Bibles for the World
Summary
Bibles For The World is a non-profit ministry committed to spreading the Gospel to all nations. Bibles for the World propagates the Gospel through the printing and distribution of Bibles throughout the world, to support and train national missionary workers, and to support and educate needy children in India under the Partnership Parents Program. Thousands of partners in the United States and Canada (individuals, families, churches, and volunteer groups) take on the responsibility of mailing language-correct copies of the New Testament overseas using the names and addresses and packing materials Bibles for the World provides. Bibles for the World has supported the ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of India and Partnership Mission since their inceptions, through pastors and mission workers' sponsorship, seminary scholarship, student sponsorships, education, medical ministries, relief and development projects, and capital fund campaigns. Each year, Bibles For The World selects a new group of children from the Hmar tribe in northeast India to tour North America as part of the India Children's Choir.
This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Contact Information: [ Back to top ]
| Mailing Address: | PO Box 470 1105 Garden of the Gods Road (80907)
Colorado Springs, CO
80901-0901 |
| Website: | www.bftw.org |
| Phone: | (888) 382-4253, (719) 630-7733 |
| Email: | You need to enable javascript to see the email |
Organization Details [ Back to top ]
EIN: 362434228
| CEO/President: |
Mawii Pudaite |
Tax Deductible: |
Yes |
| Chairman: |
Louis Pope |
Fiscal Year End: |
June 30 |
| Board Size: |
8 |
Financial info from: |
990 |
| Founder: |
Dr. Rochunga Pudaite |
Member of ECFA: |
Yes |
| Year Founded: |
1959 |
Member of ECFA since: |
1980 |
Bibles For The World is a non-profit ministry committed to spreading the Gospel to all nations. The purpose of Bibles for the World is to propagate the Gospel through the printing and distribution of Bibles throughout the world, to support and train national missionary workers, and to support and educate needy children in India under the Partnership Parents Program.
After obtaining the names and addresses from the phone books of entire cities, Bibles for the World then sends out a copy of the New Testament - in the local language - to every address. Thousands of partners in the United States and Canada (individuals, families, churches, and volunteer groups) take on the responsibility of mailing language-correct copies of the New Testament overseas using the names and addresses and packing materials Bibles for the World provides. Bibles for the World has supported the ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of India and Partnership Mission since their inceptions, through pastors and mission workers' sponsorship, seminary scholarship, student sponsorships, education, medical ministries, relief and development projects, and capital fund campaigns.
The Evangelical Free Church of India (EFCI), established in 1971, is headquartered in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. The EFCI has nearly 300 churches, divided among 13 districts of India. While administered entirely indigenously, many of its leadership have received postgraduate education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Partnership Mission Society was established in 1958, and is headquartered in Sielmat, Manipur, India. Partnership Mission currently runs 38 village schools, 5 high schools, and a junior college. Total enrollment of the schools is nearly 10,000 students, about 15% of whom are sponsored by partners in North America. Sielmat Christian Hospital is a 30-bed hospital ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of the area.
Each year, Bibles For The World selects a new group of children from the Hmar tribe in northeast India to tour North America as part of the India Children's Choir.
This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Bibles For The World uses the following to express its mission:
"Ignite the World with the Word of God"
Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]
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Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]
- We believe the Bible, as contained in the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired and infallible Word of God, being given by the Holy Spirit of God to holy men of old. It is, therefore, the only and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
- We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His works of miracles, in His vicarious and redeeming death, in His cleansing blood shed on Calvary, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of God the Father and in His personal and visible return in power and glory.
- We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who by means of the Word of God, is the Author of the new birth, the Comforter, and the Sanctifier; and He indwells the believer.
- We believe that humans were created in the image of God, that they fell into sin, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death which is separation from God; that all human beings, in consequence of the Fall, are born with sinful nature.
- We believe in the necessity of the new birth by the Holy Spirit in order that people may have peace with God, and this new birth cannot be received by being born into a Christian home or by association with believers. Rather, it is attained by putting one’s entire confidence in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and in the power of His resurrection.
- We believe in the resurrection of the body, both of the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the redeemed in Christ, and the eternal punishment of those who have rejected the offer of Salvation.
- We believe that the commission of Christ to be witnesses of His life, death and resurrection and eternal life through His name is the task of every born-again Christian.
In 1959 Dr. Rochunga & Mawii Pudaite landed in Chicago to begin their journey of faith. The only money they took out of India was spent for a night's logging in London. But God gave them a dream to translate the Bible for the Hmar tribe of Northeast India and provide education and training for them so that they might become "world citizens," as God intended them to be.
After they arrived in Chicago, God gave them men and women to serve on their Mission Board and people to support their ministry. Our partnership has resulted in the establishment of 65 village schools, 300 churches, a hospital, and 4 High Schools. And thousands of needy children have been supported and educated. Today, 90% of the Hmars can read and write. Some have become doctors, lawyers, political leaders, preachers, and teachers.
And in 1971, God gave them a new dream to give a free copy of the New Testament to all the families of the world in response to the commission of the Lord, "the Gospel must first be published among all the nations." They have sent over 14 million New Testaments to individual homes of the world.
This organization has not offered MinistryWatch.com with specific needs to be posted on the profile. At such a time that MinistryWatch.com receives a response from the ministry, it will be posted immediately.
Research Analysis
Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]
| Transparency Grade of : A |
| Criteria category | Grade | Other Comments |
| Timeliness: | 90 | |
| Financial Information: | 100 | |
| Foundational Clarity: | 100 | 10/28/2011 2:46:12 PM: Descriptive information was abundant and thorough. |
| Level of Cooperation: | 100 | |
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MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]
| Ranking Category | Rating | Overall Rank | Publishing Sector |
|---|
| Overall Efficiency Rating |  | 137 of 347 | 4 of 8 |
| Fund Acquisition Decision |  | 153 of 347 | 2 of 8 |
| Resource Allocation Decision | | 98 of 347 | 3 of 8 |
| Asset Utilization Decision | | 220 of 347 | 7 of 8 |
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MinistryWatch.com’s Take
“Spreading the Word”
Immediately prior to His final post resurrection ascension, the Christ gave encouragement and commission to His disciples that the good news of His death for sin and subsequent resurrection be proliferated throughout the known world, and that followers be established and built up in the faith. Wherever Christians have been obedient to this clarion, Bible distribution has also flourished. This is the simple mandate of Bibles for the World. The vision? A Bible for every family in the world within 10 years, distributed largely by mail.
Literally ‘spreading the Word’
The Billion Bible Club is a cooperative of donors and volunteers laboring to realize the dream of the Hmar tribe from Northern India that every person have the same opportunity they had experienced in 1910 when Welsh missionary Watkin Roberts took a Gospel of John to this fierce tribe. Roberts was soon expelled, but the miraculous evangelistic endeavor was not to be quenched, and by the turn of this past century over 98 percent of the Hmars had been converted to Christianity. Today, missionaries from among this remote people group are spear-heading the effort to spread the Word, literally. On a monthly basis, volunteers receive prepackaged New Testaments, mailing labels, shipping supplies and pre-paid shipping for designated areas. In turn, they individually package Bibles and place them in shipment in bulk, tracking the progress and reporting the current status of global penetration on a large map.
Evangelistic Strategy
BFW employs a three-fold strategy for Bible distribution and evangelism.
1) Volunteers donate time and labor to actually do the work of packaging, addressing and shipping the Bibles prepaid to their ultimate destinations
2) Partners in the West commit to follow-up support, sponsoring school-aged children and providing money and the support services necessary to establishment of local churches, a hospital and seminary in Northern India
3) Annually, a choir of Indian children (ICC) tours the United States to promote the successes of Bibles for the World and minister to local churches in America, accomplishing a reporting function to contributing churches in the U.S. and also serving as a valuable recruiting tool for future BFW missionaries and financial support
Selling the idea
Bibles For The World is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), as well as the Evangelical Foreign Missions Associations (EFMA). The ministry is effectively publicized in the annual tour of a children’s choir, ministering throughout the United States. BFW’s ministry website offers opportunity for donations through the use of secure server sites, as well as posting testimonials, news updates and field-specific prayer requests. Short-term missions projects are also offered for any who might desire short term exposure and hands on missionary training, with applications available online. Recently, BFW has used Christian radio to publicize its ministry endeavor and recruit donor support and volunteers. It is not immediately clear what BFW’s administrative expenses are or how they are underwritten, nor how the organization is governed.
Bits and Pieces
When European missionary Watkin Robert first encountered the Hmar tribe of Northern India in the early 1900’s, they were headhunters. Robert had been cautioned about approaching them and was expelled after originally answering a Hmar chieftain’s invitation to explain the Gospel of John to his people. Robert returned to his homeland, despairing and defeated. Remarkably, history has shown that the native people eventually turned from head-hunting to “heart-hunting,” dramatic witness to the unaided transforming influence of the Word of God. It is no mystery that the Hmars now presume they will in turn influence others with the distribution of Scripture.
Dramatic story in song
One outgrowth of this historic cultural testimonial is the India Children’s Choir, children directly descendent from the Hmar tribe. Annually, the children’s choir travels throughout the United States communicating the historic story of their ancestors’ conversion in drama and musical pageantry, providing a poignant tool for translating this cultural epic for American audiences, serving also as an effective recruitment tool. In addition, BFW reports that over 11,000 conversion responses during the 10 years the choir has been touring.
Complications
Translating Judeo-Christianity and the New Testament message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into any culture brings its own set of frustrations. Among the more notable are the varying influences of pagan ideology such as
- pantheism – belief that everything that is has some part in the essence of divinity, creator and creation, good and evil, etc.
- syncretism – random admixture of diverse religious tenets, mingling Christianity’s monotheistic ascriptions of Christ’s deity with an admixture of ideas about numerous other supposed deities in other forms and other persons, dismissing the uniqueness of Christ and viewing Him as simply one of many acceptable forms of deity.
- rejection of the Fatherhood of God – viewing the issue of Christ’s Sonship and regenerative redemption of sinners in limited, intensely sexual terms, revulsing the Muslim religious mind-set and creating a profound impediment to regeneration on the basis of the Gospel of Christ. Facets of this and associated doctrinal themes can also produce confusion in historically matriarchal cultures.
Additional difficulties are rooted in mixed societies where modernizing national cultures have blended sharply different neighboring traditions over time. Christianity’s broad impact can innocently impose uneven pressures on neighboring subcultures, some of which have become more tolerant than others. In extreme cases, Christian evangelism, with its radical religious ideas, may even be regarded as fracturing an essentially stable cultural milieu which has taken years to develop. In a bit of irony, it was against just such possibility of unnecessarily inflaming the Hmar headhunters of Northern India that the British colonial government originally forbade Watkin Robert to approach them!
Redeemed, “...out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation”
The Hmar missionary vision was the dream of tribe members Rochunga and Mawii Pudaite in 1971. Once feared because of their warlike barbaric customs, this humble people group is today doing it’s part to see that Redemption’s song, the good news of a great Savior, will be sung by every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
Ministry Statement or Response [ Back to top ]
Financial Information:
| Balance Sheet |
| Assets | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| Cash | $998,431 | $722,897 | $170,760 | $58,566 | $84,180 |
| Receivables, Inventories & Prepaids | $324,065 | $367,627 | $103,089 | $103,128 | $114,136 |
| Short-Term Investments | $146,258 | $153,680 | $181,833 | $187,252 | $155,923 |
| Total Current Assets | $1,468,754 | $1,244,204 | $455,682 | $348,946 | $354,239 |
| Long-Term Investments | $306,427 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed Assets | $1,199,965 | $1,217,747 | $1,271,316 | $1,324,499 | $1,375,808 |
| Other Long-Term Assets | $104,523 | $119,103 | $87,981 | $93,898 | $55,695 |
| Total Long-Term Assets | $1,610,915 | $1,336,850 | $1,359,297 | $1,418,397 | $1,431,503 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | $3,079,669 | $2,581,054 | $1,814,979 | $1,767,343 | $1,785,742 |
| Liabilities | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| Payables & Accrued Expenses | $354,678 | $117,730 | $182,653 | $155,809 | $239,318 |
| Other Current Liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total Current Liabilities | $354,678 | $117,730 | $182,653 | $155,809 | $239,318 |
| Debt | $137,852 | $157,444 | $167,279 | $240,642 | $264,631 |
| Other Long-Term Liabilities | $154,648 | $325,969 | $314,046 | $341,290 | $133,361 |
| Total Long-Term Liabilities | $292,500 | $483,413 | $481,325 | $581,932 | $397,992 |
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | $647,178 | $601,143 | $663,978 | $737,741 | $637,310 |
| Assets | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| Unrestricted | $761,536 | $960,947 | $1,059,556 | $967,937 | $1,113,869 |
| Temporarily Restricted | $1,670,955 | $1,018,964 | $91,445 | $61,665 | $34,563 |
| Permanently Restricted | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| NET ASSETS | $2,432,491 | $1,979,911 | $1,151,001 | $1,029,602 | $1,148,432 |
| Revenue and Expenses |
| Revenue | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| Total Contributions | $4,137,405 | $3,855,047 | $2,665,722 | $2,628,192 | $2,324,434 |
| Program Service Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership Dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment Income | $77,797 | $27,147 | $4,664 | $9,788 | $586,211 |
| Other Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total Other Revenue | $77,797 | $27,147 | $4,664 | $9,788 | $586,211 |
| TOTAL REVENUE | $4,215,202 | $3,882,194 | $2,670,386 | $2,637,980 | $2,910,645 |
| Expenses | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| Program Services | $3,244,534 | $2,556,522 | $1,986,414 | $2,110,635 | $1,923,609 |
| Management & General | $242,967 | $261,546 | $286,940 | $333,731 | $346,910 |
| Fundraising | $265,023 | $259,003 | $284,439 | $340,035 | $352,930 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $3,752,524 | $3,077,071 | $2,557,793 | $2,784,401 | $2,623,449 |
| Change in Net Assets | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
| SURPLUS (DEFICIT) | $462,678 | $805,123 | $112,593 | ($146,421) | $287,196 |
| Other Changes in Net Assets | ($10,098) | $23,787 | $8,806 | $27,591 | $36,497 |
| TOTAL CHANGE IN NET ASSETS | $452,580 | $828,910 | $121,399 | ($118,830) | $323,693 |