Thank-You Letters from China Since 1967, VOM has used innovative ways of getting Bibles to believers in nations hostile to Christ. From sewing Scriptures into the lining of clothes to carrying boxes of Bibles across rugged mountains on pack animals, we are committed to doing whatever it takes to get God s Word to every believer. As our worker in China said, to strengthen and challenge the local churches in the most difficult areas is my first priority. That begins with providing them with sufficient Bibles for their own use. In this nation that has been indoctrinated with communist ideology, the need for truth is great. There were not enough Bibles when I just believed, wrote a Chinese Christian who received a Bible from VOM. There were a few believers who had Bibles. I used to treat the words of Chairman Mao as the truth and I admired his words very much. But after I was saved and blessed by God, I threw the book of Chairman Mao away. The Bible is the most precious book in my heart now. No other books can compare with it.
Coal on a Snowy Day Dear Members in the Lord: Peace be with you! Thank God s grace, that the church spread the gospel to many people who need by the guidance of God. Nevertheless, the sources in church are not enough, so the new brothers and sisters who just repented to God don t have bibles. This problem is urgent. So we prayed to our Heavenly God! Thank God! He listened to our prayers and prepared for us the sources we need Holy Bibles. God provided us through you, it is like sending the coal in the snowy day. We give all the glories to our God in Heaven! Thank you for your generous offerings and we believe that God will bless the ministry in your hand in the future and more needy places can be blessed through you! May all the earth are bathed in the abundant grace of God! Hereby, our church gives thanks to our body members in the Lord! Immanuel! Sister Xu 2
The Bread of Life Dear Deacons, Elders, Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I am Sister Chen. My family are Christians. When I was little, I was not free to select a belief. My parents didn t take us to church. At the age of ten, when one of neighbors held a meeting in secret, I went there. When I was about 15, I was baptized into Jesus Christ. Later, God brought me here. I was born again on March 18, 2007. God prepared a house for us to meet together. I have served in church. This is the process that my life grows. Thank you for supporting and helping us strongly. Thank you for giving us the living water and bread of life to nurture us. Thanks a lot. Grace and love of God be with you. God bless you. Immanuel! Sister Chen 3
We Are All Members Because that the number in the church increased recently and we lacked Bibles seriously, many brothers and sisters don t have Bible and they just borrow from others. Thank God that your church helped us and donated many Bibles for us, which really saved us from the serious difficulties. The church is the body of Christ and we are all body members in the Lord! Let s help each other, encourage each other and pray for each other and wish we have the same mind in the Lord to revive the gospel! May God s will fulfill in the church and then the church can spread the gospel and build more churches, and bring more people to repent, so that the name of the Lord can be glorified in every place! We wish that your church can continue to help us and we hope all people who come can have a Bible to read. Thank you very much! Thank God for making the church extended and thank God we lack nothing in Him! May the blessings, grace, peace from God and the fellowship of the Spirit be with all the churches! Yajin 4
A Precious Treasure Today, a classmate told me I could get a new Bible this afternoon. Really? I even can t believe my ears. A Bible! A new Bible! I was very excited! I got a precious treasure. It s great! It s a great book! I can t help to kiss the little baby. Thank you teacher! I think I will hold it when I sleep. I feel sweet and peaceful even thinking about that. I decided in my heart: I will cherish it well and won t let the page in the Bible be broken, and certainly will not lose it carelessly. I will read it every day from now on, try to memorize God s words every day to glorify God in my life, to be His pleased good son! Anonymous 5
Lord, Thank You I really wanted to have a Bible when I didn t have one, especially when I saw others holding Bibles. I was thinking how happy I would be if that Bible belonged to me. Finally, one day my pastor gave me this precious and beautiful Bible, I jumped because I was so happy. I said, Lord, thank you! Thank you for giving me this Bible for free through your servant. Anonymous 6
No Greater Joy Thank the brothers and sisters who gave silently for the church. Because of your giving, every believer in the church has a Bible. You satisfied all the thirsty hearts for the words of God! Thank you very much! We are filled with gratitude when we got these Bibles. We know it is the grace of God that moved and inspired so many people so that they paid their labor, their blood, even their lives. Thanks to them we can have Bibles. I really need to cherish the Bible well, read the words of God carefully, and pray for the brothers and sisters who are working for the church pray that you will love God more, be more courageous in this serving way, and give more Bibles to the children of God so that they may stand firmly in the truth. I know there s no greater joy than that. Thank our Lord Jesus Christ for giving his children such a great grace. I on behalf of all the church wish you have peace! Anonymous 7
A Big Treasure A brother in Christ gave me a Bible in June 2006. I was very grateful. For Christians, having a Bible is like having a big treasure. From then on, I started reading the Bibles, and as long as I opened the Bibles, I can t put it down because I loved it so much. I read as long as I have time, when my work is not busy. I benefited a lot and I knew God clearer. The words helped my work, my family and my life a lot. The words in the Bible teach me in all aspects of my life, and I continue reading it. Although the Bible s cover is broken, and some pages have fallen out, I can t bear to change to a new one. As long as it can be used, I will cherish and protect it well. Let me accompany the Bible, as the Bible accompanies me, til the day I meet God s face. Anonymous 8
A Baby Born Thank your church for sending us 200 Bibles. We saw the love of God. He does not wish that any should perish but all should reach repentance. When a Bible is given to a person who just prayed to accept Jesus, how glad we are, as well as the angels in the heaven, because there s a baby born in the family of our Heavenly Father! The Bibles not only turned people to the Lord, but also encourage us to spread the gospel more, and to win our city for the glory of the Lord (and to pray for the city). We are more encouraged to come to the Lord like Mary, listening to His words and getting the spiritual good every day so we can grow up spiritually. The Bible is the inspiration of God. The Bible says You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. The Bible is indispensable in the life of Christians, which we also need to study with the whole lives. Bibles brought people to Jesus, and the Bible teaches people to turn back to the right way and turn to the Lord. The Bible tells us: So what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? Those who believe Jesus will have eternal life, and He is the way, the truth and the life. May God bless every brother and sister in your church! Yufan 9
Dwell in Unity The almighty Heavenly Father, we praise and sing to you! Your name is the Lord of the hosts. You are the banner of us; we are willingly to hold your banner. Lord! May you bless all the brothers and sisters in the church there and may all your families be united in one life in the Christ. Lord! Please bless their offerings for they have given us the Bibles for free, and gave us a great support and help. Oh Lord, please bless Brother H and Brother W who are the servant of you. Oh Lord, thank you for giving them an obedient ear and a teachable heart to obey your calling, so they can come to us and unite all the brothers and sisters in our city to fast and pray for this city and fight with the evil spirit here. Because of the seven times walking and praying around the city, the Jericho of our city collapsed totally. Praise the Lord! They have blessed all the churches and all the brothers and sisters in our city. Our church hopes that we could invite Brother H and W again to our city. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Sixin 10
Fuel in the Snow Thank you, good servants of God, for giving us fuel in the snow and supplying water when we are thirsty. Now in our church, the old people got the large-sized Bibles and the young listeners got the small-sized ones. Every brother and sister has a Bible. They can eat spiritual food every day and find the direction of life. The spiritual lives of sheep became rich as more truth in the Bible was fed to them. From now on the believers will live out of Lord Jesus, glorify God and benefit people. Convey thanks to the brothers and sisters who offered Bibles to us. Church Members 11
Love Sincerely thank you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, for your great love to us. The Bibles you offered took away the worries that the middle-aged and old brothers and sisters were lacking Bibles and brought hope for the children at Sunday School. This is love of the Lord. Though we do not know your names, I know we have witnessed love between brothers. The whole Bible reflects a word: love. You use the offering of Bibles to show love of God; we use some simple words to express our appreciation to you. May brothers and sisters in the Lord have good health, peaceful life, blessing of God, be hard-working for the Lord, forever delighting in God and following the Lord til the end. Never wander off! Anonymous 12
The Mystery in the Bible I am a believer in a church in China. When I went to the market to buy something, a sister said to me there was a gathering place and asked me to listen to the sermon. At that time there were many people who preached gospels to me. Then I felt curious and went to listen. While I was listening, a brother handed me a Bible. I took it back home as a precious treasure. When I began to read it more, I gradually began to understand the mystery in the Bible. There is spiritual food in the Bible. I learned that we do not only live by food, but by words of God. I even learned that there is an amazing, great and real God in this world. We should worship our God with heart and faith. Therefore I really feel thankful for your free gift. I sincerely hope that God blesses you more, that you have good health and a happy family. Also, I hope there is an increase in the numbers of your brothers and sisters. Convey thanks to all your staff. Maiziang 13
The Warmth of God s Love Thank God. When I got this Bible today I was deeply moved. I always buy Bibles for others while preaching gospels and asking them to believe in Jesus. Today I had the experience of someone giving me a Bible. You did not only give me a Bible, but handed me the warmth of God s love. I feel joyful. Sincere thanks to you. Give thanks to you for you have love for the Lord and for the people. You preach gospels for God. In order to save souls, you sent the Bibles to us a thousand miles away. It is worth learning that you have the heart to devote yourself to the Lord and be willing to offer [us Bibles]. I was deeply touched. Particularly I write this letter to express thanks. Seeing your offering, I made up my mind to serve God. I decided to learn from you. I will serve the Lord all my life and be faithful our Lord Jesus Christ. I will have faith in our God who is real and true, who has mercy and grace. Thank you. A Sister in the Lord 14
191,267 believers have asked us for a Bible. We know them by name. Imagine the joy in the hearts of our brothers and sisters as they receive a Bible, possibly their first ever! We received many notes of gratitude from believers who received Bibles through Pastor Hoa, who helped us distribute Bibles to new believers in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia. Following is a note he sent us after those distributions: I write to thank all of you in the love of Christ who helped us with Bibles. We have distributed 1,000 Bibles. Thank you so much. Now we have 5,000 believers in the mountains. We wish that in 2014 we will have more books to meet the needs of these people. We wish that each believer would have a Bible to read every day and become stronger and stronger in their faith. VOM is committed to reaching each of these new believers in Southeast Asia as well as our many brothers and sisters in other restricted nations and hostile areas many new in the faith who eagerly await a Bible of their own. Join us this month in sponsoring Bibles for our persecuted family members who have requested a Bible of their own. You can sponsor 5 Bibles for $30, 10 Bibles for $60 or 20 Bibles for $120. For every five Bibles sponsored, we will send you the names of five people who will receive your sponsored Bibles so you can pray for them. Visit www.vombooks.com/april2014 to learn more. 15
Serving Our Persecuted Family Since 1967 www.persecution.com This document is supplemental content to the April 2014 newsletter. Learn more at www.persecution.com/april2014.