“And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7)

“And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.”
(Acts 16:5)

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)

The word increase means “to become greater in quantity; to grow; to become more in number; to advance in value.” It is time that God’s people got back to increasing in the things of the Lord.

As we are slowly coming to the end of the pandemic, God’s people need to get back to the mindset of increasing in the Lord’s work—increasing the number of Bibles available to those who have never seen one, increasing the number of missionaries back on the foreign field, increasing the number of churches being started and not closing their doors, and increasing the number of believers giving once again to the Lord’s work and for His cause. I don’t know of a preacher of the Gospel who does not want to increase in all areas of getting the Gospel to those in the greatest need.

I am happy to report that we are seeing an increase in many of those things this year. We are back to attending Missions Conferences. We are also seeing an increase in giving and an increase of Scriptures being produced for the mission field.

I am so thankful to the good folks who have provided the funds for the printing, shipping, and distribution of the Word of God. When you increase the production of the Scriptures, everything else seems to increase also. God wants His people to increase, not to do less or even shut their doors.

Churches need to once again get back to setting goals to increase in providing the things we must have in order to spread the Gospel to the world for Christ. We need to increase the number of soul winners on the street, increase our attendance at the church house, increase the number of converts being baptized and becoming disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The key is to increase the amount of Scriptures and not to shut things down!

We were able to reorder 1,000 more Thai soul-winning New Testaments this month. Over the past two years, we have distributed 5,000 New Testaments, which were printed in Thailand and given to Thai believers who are committed to going out one-on-one soul winning. The nation of Thailand has been shut down by the pandemic, but the pandemic should never shut down God’s work.

Our 31st container of Scriptures arrived at our distribution center this month. The cost of shipping has increased, and the cost of our rental space has increased. But the Lord continues to provide the funds to keep increasing the Word of God in Southeast Asia and providing for the Bible-less people of the world.

There are still several containers of Scriptures that still need to be shipped from America. We are also in need of reordering whole Thai Bibles, which are printed in Thailand. These are good problems to have. When you increase the number of converts, you increase the need for the Word of God.

How can believers increase in faith without the Word of God? How do churches continue to increase in our part of the world without the Word of God? How can we fulfill the Great Commission without a group of people who believe we need to increase in every area of the Christian life?

“But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus,
proving that this is very Christ.” (Acts 9:22)

The world needs a few more like the Apostle Paul. We will never prove to the world Who Christ is until we increase in faith, in giving, and in preaching the Word of God. God has never intended on His people doing less, but increasing daily. The only goal of a Christian is to do more. Increase!

Please don’t forget the BEST Missions Conference, which will be held at Colonial Baptist Church in Rogers, Arkansas, September 5-7, 2021. Would you please put this conference on your schedule? It will be a blessing to have you attend.

Thank you so much for helping us reach Southeast Asia and the world with the Gospel. We love you and pray that God will help us all to increase in the knowledge of the Lord as we look forward to a record-breaking year in providing Scriptures for those who have never owned a Bible.

Into all the world,

Brother Bowen
Philippians 4:13