“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)
Our theme and our number-one goal for 2016 is “To Him Be Glory Forever. Amen!” I am alive to bring glory to God. I am alive to do good to all men.
The Lord started the New Year off with a great weekend in Mae Sot, Thailand, with Missionary Emmanuel Sinoy. I had the wonderful privilege to lead 7 souls to Christ on Saturday, and 7 more souls were saved during the Sunday morning services. Sunday evening nearly every member committed to daily reading the Word of God. Brother Sinoy has a Thai church, a Burmese church, and an orphanage. He is my accomplice in smuggling Bibles into Myanmar and in reaching the Burmese refugees on the Thai border.
I’ve been praying for years to find a good quality printer in Thailand to print Bibles. In December Missionary Philip Pope contacted me by email with information about an established printer in Ching Mai. On Monday, January 4, Brother Sinoy drove me to Ching Mai for a meeting with Kendall Cobb, who started a printing company called ACTSCO with his father 16 years ago. “To Him be glory forever. Amen!” We spent the entire afternoon with Mr. Cobb, meeting his staff, and seeing firsthand the fine material he produces. At first he told me that he could not print the Thai Bible, because the Thai Bible Society owned the copyrights. However, I explained to him that they owned the copyrights to the Thai NIV and the Thai Living Bible, but Philip Pope had the only KJV translation. Brother Pope gave his permission to print it, and we made an agreement to have the first 5,000 Thai New Testaments printed at $2.93 each. We can get Bibles printed at nearly half the price and without all the costly shipping and custom fees. “To Him be the glory. Amen!”
After I arrived back in Donmoung, Missionary Eddie Arold asked me to teach the first Bible study of the New Year at First Baptist Church Nawong. A very good crowd attended that Wednesday evening, along with several new visitors. Prayer time was held first, and prayer was made for a lady in the service who was not saved. I had a wonderful Bible study all ready to challenge the believers, but it all went out the window when I heard that prayer request. This lady needed the Lord! Instead of standing behind the pulpit, I stood at the front of the section where she was sitting. Using my large posters, I gave the “simple plan of salvation” and gave an invitation. This dear lady came down the aisle and got saved! “To Him be the glory forever. Amen!”
I flew back to the States on January 8 as scheduled, knowing that our 17th container of Scriptures would arrive in Thailand on January 12. I thank the Lord for Eddie Arold who agreed to receive the shipment at my warehouse and see to the distribution of Bibles as I had instructed him.
I had previously made arrangements with 15 men of God to pick up Bibles, which were to be distributed among nearly 50 churches throughout Thailand. Before my leaving Thailand, Missionary Andy Long and his family arrived for the purpose of renewing their visas for India. Andy and his sons were a great help to Brother Arold unloading the Bibles into the warehouse.
After returning to America, Dr. Freret called and said that there were 5,000 whole Thai KJV Bibles that we could have ready for shipping from the BEAMS warehouse. Bearing Precious Seed has 300,000 Thai John & Romans for us, and Pastor Walls of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, is giving us 100,000 Thai John & Romans. That means we will have two more containers of Scriptures to ship this year. “To Him be the glory forever. Amen!”
Over the past 15 years, we have worked diligently to supply Scripture (KJV only) to spread the Gospel to those who have never heard and to increase the faith of converts won to Christ in Southeast Asia. It has been my burden to make sure if a man goes to Hell in Southeast Asia, let him go with a copy of God’s Word in his hand.
Due to the continued increase in printing, shipping, and distribution, it has been my goal to find a more economical and more convenient way to supply the Word of God without diminishing the quality of the BEAMS Bible, which has been graciously supplied by Dr. Rene Freret over the past 10 years. The first KJV BEAMS Thai Bible was received in Thailand on July 4, 2006. As of December 2015, nearly 40,000 Thai whole Bibles have been received. Thousands of Bibles in 9 different languages have been distributed throughout 10 nations. Of the 70,000,000 people of Thailand, 98% have yet to see a copy of God’s Word. There is obviously still a great need for the Word of God to be printed.
Would you consider giving a gift for printing Bibles for those who have never had a copy of God’s Word to call their own? When the Word increases, faith increases, and churches are established. If you would like to give to this worthy cause, donations can be sent to FBMI, 507 State Street, Hammond, IN 56320. Checks should be made payable to FBMI and designated for Printing Bibles, #135 (or Bob Bowen). Every dime will be used for the printing of the Word of God in Southeast Asia.
After arriving back in America, I decided it was time to care for the pain in my back, which I’d been dealing with for nearly three months. The pain in my back and legs was getting consistently worse, making it difficult to walk or stand for any length of time. After an MRI and consultation with three different doctors, my diagnosis was spinal stenosis, and I was scheduled for surgery with Dr. Shepherd in Merrillville on February 8.
Thank you so much for all your help. To Him be glory forever. AMEN!
Brother Bowen
Philippians 4:13