Greetings,

I fondly remember my first trip to China. We were new to the ministry of Bible distribution and excited to learn as much as we could about the Christians in China and the church that served them. I was traveling with my dad and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, was our destination. Even though we were about two years after the devastating earthquake of May 2008, there was still a lot of damage to the places we visited. Many churches were missing walls; some congregations were meeting in parks or in public squares. It was one of my greatest honors to be able to help provide scriptures to these hurting people.

One of my most vivid memories of this trip was the man who drove the truck that carried the Bibles. He was a reluctant participant at first, simply a hired driver, but he soon caught the excitement of what was happening. He began to make his way into the pictures that were always taken just before our team left for our next stop. He learned to count, “One, Two, Three, Cheese!” Eventually we made it all the way to ten, adding a number at each stop before we exclaimed, “Cheese!” He started to carry boxes to the front of the sanctuary and seemed to be acting as if he were a part of the team. Although we struggled to communicate because of the language barrier, we shared the universal language of laughter.

At our final stop, my dad gave this man a Bible. He was thrilled to receive this gift and gave dad a big hug. We will likely never see this man again, but my prayer for him is that he read the Bible he received and that it brought him to a place of accepting the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for helping us make a difference in China. What you do is of eternal value!

In Service Together,
Kurt Rovenstine, President
Bibles for China