Lifted Bible ban has effort booking it to Cuba
Take Cuba, for instance. This Communist
nation has barred Bible distribution openly since 1969, until recently. The
Bible, long considered to be the best-selling book of all time, has estimated
annual sales of 100 million copies. It has had a major influence on
literature and history, and yet there are some places where it still has been
circulated little, if any.
The country is conducting an experimental
program that can be halted at any time if the distribution creates too many
problems or too much negative feedback, said David Isais, who works with
the Bible Commission of Cuba and is the contact person for the Revival Fires
Ministry in Branson West and formerly in Joplin. Revival Fires has
completed four deliveries of more than 265,000 Bibles to Cuba and continues to
seek donations to meet the request for 1 million.
Cecil Todd, founder and president of Revival
Fires, is no stranger to providing Bibles to the far reaches of the
world. Todd, an Ozark Christian College graduate, oversaw the distribution
of over 2 million Bibles to the former Soviet Union and more than 250,000 to
American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In more recent times, Revival Fires provided
6,000 Bibles to men and women on two U.S. aircraft carriers supporting
airstrikes in Syria off the coast of Iraq and 3,000 more to the 101st Airborne
Division deployed to Africa to help contain Ebola.
Todd was recently honored for the Revival Fires
Bible donations to the military in a ceremony at the Pentagon.
The Bible Commission of Cuba, which has served
as a liaison between the government and churches in Cuba for more than six
decades, is seeking Bibles not only for churches but also for schools, prisons
and libraries.
Todd said the Cuban willingness to allow such
Bible circulation boggles his mind. He said that prior to the change in policy,
his youngest son, Cecil Wayne, was almost arrested on all 10 of his mission
trips to Cuba, during which Bibles had to be smuggled to the longtime Communist
nation.
Todd said he has learned that more than 1,200
Cuban churches are urgently seeking Bibles. Some churches have only one or
two Bibles for their entire congregations, and many Cuban preachers have had to
borrow a Bible to study and preach.
Donated Bibles are printed by the American
Bible Society and sent to Cuba by ships. The cost is $5.40 to print, ship and
distribute across Cuba.
Want to help?
Checks for tax deductible donations to Revival
Fires’ Bibles to Cuba program should be designated “Bibles for Cuba” and mailed
to Revival Fires Ministry, P.O. Box 1008, Branson West, MO 65737. Credit card
donations may be arranged by calling 417-272-3660. Bibles cost $5.40 each to
print and deliver to Cuba.
