Missions
Philippine Missions-
Spread the good news by giving a Bible
When Mike and Nancy Easterly donated pew Bibles to Lambakin UMC in the Philippines, they discovered that people wanted to take home the Bibles for family devotion and group Bible studies. This inspired them to start a Bible distribution ministry aimed at putting at least one Bible for every home of needy Methodist families. The initial response came from the congregation of Saint Francis UMC in Cary, North Carolina where the Easterly’s daughter-in-law Tory campaigned to donate the first 50 Bibles. These Bibles were in durable, hard-bound Tagalog editions and went to members of five different small Bible study groups at remote villages. These study groups are conducted weekly by the UMC alliance of young pastors for people who, through lack of time and opportunity, do not go to church. Some of them live in unlikely places, underneath bridges or in places not yet accessible by motor vehicles.
Change For The World have given the seed money for this project. An anonymous donor from our congregation followed with a donation of $1000. To date, we have given 50 pew Bibles to two congregations ? the Greenfields UMC in Barangay Marawa and Malabong Kainingin UMC in Barangay Jaen. New orders for a simplified Tagalog Bible version for new converts are being processed.
The clamor for more Bibles is enormous. To us here at NUMC, this is a great opportunity where a mere $9 will benefit a family who would otherwise never own a Bible in their lifetime. What better way to be directly involved in spreading the word of God as embodied in Mark 16:15 “And Jesus said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
