most of those receiving Bibles are new to the faith. Despite the risks – the long journeys, the threat of bandits, the possibility of arrest – Faisal and his team were committed. (VOM Radio)
When they finally reached the believers in Nankana Sahib and distributed the Bibles, something remarkable happened. “Thank you,” the believers told the team. “You are water for a thirsty soul.”
Water for a thirsty soul. Can you imagine being so desperate for God’s Word that you’d describe finally receiving a Bible this way? For millions of persecuted Christians around the world, this isn’t hyperbole—it’s reality.
The Global Bible Famine
Owning, printing, importing or distributing the Word of God in hostile or restricted nations can result in being arrested or even killed. Governments and groups opposed to Christianity impose harsh penalties and deadly punishment in attempts to stop evangelism and Bible distribution. (Open Doors)
In Iran, the Islamic government greatly restricts the freedom of its citizens, including stern laws against printing or importing Bibles in Farsi, the national language. Any Bibles must be printed in secret or smuggled in from outside the country. In North Korea, no Bibles are printed domestically, and importing them is restricted. Bibles must be hand-carried into the country, and those doing so know they risk prison or death if discovered. (Voice of the Martyrs Canada) In Somalia, visibly carrying a Bible would mean almost certain death. (Voice of the Martyrs Canada)
The joy Iranians experience upon receiving their own Bible in Farsi is truly indescribable. This isn’t just about wanting to read Scripture. It’s about spiritual survival. Just a few decades ago, it was estimated that fewer than 500 Christians from a Muslim background lived in Iran. Today, there are at least 800,000 Christ-followers throughout the country. And they’re begging for Bibles. (Release International)
“After Eight Months, I Opened It”
Aref and his wife Liana were elderly and vulnerable when COVID-19 hit Iran. They followed the lockdown carefully, rarely leaving their home. But one day while getting some fresh air in a local park, they were approached by a man who talked to them briefly about God and gave them a Bible.
Aref took the Bible home but didn’t read it. It sat on his bookshelf for eight months—an illegal, dangerous book that could get him arrested if discovered. But then something happened.
“The next morning, I thought about my dream,” he said, “and then I went to the bookshelf and grabbed the Bible after eight months. I opened it with more passion, and curiously, I remembered also the guy who gave me this book.” After reading some passages, Aref found contact information on the first page and called the man who had given it to him. Now Aref is connected to a ministry that answers his questions and prays with him. (Persecution.com)
One Bible. Eight months on a shelf. One divine dream. And a soul found its way to Jesus.
The Multiplication Effect
Because Bibles are passed around among trusted friends, each copy you send will reach multiple people. This isn’t just theory—it’s the lived reality of the underground church.
In one Iranian city, a taxi driver picked up a passenger who had a box sitting next to him on the back seat. As this passenger left the car, he forgot to take his box. The driver thought he would contact him to pick it up the next day. He took the parcel home with him for safekeeping. The thing is, this taxi driver was also a house church leader. That night, the secret church meeting would be at his house.
The box contained ten Bibles. The man who left that box of Bibles in the taxi was one of our partners’ delivery guys. His role in getting Bibles to Iranians who need them is to collect the Bibles from a secret, safe warehouse and then carefully deliver them to house church leaders. We don’t think this brother meant to leave those 10 Bibles in the taxi – he didn’t know the driver was a house church leader. But God knew very well.
A “mistake” became a miracle. Ten Bibles reached the exact house church that needed them, at the exact moment they needed them. Our partner said: “It gives me goosebumps to think about the Holy Spirit working together with people, fallible humans, and even using their mistakes.” (Biblica Europe)
When One Bible Changes Everything
After Adhit received his first Bible from The Voice of the Martyrs in Nepal, he clutched the precious book near his chest in gratitude. He finally had personal access to God’s Word and could now go much deeper in his relationship with Jesus. (vomsa)
In Uganda, a young woman received her first Bible at a VOM-sponsored distribution. The video of her reaction shows pure joy—she’s laughing, crying, hugging the Bible, unable to contain her excitement. This is what receiving God’s Word looks like when you’ve never owned a copy before.
Iranian Christians had gone house to house, placing Bibles in mailboxes throughout the neighborhood. Each one included a note saying the book was a gift for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. To Fareena, the gift was a miracle. Using contact information included with the gift, she learned how she and her father could join a house church. “God called my father into His family,” she said. “My father has been reading the book every day and talks about it joyfully.” (Persecution.com)
One Bible in a mailbox. One father and daughter finding Jesus. One family transformed forever.
Smuggling as Obedience
For more than 50 years, VOM has been smuggling Bibles into restricted countries. VOM’s founders, Pastor Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, smuggled Bibles into communist controlled areas of Eastern Europe and trained members of their church’s youth group to do so as well. The Voice of the Martyrs continues to distribute more than one million Bibles every year in restricted nations and hostile areas. (Voice of the Martyrs Canada)
Is smuggling Bibles illegal? Yes. Is it right? VOM’s Dr. Jason Peters explains it this way: In Acts 5:29, Peter and the other apostles answered: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” When civil law contradicts God’s command to spread His Word, believers must choose whom to obey. (Persecutionblog.com)
One fact is clear: persecuted Christians are asking for Bibles. What will we do about it? Richard Wurmbrand wrote and spoke often about Bible smuggling. VOM workers take risks to get God’s word into hostile and restricted nations. We are willing to work hard to get God’s Word to spiritually hungry people.
The Methods Are Creative
Carrying 200 Bibles in boxes, a donkey and its handler approached the Syrian border, hoping to make it through security. They had previously smuggled 50 Bibles to a group of Syrian believers, but more were needed as more Muslims were turning to Jesus. When the handler was turned back at the border, he led the donkey out of sight of the guards, then sent it on alone. Remembering the candy bar it had received after the previous trip, the donkey made the journey on its own and delivered the Bibles. (VOM Radio)
Donkeys. Taxis. Mailboxes. Secret warehouses. Underground delivery networks. VOM workers smuggle both print and digital Bibles into the country. Whatever it takes to get God’s Word to people who are starving for it.
If she were caught with a Bible, Ri Gun could be sent to a labor camp. So she tucked her Bible into the fronds of the mop she used to clean the portraits of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Inside the mop she used to clean portraits of dictators, she hid the Word of the living God! (VOM Radio)
When You Can’t Own a Bible, You Memorize It
Pastor Houmayoun was arrested along with six other believers during a prayer meeting in his home in Shiraz, Iran, in 2012. Realizing they needed God’s Word to help sustain them while in prison, the Christians began writing memorized Bible verses on any paper they could find. They encouraged one another by sharing the verses they remembered. “During the times when we were under pressure,” Houmayoun said, “God was reminding us of these verses and strengthening us through the parts that we memorized.” (Persecution.com)
When physical Bibles are impossible, believers hide God’s Word in their hearts. They write verses on scraps of paper. They whisper Scripture to each other in prison cells. They cling to fragments of truth because even fragments are enough when the Holy Spirit brings them to life.
The Impact We Can Have
Children who participated in Vacation Bible School at Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Ada, Michigan raised money for Bibles for Iran. Some kids checked their piggy banks; one held a yard sale; another set up a lemonade stand. During the week of VBS, the children raised $1,227 dollars, enough to provide 49 Iranian Christians with their very own Bible. When asked why they were so eager to give the money, one little boy leaned forward eagerly to say, “So that other people can learn about Jesus!” (Words of Hope)
Children with lemonade stands. Piggy banks. Yard sales. And forty-nine Iranian believers received water for their thirsty souls.
Each purchase of an NLT Bible Smuggler Bible provides The Voice of the Martyrs with the resources to smuggle one Bible to a Christian in a restricted nation Buy one, send one. It’s that simple.
For just $10 to $25 (depending on the organization and location), you can print, smuggle, and deliver one Bible to a believer who’s never owned one. If just one Bible can reach up to five Iranian believers and seekers, imagine how many lives you can reach if you give one Bible every month. You can share God’s Word with 60 people in just one year. (The Voice of the Martyrs)
“Never Take Your Word of Truth From My Mouth”
The psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 119:43 – “Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws” – takes on new meaning when you realize millions of believers face exactly this threat. Governments try to take God’s Word from them. They ban it, burn it, and imprison those who possess it. They do everything in their power to silence the truth.
But believers like Faisal keep distributing. Brave men and women keep smuggling. Iranian Christians keep placing Bibles in mailboxes. House church leaders keep teaching memorized Scripture. And new believers keep clutching their first Bible to their chest, calling it “water for a thirsty soul.”
In 2020, VOM workers smuggled a large supply of Bibles into Iran, and local house church leaders distributed them to Christians who did not own one. Jalil’s group recently received a package of the Bibles, and now every member has a personal copy. “God blessed us through your ministry!” Jalil said. “Today, not only do we have our own Bibles, but we also can give them to our friends and family and share the love of God with them.”
This is the multiplication of hope. One Bible becomes many testimonies. One smuggled shipment becomes hundreds of conversations about Jesus. One $10 gift becomes eternal life for someone you’ll never meet this side of heaven.
Our Response
The persecuted church isn’t asking for our sympathy. They’re asking for Bibles. They’re begging for God’s Word. They’re risking their lives to obtain it, to read it, to share it, to hide it in their hearts.
Todd Nettleton, spokesperson for The Voice of the Martyrs, said, “I think it is easy to say ‘God, please bless persecuted Christians,’ and that is an important prayer. But I think our prayers become more passionate when they become more personal. ‘God, please encourage Pastor Wang Yi, who is serving nine years in prison in China for leading an unregistered church there. Please strengthen the widows of martyred Christians in Northern Nigeria, like Grace; provide for her and her three children. Please protect brave believers smuggling Bibles to my brothers and sisters in Iran’.” (Voice of the Martyrs Canada)
Pray for them. But also give. Organizations like Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, World Help, Transform Iran, and Biblica are doing the dangerous, faithful work of getting God’s Word to people who desperately need it. They vet recipients to ensure safety. They train smugglers. They develop creative delivery methods. They risk everything because believers are asking for Bibles.
When Faisal’s team was robbed by bandits after distributing 700 Bibles, do you know what they did? “We will show up,” he told VOM workers. “We will do our commitment.” They went right back out.
That’s the heart of Bible smugglers around the world. They’ll show up. They’ll keep their commitment. The question is: will we show up with the resources they need to do it?
Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, we pray that You would open the hearts of Christians around the world to support persecuted believers with Bibles. Remind us that we all need to hear Your truth to grow in our faith and that it is only in Your Word that we can find hope when life is difficult. May more people join in this cause, propelled by Your love to provide Bibles to those who have none. Guide those who risk their lives smuggling Your Word into restricted nations. Protect them. Give them wisdom and favor. Fill us with compassion for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. In Jesus’ gracious name, Amen.
Sources:
- Voice of the Martyrs (persecution.com)
- Open Doors USA (opendoorsusa.org)
- World Help (worldhelp.net)
- Transform Iran (transformiran.com)
- Biblica Europe (biblicaeurope.com)
- Words of Hope (woh.org)
- Frontlines International (frontlinesinternational.org)
Blogs about today’s persecuted church:
A Month of Prayers for the Persecuted Church – 31 prayers based on Scripture
Standing with Our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters – a short, simple reminder that we Christians are all one in Christ, called to love and support each other
When the Bible Becomes Precious – sometimes we forget the value of the Treasure we see every day
Never Alone: God’s Presence in the Prison Cell – Petr Jasek proves Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
One Body, Many Members: When the Church Suffers Together – reporting on an occasion when the Church stood together in prayer to support a member of our Body
The God of All Comfort: When Martyrdom Leaves Families Behind – in some dark lands, spiritual warfare can be fatal
Passing the Torch: Teaching Faith in the World’s Darkest Places – teaching children about God is risky in North Korea, maybe even a capital crime
Water for a Thirsty Soul: The Desperate Hunger for God’s Word – stories of hope and joy when Bibles reach believers eager to read God’s Word
Here are links to my blog indexes, so please click one and keep reading!
My Books, Workbooks, and Fun Books
Knowing the Unknowable One
Opening the Treasure Chest
Walking Heart-to-Heart with God
Walking Heart-to-Heart with Each Other
Fighting the Good Fight of Faith
Christian Mysteries: Why I Love Them!
List of Some Nonfiction Books You Don’t Want to Miss
Index of Assorted Topics