Jesus, Good Shepherd, the
“calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.” —John 10:3
Painting by John Steele used on the cover of A Bible Study on John by permission of Pacific Press.
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ow amazing that Jesus, who came into this world as the lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, is also that great and good Shepherd, who leads and individually nourishes His sheep! During His public ministry, Jesus saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep having no shepherd (Matthew 9:36). He told His disciples of “other sheep” which He needed to bring into the fold (John 10:16). They, too, would hear His voice and follow Him. After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter proclaimed his love for Jesus three times. Each time Jesus responded, “Feed My sheep. . . . Feed My lambs” (John 21:15-17). In South Africa more than 50 years ago, Watson and Rose Goodman saw the multitudes and were moved with compassion for them. Watson compiled the 48-page Scripture booklet, Help From Above, so that the multitudes could have at least a portion of the nourishing, life-giving Word of God. God enlarged their vision from one nation of Africa, to the continent of Africa, to the whole world. The multitudes needed to hear God’s voice! The sheep that heard and followed the voice of the Shepherd needed to be fed! The words of Jesus became their mandate, “They do not need to go away. YOU give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). The vision which led to World Missionary Press continues strong. And the vision is multiplied in believers throughout the world. As those who hear and follow are fed by God’s Word, they in turn see the multitudes around them in their nations and catch the vision of their Shepherd. In increasing numbers, Christians around the world look to World Missionary Press for supplies of “bread” to feed the hungry.
Ways to be involved in feeding the multitudes: Gift Idea #1—Provide “Help From Above” Our most-requested Scripture booklet for adults is Help From Above. Almost 16 million copies were printed this past year in dozens of languages. More than ever before, people in desperate situations are realizing their need for help from above. Not only can this powerful booklet lead a person to salvation in Jesus Christ, but its topics and verses also help a new believer grow in this new life in Christ. [Every dollar donated will provide for the printing of more than 25 copies of this powerful 48-page Scripture booklet. A gift of $100 will cover the cost of printing 2,500 Scripture booklets in the languages of the people, while an investment of $1,000 will touch 25,000 people with the life-giving Word of God.]
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comes out the other end “alive” with the life-giving Word of God, able to bring people to Christ and to transform their lives. WMP spends over $15,000 a year just on ink to print Scripture booklets. The cost of 100 pounds of ink ($94.00) allows God’s powerful Word to flow onto the pages of 750,000 Scripture booklets. A whole drum of ink (450 pounds) costs $423.
Gift Idea #4—Provide A Bible Study on John to Leaders or New Believers Each 1,500-lb. roll of paper provides the inside pages for 85,000 Scripture booklets.
Gift Idea #2—A Roll of Paper (now costs less!) A roll of paper to keep the press rolling. Each 1,500-lb. 35-inch wide roll is twelve miles long and provides the inside pages of 85,000 Scripture booklets. What awesome potential for leading souls into God’s kingdom! As of August 1, the cost of the paper we use actually decreased 4.8%! This is an amazing provision of God. Each wide roll of paper now costs $1,028. A half-roll costs $514 and provides the inside pages for 42,500 Scripture booklets. Any amount donated for paper will go a long way. Even $12 will provide the paper for 1,000 pages. In some places where God’s Word is scarce, booklets have been torn apart so that each person could have—for their very own—just one precious page of God’s Word!
Gift Idea #3—Ten Pounds of Ink Ten pounds of black ink for the web press still costs $9.40 and is used to apply powerful words from God’s heart onro the pages of about 75,000 48-page topical Scripture booklets. Think of it! Paper that is literally “dead” goes in one end of a printing press and
Black ink flows into the ink fountain on the web press.
Jay and Vicky Benson had just arrived in Bandung, Indonesia (a university city of 1½ million in the world’s most populous Muslim nation) when they heard about the small classified ad inserted in a local newspaper, offering a free correspondence course on the Gospel of John. The good news was that an office boy had to go to the post office with a wheelbarrow to pick up all the responses! But what wrenched Vicky’s heart was that the offer was never made again because of lack of resources to handle such response. The desire was born to write a free-standing Bible study on John that could be given away freely. Back in the States at WMP, Vicky did just that. Last year 1.3 million copies were printed in various languages. One ministry in Nicaragua uses the Bible Study on John to teach their pastors, and finds that it gives them a whole new mind-set. Before a church even has a building to worship in, they are establishing mission churches. Another ministry there, which used youth ages 16-30 to present the gospel in the poorest schools in Managua two years ago, saw over 28,100 salvations in one week! Every person who accepted Christ and all the students they spoke to were given A Bible Study on John (over 50,000). “We are seeing a tremendous army of young evangelists being raised up.” As of now 585,980 copies of this Bible study in French are on order in 15 African nations plus Haiti and need to be printed. More than 100,000 are on order in English, mostly for India, and 412,012 are on order in Spanish for 9 Latin American nations plus Spain and the one Spanish-speaking nation of Africa (Equatorial Guinea). The Paraguay Bible Society is requesting more because “we want to focus on the leadership in the countryside.” Most have only a primary school education. “With special workshops we want to teach them and provide the elemental tools” as they spread the Word in their villages. [Each copy of the 80-page Bible Study on John costs only about 12¢ to produce. A gift of $25 will provide 208 leaders or new believers with their own copy. An investment of $500 will supply 4,166!]
Gift Idea #6—Share God’s Love with a Child
Gift Idea #5—Shipping God’s Word to the World Shipping boxes of Scripture booklets by freight (including in 20-foot and 40-foot containers) rather than entirely through the postal system (as we used to do) saved $1,787,734 this past fiscal year. We can do this only because 80+ volunteer national coordinators in 73 nations are willing to receive containers and disperse boxes of Scripture booklets to ministries, churches, and individual distributors throughout their nations. Shipping a container may cost from $2,000 to $15,000 depending on the size of container and the country of destination. Shipping God’s Word by container is an effective way to deliver the tools needed by those on the front lines who are eager to plant the seeds of God’s Word and reap a harvest of souls. Wouldn’t shipping costs be saved entirely by printing overseas? It costs less for WMP to print AND ship than to print almost anywhere in the world that we know of (by using high-speed equipment, volume printing, staff willing to work for modest wages, and hundreds of volunteers). We can’t send everything by freight shipments, but overall, it costs WMP less than one cent on average to ship a 48page Scripture booklet to anywhere in the world— an amazing investment. How many Scripture booklets would you like to help ship?
Our most-requested 48-page Scripture booklet is The Way to God, compiled by Rose Goodman in her later years at the request of Jay Benson after he returned from India, his heart broken for the multitudes of children he saw there. Her heart full of love for God and the children of the world, Rose handwrote every page of this booklet literally on her knees. This past fiscal year we printed more than 19,487,000 copies in numerous languages. Each costs under 4¢ to produce. What an investment in a child (and his family)! Rose’s 64-page Bible Study on Matthew and her coloring book, He Is Risen! are also greatly used in various languages. We have increased the number of Spanish He Is Risen! on our production schedule to 200,000 because we could not turn away the request from Paraguay for 20,000 “due to the use we do at public and private schools of our country. There are open doors, and we don’t want to miss this opportunity. We don’t know what would happen in the future, and that’s why we want to act TODAY!” G Every dollar contributed toward The Way to God provides for 25 copies. G
A gift of $20 will print 200 copies of A Bible Study on Matthew (64 pages) at 10¢ apiece.
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The larger He Is Risen! salvation coloring books in Spanish cost about 18¢ each to produce. An investment of $100 will provide for 555 coloring books, which minister to the whole family.]
School children reading He Is Risen! salvation coloring books in Paraguay.
Gift Idea #7—French New Testaments In the near future, World Missionary Press will be producing and shipping large quantities of Scripture materials in French and African languages to 13 nations in French-speaking Africa. Many of these former French colonies have been decimated by years of war, are facing the advance of Islam, and are dark places in need of the light of the gospel. Shipments to these nations will include 100,000 WMP French New Testaments, which include a 38-page Basic Study Supplement—select topics and Scripture references compiled by Watson Goodman.
Gift Idea #8— Minister to Prisoners Scripture-text Datebooks—full of instruction, encouragement, and help—are enthusiastically received by prisoners throughout the United States. Each Datebook contains 365 carefully-selected Scripture verses, and the inside front cover shares how to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. What a privilege it is to minister to a prisoner (and often extended family) with a daily Scripture throughout the year. Again this year we have printed 825,000 Datebooks, most of which will go to chaplains and prisoners who find them a source of encouragement and hope during long, lonely days. A prisoner wrote from Texas, “Thank you for all you are doing to help me come closer to Jesus’ love through the words I read daily from your Scripturetext Datebook. In prison, sometimes the only light that shines in here is from the love of God . . . .” [You can reach 100 inmates with their personal Scripture-text Datebook for a gift of $10; or reach 1,000 for an investment of $100.]
Gift Idea #9—Your time as a Volunteer New Testaments are much needed in French-speaking countries of Africa.
As WMP’s coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire wrote: “What people need more is the Word of God. Even unbelievers are eager to hear from God. Most of the time, we give the NT to missionaries who are working in rural areas where people have no money to buy a Bible. In this time of turbulence, pastors and churches . . . are being persecuted. Our freedom of preaching orally and publicly is reduced.” Your gift to produce French New Testaments will make a significant spiritual impact on lives in West and Central African nations. [At approximately 95 cents per copy, you can provide 53 French New Testaments with durable vinyl covers for a gift of $50.00, or a gift of $100 will provide 106 French New Testaments with Basic Study Supplement.]
If God leads you and/or your group to be involved with the hundreds of volunteers that give of their time either on a regular basis or as a one-time offering of love, please contact WMP’s Volunteer Coordinator at (574) 831-2111 (ext. 215) or email volunteer@wmpress.org. Ongoing volunteer opportunities include feeding the binderies; filling, weighing, and strapping boxes; collating New Testaments; stuffing mailings; and filling small orders.
Gift Idea #10—Regular Prayer Support Sign up to receive our bi-monthly prayer letter along with your newsletter, sharing a praise report or a prayer request for each day of the month. WMP is a prayer-supported ministry. (We can also send the prayer letter by e-mail upon request.)
World Missionary Press, Inc. P.O. Box 120, New Paris, IN 46553 • (574) 831-2111 • FAX (574) 831-2161 Visit our website: www.wmpress.org • E-mail: mailroom@wmpress.org twitter.com/WMP_USA
View status of WMPʼs charitable solicitation registrations/exemptions and any required disclosure statements for each state at www.wmpress.org/disclosurestatements.shtml or request a copy.
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