HOLLAND, Michigan – Would you hang on to your Audio Bible at all costs? Would you refuse to let it go? A representative of Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) recently shared the story of an elderly man, a native of the isolated Nyishi tribe in the far northeast of India. The man is reported to be more than 100 years old.
An Indian pastor had been reaching out to the Nyishi and, in doing so, he shared the Gospel, in part, using a solar-powered, digital audio Bible. The pastor made one small “mistake.” He gave his audio Bible to the man who eagerly listened. In fact, he was so captivated by what he was hearing that he refused to give it back. Mission Network News reported that:
Image Courtesy of MegaVoice
“As soon as [the pastor] showed the man the audio Bible and showed him how to operate it, the old man refused to give the Bible back to the pastor! No matter how much the pastor begged and pleaded, [the old man] just said, ‘No, this is for me.’ The pastor said, ‘I’ll get you your own Bible,’ and he said, ‘Well, when you get me my own Bible, you can have yours back!”
The pastor did, indeed, return in a few days with more palm-sized audio Bibles and gave one to the old man. The old man is reportedly constantly listening to Scripture in his own language, reciting it as he hears it, and is memorizing passages. Other villagers say that the only time he turns the hand-held, solar-powered unit off it when it needs to be recharged.
Audio Scripture Ministries partners with MegaVoice, another faith-based organization that designs and manufactures the audio devices. According to their website, MegaVoice has “an expansive Scripture audio library with 8,400 Scripture titles in 4,600 languages and dialects . . . with playback times that range from a few minutes to 320 hours duration.”
Image Courtesy of MegaVoice
ASM works with national partners in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to help distribute audio Scripture and audio Bible resources to provide an avenue for sharing the Gospel with oral learners.
MegaVoice digital audio players are being used on every continent to enable non-readers to hear the entire Bible in their native language and dialect so they can hear and understand the Gospel, even when pastors, missionaries, or teachers are not present.
For these people, the object they hold in the palm of their hand is their Bible. When they have one, they will not it go. It’s not the technology that excites them. It’s the Good News. This ought to cause us to question if we value our Bibles as much as they do theirs.
HOLLAND, Michigan – Would you hang on to your Audio Bible at all costs? Would you refuse to let it go? A representative of Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) recently shared the story of an elderly man, a native of the isolated Nyishi tribe in the far northeast of India. The man is reported to be more than 100 years old.
