Ministry Seeks Bible Donations During the Holidays

Average American Home has 9 Bibles; Average Third World Village 0

FOWLERVILLE, Mich., Dec. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- CRI, a 50-year old non-profit organization, launched Operation Bare Your Bookshelf (OBYB), a program designed to encourage individuals to "bare their bookshelf" by donating their extra Bibles or Bible study materials to third-world countries that have none.

CRI receives about 250 letters a month from pastors and volunteers in developing countries requesting Bibles, concordances, basic reference and study materials, and other Christian books. According to Zondervan Publishers, the Average American owns nine Bibles and is actively in the market for more, while the average third-world village does not own a single Bible.

"We wanted to make the United States more aware of the hardships encountered by overseas pastors and individuals seeking faith. It is hard for us to understand the difficulties these people face in even the most basic of activities such as reading the Bible together," says Fred Palmerton, Executive Director of CRI. "We designed OBYB as an easy way for Americans to donate needed items while making a difference in the lives of so many."

Individuals wishing to donate their Bibles and Christian books are asked to visit www.bareyourbookshelf.com to register or to receive more information. CRI will send all of the mailing materials needed including their own return address, so individuals need not worry that they will be personally contacted by anyone overseas. Participants that have no books can make a direct donation instead to help pay for new books, or the cost of shipping for books already collected by CRI.

As Louis K., a recipient from Johannesburg, South Africa of donated books from OBYB said, "I don't know how to thank you for the books and all the things that I received. You would not know what it meant to my wife when she saw this. She started crying to think that somebody that does not even know her would have done a deed like this. Thank you again you will not know how appreciated this surprise was to me and my wife!"

About CRI

Christian Resources International (CRI) is a 50-year old non-profit, volunteer-driven organization that provides free Christian literature to converts, missionaries and pastors in many countries. CRI ships Christian books, Bibles, Sunday school materials, tracts, and more to English-speaking recipients to more than 180 countries from which CRI receives handwritten and email requests every month.