I praise God for the work of the Gospel Coalition International Outreach and Bill Walsh’s leadership! I have seen first hand the impact of the godly resources they have given to me which I in turn placed into the hands of those thirsting for sound Biblical instruction. May the Lord raise up many to support the Gospel Coalition International Outreach!
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How You Can Help Relieve Theological Famine Around the World by Bill Walsh
I love this quote from Samuel Zwemer:
The printed [and digital] page is a missionary that can go anywhere and do so at minimum cost. It enters closed lands and reaches all strata of society. It does not grow weary. It needs no furlough. It lives longer than any missionary. It never gets ill. It penetrates through the mind to the heart and conscience. It has and is producing results everywhere. It has often lain dormant yet retained its life and bloomed years later.
I praise God for the way he ordains the use of the written word to call and equip us as his children. The importance of text in the history of the church is difficult to overstate. Whether it’s the Scriptures, the pamphlets of the Reformation, or sermons read by thousands on the internet, God has deployed text as a vital means through the ages. By his design, books continue to be one of the most effective tools for spreading the gospel. And of course, in our day resource formats have exploded to include audio, video, and digital.
And yet, while we in the West often walk out of conferences with huge stacks of free and inexpensive books, much of the rest of the world suffers from a theological famine. In many regions, particularly in the Global South, the cultural, language, economic, and infrastructure barriers mount up. This leaves much of the church vulnerable to false teaching and weakness. God is calling us to address this need.
I’m grateful to Desiring God, where I worked for 13 years, for the incredible platform our team had to launch and grow this effort beginning in 2006. God has overwhelmed us with so many great partners and implemented projects. Now, I’m excited and humbled to join The Gospel Coalition, as we seek, by God’s grace, to expand this mission and its fruitfulness.
The scope of the need is larger than any single ministry can fill. We are looking for publishers, translators, givers, churches, mission senders, and goers who sense a call to engage in Theological Famine Relief. You can help us to create and deploy these resources where they are most needed around the world.
Here’s a quick tour of what you’ll find on our site:
- Learn about Theological Famine Relief and how you can join us.
- Explore tools for stirring your heart for the global cause.
- Browse TGC’s resources in many languages.
- Consider supporting this effort and our current Relief Projects.
- Explore our Packing Hope resources for your next missions trip.
- Pray with us that God will make provision for this ministry to move forward according to his will.
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Follow our Twitter missions channel on @TGC_IO.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! (Psalm 96:3)
Books as Powerful Tools for Theological Famine Relief
If truth be not diffused, error will be.
By Bill Walsh
At a recent conference for Pastors here in the States I witnessed one of the largest conference bookstores that I’ve ever seen. My friends and I commented on the embarrassment of riches that we enjoy in the West. If I desire a certain title, I can have a print copy sent to me in a matter of days. Or I can order the digital version for my iPad in minutes, if not seconds. So much of my Christian growth over the years has depended on books. God has used certain ones to speak to me in specific seasons of my life—with huge results.
The importance of the written word is difficult to comprehend. In terms of church history, its impact would be hard to overstate. God has used the canon of the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the early church fathers, and the pamphlets of the Reformation as vital means of building His church. By His design, the written word continues to be one of the most effective vehicles for passing truth to the next generation.
For hundreds of years, Christians in the West have been privileged to have abundant access to good literature. This wealth of reading goes back to the Gutenberg press, which changed the entire known world in a year. In modern times, access to the written word has greatly increased with the advent of computers and Internet.
Although access to the Internet is increasing, the Global South has generally not yet tasted this bounty. The church there often suffers from a famine of Biblical resources. Many people groups have no Scriptures in their language. Others have no Christian literature to equip pastors and elders to lead their congregations. And where books are lacking, believers are subject to false teaching, undermined doctrine, and weak living.
This disparity of resources gets to the core mission of TGC International Outreach.
When thinking of missions, we typically envision the classic missionary, crossing cultures for the sake of the Gospel. That is still a vital part of God’s plan, especially as we consider the more recent missiological emphasis on ‘from everywhere, to everywhere.’ But many are not aware of the powerful role that literature plays in spreading Gospel truth to the nations.
Here are a few noteworthy quotes that speak to the significance of the written word for the life of believers and for the cause of missions. These are the reasons why text in printed and digital form is at the core of our work in Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church.
The Essentiality of Books
Paul is inspired, yet he wants books; he has been preaching nearly thirty years, yet he wants books; he has a wider experience than most people, yet he wants books; he has been caught up into heaven and heard things which it is unlawful to utter, yet he wants books; he has written the major part of the New Testament, yet he wants books. – C.H. Spurgeon on 2 Timothy 4:13
The Continuity of Books
There are two things in the entire history of missions that have been absolutely central. One, obviously, is the Bible itself. The other is the printed page. There is absolutely nothing else in terms of mission methodology that outranks the importance of the printed page. Meetings come and go and personalities appear and are gone. But, the printed page continues to speak. –Ralph Winter
The Versatility of Books
. . . printed books are more portable than pulpits, more numerous than priests, and the messages they contain are more easily internalized. –Elizabeth L. Eisenstein (The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, p. 169)
The Penetration of Books
The printed page is a missionary that can go anywhere and do so at minimum cost. It enters closed lands and reaches all strata of society. It does not grow weary. It needs no furlough. It lives longer than any missionary. It never gets ill. It penetrates through the mind to the heart and conscience. It has and is producing results everywhere. It has often lain dormant yet retained its life and bloomed years later. – Samuel Zwemer
The Transcendence of Books
Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realize the enormous extension of our being, which we owe to authors…In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do. –C.S. Lewis
The Sanctifying Power of Books
You will be in the company of the greatest minds and hearts for the rest of your life, and you will become their peers if you read for understanding and for life. –John Piper
The Influence of Books
If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. – Daniel Webster
We are asking God for individuals and churches who will help us build the long-term sustainability of this mission by supporting our International Outreach Capacity Fund. Would you prayerfully consider a monthly gift to this fund, so that we can continue to provide Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church?
(I’m grateful to William Mackenzie at Christian Focus for sharing several of these quotes with me and for being an inspirational force for book ministry around the world.)
Bill Walsh is Director of International Outreach for The Gospel Coalition. He worked for Desiring God Ministries for 13 years. Starting in 2006, he and a small team built a global network of partners for the cause of Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church. This initiative joined TGC in 2012. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in Minneapolis and has two adult children, Beau and Regan. Contact Bill at Bill.Walsh@TheGospelCoalition.org.
Reaching Africa's Unreached 