CS Lewis was an intellectual giant and one of the 20th century's greatest spokesmen of Christianity. While not a trained theologian, he had the ability to express profound truths in lucid, simple prose. Even 52 years after his death, his books still rank #1 in numerous categories on Amazon.com. Who among us hasn't been influenced by at least one of his great works like The Chronicles of Narnia, A Grief Observed, Mere Christianity, or The Screwtape Letters? Yet his legacy lies not in the number of copies his books have sold, who quotes him the most in their sermons, or his popularity in Christian subculture. His legacy and true achievement lie in WHOM he pointed us to. Lyle Dorsett has succinctly put it this way;
"Perhaps CS Lewis' most enduring legacy will be that in the final analysis, we do not see him clearly at all, because he stands in the shadows, as it were, like a soldier at a fork in the road on the edge of a combat zone. He briskly motions the troops on towards the proper direction. No one really sees or pays close attention to the one directing the troops. They are too preoccupied with the action that lies ahead." [1]
This is what we desire for Biblia Global. To be the soldier at the fork in the road directing God's people in the west to where the battle and need for prayer lies in the global church. To share the stories of our brothers and sisters in the hardest to reach places of the world who exist in the hornets nest of persecution and are still in need of His Word. Our work is ultimately about them and God's bigger story of His global Kingdom. This is what we want our supporters to see, pray for and support. These believers are the heroes of the narrative. Biblia Global simply directs western Christians to where the needs exists, tells those stories, and offers opportunities to be involved. On the other end, at the home front, we want to point our donors and supporters back to God and encourage more intimacy with Jesus Christ in their personal lives. Success, then, for us is not in growing an organization, but in seeing our donors connect to God as they seek Him, experience spiritual transformation and then in turn living generously in their lives back towards Him, wherever that may be. Success is getting our brothers and sisters in restricted nations the tools they need to grow in their faith.
Two personal stories illustrate the need for this. A number of years ago I had a desire to take Bibles to a communist country in south east Asia. Convinced God was leading me to do this, I purchased a plane ticket to a city there and got my visa to this country on faith. I had talked to some well connected friends in full time ministry about getting my hands on Bibles for this country and finding a contact to give my Bibles to once I got there. They felt sure we could find both these things before my flight left in six months. Fast forward to a couple of hours before I was supposed to leave for my trip and we still didn't have the Bibles or a contact in country! The main source we had gone to hadn't been able to help at all and I was left empty handed. I ended up flying to the country and simply praying for the people as I walked around and played the tourist. I see this as a formative experience for me as God used it in a bigger narrative: if I was willing to go to such great lengths to get Bibles to Christians (actually flying to the country), but was coming up empty handed do be able to do anything helpful (either in giving towards the need, carrying Bibles, or finding more information about the need), how many more people might be drawn to help and have even less contacts and information that I did? What was needed was a soldier at the fork in the road directing the Christian troops to where the need existed, how to help, where to go, and how to pray. God eventually did open the door to do work in this country a number of years later as Biblia Global came into existence. We are now actively taking Bibles to persecuted minorities in this Asian country.
The second story is similar in nature. After sharing stories of the need for Bibles in China to supporters back home, I had three people respond to give towards the need for Chinese Bibles. One was a missionary couple living in Uganda, the second was a 5 year old little girl who wanted her friends to give towards Chinese Bibles for her birthday party, the third was a friend who wanted to take the need before the elders of his home church. In each of the instances, there was 1. no place for someone living overseas to give online, 2. no organization to take the coins and dollar bills from the children who wanted to help out, and 3. no official organization to develop a relationship with a church for a congregation in the west to help out! What was needed was a soldier at the fork in the road showing the Christian troops where to give, how to help, and developing a relationship of trust to empower the church in the west to help with the need.
It was from these very experiences and initial dead ends that God brought Biblia Global into existence. As we celebrate our first year of ministry and how God is working through Biblia Global, may each of us - Biblia Global and myself included - seek to be the soldier at the fork of the road and point those around us to Jesus. They may only vaguely remember us, but may they go on to fully embrace our Lord and support our persecuted brothers and sister in the global church.
Soli deo Gloria,
Tim
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[1]Lyle Dorsett, Seeking the Secret Place: The Spiritual Formation of CS Lewis (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004),165.