WORLDWATCH

BOUT AN HOUR before sunset

on a hot July day in Mexico City,

Epy S. was delivering WMP

Scripture booklets and other literature to

various churches and a youth rehab cen-

ter. Though tired from a long and busy

day, Epy was grateful to be doing the

Lord’s work and grateful for new doors

of opportunity before him.

Suddenly, two cars appeared in front

of him, closing the road and stopping

his truck. Men armed with K45 assault

weapons hauled Epy out, threw a jacket

over his head, and took him to another

vehicle. He never saw his truck again.

Some distance later, the vehicle

stopped and Epy was ordered out. He

could feel and smell wet vegetation, and

realized he was being led through some

woods. At their destination, the crimi-

nals, who had brought some of the

boxes from Epy’s truck, began to open

them. One by one they went through the

boxes searching for valuables. “Don’t

you have something more valuable than

this?” they asked. Some began reading

The Way to God Scripture booklets they

found.

Epy explained that he was a “mis-

sioner” called to preach the gospel, and

that these booklets were all he had. As

he testified to the six men detaining

him, they listened with interest. In the

background, he heard one of the men

call their chief. “This man has nothing

worth keeping. He is a preacher and

has no money, but only Christian lit-

erature. What do we do with him?”

Epy kept on sharing Christ with the

men.

When the chief arrived, he heard

Epy’s story and confirmed what the men

had told him. Finally, about 10:00 pm,

the chief said, “OK, Pastor (Epy is not a

pastor). You do not deserve that we hurt

you. What you do is good. We will take

you to a taxi station for you to go back

home, but be careful not to report us be-

cause we know where you live, and we

will look for you.” Then the man gave

Epy enough money to pay for a taxi and

to buy something to eat!

As soon as Epy found a place to

phone, he called home to let his family

know why he had been delayed, and to

tell them that he was okay. He instructed

them not to call his cell phone, as that

had also been stolen. Arriving home

after midnight, Epy rejoiced with his

April/May 2012

A

A ministry in Brazil reports evan-gelizing about one million people inthe Amazon—which includes Belém,Santarém, and Manaus. Close to300,000 prisoners and 200,000 hos-pital patients in São Paulo receivedthe booklet, The Way to God. Prayfor eternal fruit to result.

Sierra Leone, where 5.8 millionpeople have seen much conflict,Islam has increased from 10% to60% in the past century. WMP re-cently shipped a skid of 87,000Scripture booklets, Bible studies,and He Is Risen! salvation coloringbooks to this land, where resourcesare especially valued in this time ofpoverty and church growth, withmany young Christians.

In response to a rare requestfrom a pastor in Estonia, WMP isproviding boxes of Scripture book-lets in Estonian and Russian. Hewas eager to use whatever wecould provide.

The 20-foot container to HongKong arrived safely, with materialsaboard to reach hundreds of thou-sands of tourists who flood intoHong Kong and Macau from main-land China each month.

Gloria S. (pictured with her husband Epy)serves as one of WMPʼs national coordina-tors in Mexico.

(Kidnapped, continued on next page)

“Don’t you have somethingmore valuable than this?”they asked. Some began read-ing The Way to God Scripturebooklets they found.

KIDNAPPED!In this Issue...� Reaching the Most Dangerous

City in the World—page 2� Impacting the Spanish World

with God’s Word—page 2-3� “He is Risen, as He said!”—page 3� Update on Production—page 4

Criminals steal the greatest treasure of all

Worldwide Ministry Highlights/Free April/May 2012Worldwide Ministry Highlights/Free April/May 2012

wife, Gloria (national director for Every Home for Christ

and WMP’s coordinator for that region of Mexico). They

praised the Lord over and over again for His marvelous

protection. In a potentially deadly situation, Epy had not

been hurt in any way.

Gloria wrote, “We understood that our Lord wanted to

give those criminals an opportunity to be saved. If Epy

[had] not been kidnapped, we would never have entered

the woods [to] look for the lair of those sinners. God is

Just, and He is giving them an opportunity to know His

Word.”

Please pray for these men who received the gospel

message in such an unusual way.

Reaching the most dangerous city in the world

Please pray also for Epy and Gloria as they continue

their work. Gloria recently wrote, “This year we have the

goal to reach five states in Mexico, and at this moment

doors are already opened in four of them. One is Chi-

huahua, where the most dangerous city in the world [is

located]: Ciudad

Juárez. . . . Your

prayers for security

and wisdom will be

deeply appreciated.”

About 130 pastors

are committed to

pray for Ciudad

Juárez and reach this city for Jesus home-to-home.

Each distributor in Mexico and throughout Latin Amer-

ica regularly faces hardships and dangers of many kinds.

They are prepared to work hard

daily and to put their lives on the

line for the sake of the gospel.

Pray for their protection, for pro-

vision, and above all, for bold-

ness and wisdom as they

distribute WMP Scripture book-

lets and declare the saving mes-

sage of Christ.

One of the hardships too often

faced by WMP distributors is a

lack of Scripture booklets. They

are on the “front lines” and regu-

larly have opportunities that

may never come their way

again. You can help to keep tools

in their hands by supplying them with the Word of God.

[A $20 investment will provide 500 Spanish Scripturebooklets; $100 will touch 2,500 people of Mexico.]

Impacting the Spanish World with God’s Word

Ken H., who uses WMP Scripture booklets in Hon-

duras, wrote, “The gospel materials you are providing are

literally being used

to introduce people

to Christ. Lately

we have been see-

ing numbers of

young people ac-

cepting the Lord

after having re-

ceived a WMP

booklet and hear-

ing the gospel. Our

continued prayer is

that we will be able

to receive more

gospel literature

from you soon to

do the work of the

ministry here.”

Adalberto S.,

WMP’s coordinator

in Puerto Rico, re-

joiced to receive a

shipment of vari-

ous Spanish Bible

studies from WMP.

During a national “Night of Prayer”in Mexico, The Way to God bookletswere given to participants.

April/May 2012

Joy comes to theheart of dedicatedworkers as they re-ceive a supply ofSpanish Scripturebooklets for theirwork.

(Kidnapped, continued from page 1)

Pastors from various churches in Mexico come tocollect boxes of Spirit-empowered Scripture book-lets for their ministries.

World Missionary Press NEWS/2

He wrote, “Praise the Lord! Chaplain Maribel C. from the

Department of Corrections and Administration of Juvenile

Institutions [has now received] 750 Spanish Bible studies

for over 500 young boys and girls, inmates in six juvenile

prison institutions in diverse regions of Puerto Rico.”

As a supporter of World Missionary Press, you are a

part of this ministry. Did you know that WMP distribu-

tors are praying for you, too? From Ecuador, Geovanny C.

tells us, “My wife and I were four days in Quito. We got

together with the people that have written you, and we

prayed for your ministry. We met a . . . pastor who is

teaching about God to Shuars [an indigenous people] in a

part of the Ecuadorian jungle. He asked me to send him the

booklets to Puyo, Tena, Macas and Sucúa . . . and we are

going to do it. . . . We met a sister who wrote you [request-

ing booklets]. She works with homeless kids and teaches

them about God. We met another pastor who is working

with prisoners in jail.”

We are excited to hear the responsiveness of Cuba to

God’s Word. A 39-year old pastor in western Cuba, writes

that the number of people coming to Christ in his area has

tripled in the past 20 years. He says, “We are in the middle

of a [revival], praying and working to reach Cuba for

Christ.”

Eduardo R., a major distributor in Colombia, South

America, tells of a fellow evangelist who gave a Scripture

booklet to a young woman walking in the street. He moved

on while she was reading it. When he was about a block

away, he felt someone tap him on the back. It was that

young lady. She was crying because she felt God speak to

her through that booklet. She said, “Thank you very much!

I was needing something like this in my life.”

As you know, nothing else exists like the treasure we

find in Jesus Christ. He is our Lord; He is our Savior. He

is our Creator, and He is uniquely suited to be the Lover of

our souls. Hungry hearts the world over recognize this

when they meet Him, whether they be women on the

streets of Colombia, hospital patients in Brazil, love-

starved people in Cuba, or criminals in Mexico. They meet

Him through the Word of God. Will you help provide it for

them?

[World Missionary Press can print millions of SpanishScripture booklets as support reaches us from caring peo-ple like you. Every dollar counts.]

World Missionary Press NEWS/3April/May 2012

(continued on page 4)

Children in Ecuador will learn much about Jesus asthey color and read He Is Risen!

She felt God speak to her through thatbooklet. She said, “Thank you very much! Iwas needing something like this in my life.”

“He is Risen, as He said!”In the 1950’s, Watson and Rose Goodman were minister-

ing to about 2,000 children and young people each week in

five African townships in South Africa. Using their mimeo-

graph machine, they would print pictures for the children to

color. Of the hundreds who would turn in their beautifully-

colored pictures, they would choose a few to receive

“prizes” of used clothes and toys sent from the U.S.

One day, when Rose called out the name of a winner, a

little girl stepped forward and said tearfully, “Ma’am, she’s

dead!” Rose bent down to comfort her, saying, “She was

trusting in Christ as her Savior, wasn’t she?” The little girl

said, “Yes!”

“Then she’s not dead,” said Rose. “She’s in heaven with

Jesus!” That very day the lesson she was teaching was on

the resurrection. The seed was planted in Rose’s heart for

the salvation coloring book, He Is Risen!, which has been

printed in 15 languages.

This coloring book, one third of its pages filled with

Scriptures on many topics, has brought hope to families in

countries where hope is desperately needed.

Thirty years ago, Mozam-

bique’s anti-Christian dicta-

torship had desecrated,

burned down, or confiscated

over 8,000 churches. Bibles

were banned, evangelism was

forbidden, and missionaries

expelled. Mozambique was

closed and unreachable.

Today the situation is vastly

changed. God is at work, and

He Is Risen! in Portuguese is

used to disciple believers.

Other languages need to be

printed as soon as possible.

A gift of a beautiful color-ing book brings delight tothe hearts of childreneverywhere.

The cost per copy varies, depending on the quantity printed:

25,000 Urdu for Pakistan and 25,000 Kiswahili for East Africa

(22 cents each); 50,000 Russian (20 cents each); 25,000 Arabic

(22 cents each); and 150,000 Spanish (18 cents each).

During this season of the year, when we celebrate the res-

urrection of Jesus and our new life in Him, there is oppor-

tunity to help provide this wonderful message of hope to

those who need it. (Please see response card to help.)

(“He is Risen,” continued from page 3)

Young people from Maple City Chapel, Goshen, Indiana, andseveral adult sponsors worked diligently for 13½ hours throughthe night January 20-21 to bind and pack 527,000 Scripturebooklets and Bible study booklets. (If interested in a “Half-Million Missions Marathon,” please email jay@wmpress.org)

Half-Million Missions Marathon Waging War in Appalachia“These coloring books will be used in every family’s

food box during the month of April! We are seeing more

salvations than ever, and we want the powerful testi-

mony of this booklet to be in the hands of every adult

and child that we serve monthly. We are waging a war

here—against drugs, alcohol, crimes, and violence—in

the very rural poverty areas of Appalachia. Yes, it’s here,

too! But so is our Lord! And He is doing awesome

things for the people. Thank you for your powerful help

to our ministry.” —S.J., Kentucky

Former Gangster Now Serving God“We thank God for the new converts and for those

who have returned to the Lord as a consequence of this

[inner-city door-to-door] ministry (and you share in that

harvest). One of the boxes of The Way to God booklets

has been requested by a convert who had read it, was

ministered to by it, then called us by telephone to guide

him in the prayer of repentance for sins and in accept-

ance of Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal Savior. He,

being a former gangster, is now busy ministering to

those still trapped in that lifestyle.” —S.F., Bahamas

Using Help From Above to Witness in Bolivia“The dedication [of WMP] to producing portions of

the Word of God and easy-to-use Bible studies helps our

ministry tremendously. . . . I look forward to returning to

Bolivia, training more people to use God’s Word in

evangelism and using WMP materials, not only in Bo-

livia’s principal cities, but also the rest of South Amer-

ica. I think one of the most interesting testimonies is that

within an hour of teaching Opening Doors and the use

of WMP materials, we ran into one of our students read-

ing Help From Above with a person seeking to know

more about God.” —A.C., Texas

In January’s WMP NEWS, I shared my vision for the future of

WMP and my prayer for an increased level of believing God.

Last month, in presenting the great need in India, Vicky and I

shared “Our Faith Challenge”—and asked you to join with us in ask-

ing God for a quantum shift in our thinking and income, in order to

respond to God’s vision—His heart to saturate the world with His

Word.

God is answering prayer! Because of above-budget income each

of the past five months, production has increased almost 33% over

last fiscal year. We are printing 6.9 million during March and 7 mil-

lion in April. Will you join us in the work of believing God for

steady increase, as national coordinators wait in many nations for

the tools they need to reach their nations for Christ?

—Jay Benson, WMP president Letting us know of address changes or seasonal addresses (with dates) will save funds for ministry.

UPDATE ON PRODUCTION

WMP News Published six times a year by:World Missionary Press, Inc.P.O. Box 120New Paris, IN 46553-0120 U.S.A.

Phone: (574) 831-2111FAX: (574) 831-2161

E-mail: mailroom@wmpress.org

Jay E. Benson, PresidentWatson and Rose Goodman, Co-foundersVicky Benson, editorRuth Johnson, writerAndrew Beverly, graphic designer

World Missionary Press, Inc. is an evangelical faithservice ministry publishing Scripture booklets in morethan 335 languages for free distribution around theworld as God provides the means.

World Wide Web: http://www.wmpress.org

Donations can be made by mail, by phone, or online bycredit card or electronic funds transfer. Click on GETTING INVOLVED and then GIVE.

WMP has been a member in good standing with EvangelicalCouncil for Financial Accountability since 1982.

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April/May 2012World Missionary Press NEWS/4