Audio Bibles cause exponential growth in Mozambique

MN:

Mozambique (MNN/Ruth Kramer) ― I have a black thumb.  I can't make anything green grow in the yard, in a pot, or anywhere else.

Imagine my surprise one day when I used a synthetic fertilizer on a zucchini plant I was trying to keep alive. The product is called "Miracle Gro." All of a sudden, I had a zucchini explosion.

What's happening in Mozambique can be described similarly. It's like Miracle Gro for souls. After years of tepid response, all of a sudden Audio Scripture Ministries is experiencing a high yield in Mozambique, and it has left them scrambling.  

Their team has been working for a couple of years getting a new studio built in Xai Xai. The facilities are nearly complete, and parts of the building are already in use recording and editing Scripture portions in new languages. 

ASM's Tom Dudenhofer explains, "We recently completed a distribution of one of the languages that had been recorded in the country, and God provided some wonderful opportunities for the recorded Scriptures to go into some very isolated areas. It triggered a response among the people."

The ground was already fertile because once the digital players were introduced, like Miracle Gro does for plants, the yield surpassed expectations. "The response is so intense that we realize we're  facing an opportunity of deep ministry impact in the country. The requests for recorded Scriptures are just so overwhelming."

Another order for the MegaVoice players went to South Africa. Teams are trying to assemble 1,200 additional Scripture players for Mozambique. But the requests didn't stop coming in. "It's coming from pastors, it's coming from individuals, and it's even coming from non-Christians who, for reasons known only to the Lord, have a deep desire to listen."

ASM usually distributes a few hundred players at each stop. The stop Dudenhofer referenced saw 800 players distributed. One woman, after hearing God's Word in her own language for the first time, said, "I have never heard these things before. My heart is pounding inside of me. I am so thankful to know this."

Hers is not the only response like that. As a result, says Dudenhofer, "We need to try to figure out ways to get thousands of players into the country, not just a few hundred." The cost to meet the need is forcing ASM to re-think some outreach priorities. "If we could start by supplying about 500 players a month, that may not sound like a lot, but that would be about $20,000 worth of players a month. We're working really hard to lower the cost of the players." 

Just like the timing for fertilizer in a garden or yard, there's a time to act in sharing the Gospel. "People are really concerned about the opportunity to hear what God's Word has to say, and they're just pleading for an opportunity to listen," says Dudenhofer. "So much of what people would cling to in the past has just been stripped. Into this void, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is making a tremendous impact."

If each player is used by a family and shared with extended family, friends, and whole villages, you can see how a high yield could follow. But you may be thinking: "$20,000?" 

Dudenhofer says it breaks down to roughly $40 a player. "That's a starting point. We could do with much more, but if we could get 500 players a month into Mozambique, I think we could really make an impact on this tremendous desire that's being expressed by the people in that country."

What it boils down to is this: you don't have to spread the whole bag of plant food at once. Just a little at a time. God does the rest. Can you help?