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February 6, 2013

Bible Smuggling Persists—But Is It Still Needed?

One more option for short-term missions trips: sneaking Scriptures into restricted countries.

Melissa Steffan

A short-term missions trip with Vision Beyond Borders (VBB) isn't your average STM. Volunteers aren't working in orphanages or building houses; they're smuggling Bibles.

WORLD recently profiled VBB, which sends volunteers (increasingly college-aged) into countries where Bible access is restricted.

VBB isn't the only ministry that emphasizes the need to spread the Bible, even where transporting and publishing it is illegal. Such efforts have persisted for years—as has debate over whether or not Bible smuggling remains necessary.

CT has examined how Bible ministries debate the practice, and asked whether or not Christians should continue smuggling Bibles into China given advances in religious freedom and the dangers for all involved. CT also recently noted the rise of Christian publishing in China, where 1,300 Christian books are now available legally in spite of government restrictions. Ironically, China is also now the world's biggest Bible publisher.

posted by Melissa Steffan | Comments (2)

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The last sentence of the article exists in many places online and always appears in the same form, which can be misleading. Most of the Bibles printed in China are in non-Chinese languages and are produced for export.

Posted By: Paul Wilkinson | February 6, 2013 9:45 PM

I'm afraid you're incorrect Paul. Of the 100 million Bibles printed in China (yes, 100 million!) Since 1985, 60 million have been distributed in China. I know, because I have seen this first hand, and attended the celebration for the production of the 60 millionth Bible for the Chinese Church in November last year.

Posted By: David Smith | February 7, 2013 2:47 PM

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