Articles & News

This is How Partnership Works

by Ray Alary, THRU the BIBLE-Canada Executive Director

Say the word “COVID-19” and you’ll get a groan. Lockdowns, job loss, travel restrictions, sickness and loss of life. We all want it to be over.

But surprisingly, God is using this difficult season for His amazing purposes.

When the crisis first struck in Italy, a conversation took place at Thru the Bible that sounded something like this, “What if we could take THRU the BIBLE into every house, every hospital, to anyone who could put their cellphone next to their ear and listen?” And then, “And how could we do this quickly?” People in Italy were rapidly losing hope. The need was immediate. And the hope of Christ was in our hands.

At that point, the pandemic had only spread to Italy, Spain, and Iran. If we were going to deepen our impact in these three countries, it would take partners, and not just one.

For all three countries, our partner YouVersion stepped up. They were already bringing God’s Word to these regions digitally. Would they deliver audio messages?  “We’re in—let’s do this,” they said enthusiastically.

On the ground, our partnership with TWR carried the project to Spain and Italy. In Iran, the ministry of Words of Hope took the lead. In all, dozens of people—many of them volunteers—worked tirelessly to ready the programs and format them in YouVersion’s app.

Would people listen?

Our partner, Words of Hope, shared this amazing story from an area of the world where it’s difficult to follow Jesus Christ:

A Farsi-speaking woman living in Pakistan found THRU the BIBLE on the radio. She  desperately wanted a Bible, but she feared her husband, a zealous Muslim, would find it. A worker with Words of Hope spent an hour with her, helping her download YouVersion step by step to her phone so she could read the Bible and listen to THRU the BIBLE on YouVersion. The digital technology today allows her and others to discreetly listen to THRU the BIBLE in a hostile, unforgiving culture.

Of all the stories that come out of COVID-19, this one is of life and hope, found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray for this woman—and many others in similar hazardous worlds—that God’s Word will fill her life with spiritual blessing.

Now to be practical, when you attempt a project of this size and depth, and then try to do it quickly, there’s likely to be tension somewhere. But by God’s grace, all three languages launched in harmony as our partners came together under one purpose. We thank God for them and their united spirit in taking God’s whole Word to His whole world. The crisis created a need, and now untold thousands have been blessed by God’s Word brought to them in their own heart language.

This is a story of how partnership works. We thank God for you, too. Your prayers and support take God’s Word to the corners of the earth. He is using you to accomplish His great purposes. Now that’s a great story!