A Michigan-based ministry is sending tons of Bibles and Christian books to Hong Kong and two other places in the hope of increasing the number of believers in those parts of the world.
Christian Resources International (CRI) said it will ship five containers of about $3 million used-book value of Bibles and Christian books not only to Hong Kong but also to Ghana and Kenya.
CRI's Jason Woolford said in a number of cases, there are Christian churches that don't have Bibles.
"There are 122,000 people who are getting saved or giving their lives to the Lord every day, but the majority of those people are attending a church where the pastor does not even own a Bible," he said, according to Mission Network News.
CRI is particularly excited about the shipment to Hong Kong where the majority are affiliated with Chinese religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. There are only about 840,000 Christians in Hong Kong.
It is hoped that with the availability of Bibles and Christian books in Hong Kong, many will turn to Christianity.
The Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong was established in 1841 and became a diocese in 1946, according to the Hong Kong government.
Hong Kong has about 379,000 Catholics served by 303 priests and 51 parishes.
There are also about 480,000 Protestant Christians in Hong Kong made up of more than 70 denominations and 1,450 congregations.
Ecclesial branches of denominations are also present in Hong Kong such as Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal and Salvation Army.
CRI is sending books and Bibles in English. While Hong Kong residents are known for speaking Chinese and English, a number of them prefer English-written books.
"We're told by some of the missionaries on the ground that [the people consider] it even more priceless that it's a Bible in English," Woolford said.
The ministry will line up the street with the literature and anyone is free to take them.
"It's had such an impact that the followers of Islam are now trying to copycat our ministry and do the same thing with the Quran and other things of that religion. And so, we know that we're having an impact because they're trying to beat us at our own game, so to speak," he said.
CRI spends about $10,000 to send a shipment of books, but each container holds about half a million dollar worth of books.
