The World Bible Translation Centre is sending a shipment of 100,000 Bibles to survivors of Hurricane Katrina in a bid to aid their spiritual recovery, reports Mission Network News.
Gary Bishop of the WBTC explained that, given the need in developing countries, the organisation rarely needed to distribute Bibles in its home country. He said: “Only something like a widespread natural disaster would cause us really to spring into action here in the United States.
“But because of the circumstances, which, in a lot of ways, position people very much like dislocated people in Third World countries, God moved us to respond to this,” he said.
Mr Bishop said that the development of the crisis following the Hurricane greatly resembled the devastation wreaked by last December’s Tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
He said that people’s reactions to the tragedy and struggle with the psychological disruption have also shown similarities. He said survivors were “really searching for answers to life’s really perplexing situation, and so what we know is that, so often, ultimately, only God’s Word will answer why something this terrible and this widespread could happen to people.”
The WTBC started assembling a response to survivors’ spiritual needs after requests for Bibles came streaming in. A request for 80,000 Bibles has already come in from Operation Blessing and Campus Crusade for Christ. The WTBC expects to distribute around 100,000 Bibles to hurricane survivors through such partners.
Bishop said that on evacuating the New Orleans Superdome people asked first for food and water, but then for Bibles. He said this was a sign that people were starting to grasp the scale of the loss and were now seeking the answers.
He said: “When all of that psychological dislocation takes place, there is a struggle for the answer of: ‘How could something like this happen to me? And what is to become of me?’”
He said that ministries would take care of the physical wellbeing of survivors but would also want to seize the opportunity to meet the spiritual needs of the people also.
Bishop said: “It really is a combined effort and presenting Jesus in the way that we believe He would want us to, which is ministering to all the needs they have, and being sure they understand His love for them.”
The WBTC’s emergency Bible response was not included in the organisation’s budget and so depends on the continuing support of the giving public. To donate please go to the World Bible Translation Centre website at www.wbtc.com.
