Bible-based Literacy

Project Details

Providing access to the Bible through literacy or learning another language offers the opportunity to transform lives by the power of God’s Word. Bible-based Literacy is currently provided in these languages—English, Hindi, Bengali, Haitian Creole, and Arabic.

Poverty, persecution, and/or prejudice often deny people an education, leaving many illiterate. Bible-based Literacy gives them the opportunity to learn basic reading and writing skills. It also makes a powerful impact in people’s lives— both personally and spiritually. Lives are transformed through learning and trusting the Gospel, and new opportunities for evangelism arise naturally from the excitement of learning to read God’s Word. Knowing how to read and write can often lead to better economic opportunities. Bible-based Literacy also opens doors to the Gospel to people who might otherwise not be reached, including those living in closed or restricted countries or individuals who might otherwise oppose God’s Word.

MAGANDANG-ARAW

Dina attended Bible-based Literacy and Church Planter Training with Bible League and today has a ministry to the people of Quenzon City, a “suburb” in the Baseco slum, Philippines. If you ask her what her ministry involves, she simply shrugs her shoulders and answers: “whatever arrives at the doorway of the church. People in this community have all sorts of needs and we minister to them in whatever way we can with the little that we have. Jesus commanded us to be His hands and feet and that is all we want to be. If we can do that then we are doing what He taught us to do in His Word”. Some of the practical opportunities include rescuing an abandoned, unwanted baby left on the doorstep, taking care of some children while their parents go off to beg, or reaching out to a single-mom who is caught in a cycle of unwanted pregnancies. Dina’s face lights up when she shares: “each of these situations has a practical aspect, but more importantly, each is an invitation to share Christ’s love and saving power with them. God uses their situations to draw them to Him.”

Being a volunteer means that Dina has no income from the ministry which she does and as a result she sews to afford food for herself. But she doesn’t sew clothes or other items of value, Dina takes large bags of offcuts from clothing factories which she buys in bulk and then sews together the “swatches” of colour to make cleaning cloths or swabs which she sells in bundles of a dozen for a mere 30 cents. She labours away at her pedal-powered sewing machine and manages to earn between $4 and $5 a day. Any visitor who can afford a bundle or two of her swabs is blessed to not only have something so basic and useful, but

more than that to know that they are helping to feed this wonderful worker of Christ, someone who is truly the hands and feet of Jesus!

Bible League partners work in many countries around the world, including the Philippines. By running Bible-based Literacy classes and training, Church Planters like Dina are able to minister in their local communities and plant God’s Word where it is needed most.

Support others like Dina today by giving towards the resources they require to run Bible-based Literacy and help provide hope for slum residents.