When I became a Christian as a teenager, a pastor said to me: Pal, dust on your Bible is rust on your soul. He meant that I should "dust off the Bible" by using it diligently every day. Mwith underground church Christians in the Muslim world, gave me a nuanced view of the Bible as a necessity in my life and not just "nice" to have access to.
They can forbid me to have the Bible or take it away from me, but what I have memorized from scripture they cannot take away from me.
My experience is that in the underground church, the word of God is a rock and essential to have access to in physical form. It is not uncommon for persecuted Christians to memorize scripture. We have seen this throughout the history of the suffering church. As a persecuted Christian in an Islamic country said to me: They can forbid me to have the Bible or take it away from me, but what I have memorized from Scripture they cannot take away from me.
I will never forget the times I have had the privilege of giving a Bible to isolated Christians in the mountains of North Africa or in closed countries in the Middle East. Their joy and respect for God's Word, the tears of joy at finally having a Bible of their own, left a deep impression on me of the value of God's Word as the bedrock of the DNA of the persecuted and the underground church.
The Word calls us to share the Bible with persecuted Christians.
The Word calls them and us - for comfort and help. The Word calls us to share the Bible with persecuted Christians.
Because the facts are: Out of the 7000 languages in the world, 3700 languages are without the Bible or only have parts of it translated. Around 700 million people have yet to receive the Bible in their own mother tongue.
The Danish European Mission is committed to ensuring the translation and accessibility of the Bible for those who do not have access to the Bible, and to pray and support the translation into other languages.
Once the Bible is translated, we are determined to ensure its availability. That's why Bible smuggling is still essential to the underground, often persecuted Christians in the Muslim world.
I pray that you and I will fall in love with God's Word and through that we will have a heart to make the Word available through Bible translation and even consider traveling into countries with suitcases full of gifts for persecuted Christians who have the courage to pass it on.
