Fall Update 2009

Fall 2009

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are now preparing for another mission trip and Bible distribution to Vanuatu and Lord willing, as funds allow, reach out again to the Solomon Islands.

Recently we received a phone call with shocking news that an old friend had just passed away. The passing of a friend reminds us of how precious and limited this gift of life is. Jesus said “Work while it is day because the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). The death of a loved one also reminds us of the importance and urgency of the Gospel ministry that we are involved in, it is about life and death and ultimately eternity. Over the past 8 years Bibles for the Poor Society has been reaching out to the hearts of the people of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

Last year one distribution point led us to a remote heathen village on the island of Pentecost. With the heavy boxes of Bibles on our shoulders we walked several miles on a slippery bush trail up the side of a mountain with the ocean far below. Once we arrived, we were told that the villagers could not accept the Bible because one of the village chiefs was opposed to the Bible. I then asked if I could share a story from the Bible, and they eagerly agreed to listen. I told the chief and his men about the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). After the story, much conversation erupted and the chief surprised me by saying, ‘we will take one Bible’. The name of the man who received the Bible was Boulee. But what can one lonely Bible accomplish? ‘For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my Word that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it’. Isaiah 55: 10,11. We hope to return to these people this year and build our friendship with them.

On the island of Tanna we have also developed a friendship, over the years, with Isaac Wan, the Cargo Cult chief. At first he would only receive one Bible, the next year he received three, the following year he accepted a whole box. The last 2 years he asked for Bibles for his people and professed that he is no pretender and has Jesus in his heart.

Bibles for the Poor Society is grateful for your support and partnership with us over the years. We are willing to go where the Holy Spirit sends us including the very remote mountain bush villages. The Islands are hard to reach as water separates and isolates people. Many islands still have no roads or cars or electricity and it is very hard for people to get a Bible. We have been told many times by islanders that they mark the day the Bible comes to them. This moves us and encourages us to keep pressing on with the joy of the Lord.

We will again be showing the ‘Jesus’ film in Bislama (with a projector and large screen). This method of evangelizing works well with the Bible distribution. Some of the most desperate and spiritually hungry people are the prisoners that we visit in the prisons. Our vision is to increase our outreach to our Bibleless brothers and sisters and to the spiritually lost. Jesus came to this earth because he puts GREAT value on a soul.

We will be leaving on January 1, 2010 and coming back home on March 1st, 2010. As we look forward to a new year and the start of a new decade we ask the Lord to send us in His name and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thanks again for your prayers and partnering with us to bless others and may God bless you as you hide His Word in your heart and do His will.

We go out by faith because: ‘without faith it is impossible to please God’ ( Hebrews 11:6).

We believe that ‘God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine’ (Ephesians 3:20) because ‘nothing is impossible with God’ ( Luke 1:37).

Sincerely,

Dave & Abby Dever (Founders) 1-800-979-4743