Bob Bowen Prayer Letter: There's a Problem“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

BEST Missions started off 2020 with an order of 7,000 whole Thai Bibles to be printed at our printer in Northern Thailand. That order is now complete and paid for and is waiting for shipment to our distribution center in Rangsit, Thailand—but there is a problem.

BEAMS Bible in Gulfport, Mississippi, printed 10,000 whole Thai Bibles, which are now sitting in the warehouse in Gulfport—but there is a problem.

Sam Martin of World Missions Bearing Precious Seed has committed to the printing of 1,250,000 John & Romans in the Thai language, and they are well on their way to completing this project. These will be shipped to Gulfport when completed. Together, these projects will make nearly four containers of Scriptures—but there is a problem.

Al Braley from Bearing Precious Seed in Milford called and asked me if we could ship 390,000 Burmese John & Romans to our distribution center in Thailand. This is more than one container of Scriptures—but there is a problem.

These projects are nearly all complete and ready for shipment. The only problem seems to be called COVID-19, and what a problem it has become to all missionaries around the world. I’m 72 years old and have been told that church is no longer essential and that I should stay home. That is the problem.

The first time the Lord Jesus gave the Great Commission was in Mark 13:10, “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” Do you suppose the Lord knew what was going to happen 2,000 years later? Now that we have published the Word of God, we need for God to make a way to move His Word.

We at BEST Missions have made it our goal to place a Bible in the hands of new believers around the world. BEST Missions has shipped 26 containers in the last 15 years. That is a total of 226,461 New Testaments and whole Bibles, nearly 3,500,000 John & Romans, and over 30,000,000 Gospel tracts. We have distributed Scriptures in 13 different languages to 16 different nations in the last 15 years.

What would you do if you didn’t have a Bible? As of January 2020, of the 7,000 known languages in the world, 2,100 do not have one verse of Scriptures. The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 15:34, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” The Bible is not all God knows, but it is all that He wants us to know.

Because of the worldwide pandemic, I have not been able to present my ministry in churches since the first week of March. BEST Missions is presently supplying Bibles for nearly 500 men of God around the world. The Bible is the only missionary that never gets sick or comes back home. It stays where it is planted.

Would you please pray that we could get back to normal and that we would be able to deliver three or four containers of Scriptures in 2020? I don’t believe God would have supplied the Scriptures without allowing us to distribute them.

On April 17, 1966, I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, and 54 years later, I can still say I’m still saved. What a blessing it is to be an American and serve the Lord. The Lord has been really good to us all.

I thank God for missionaries who win nationals to the Lord and then place a copy of God’s Word in their hands. The goal of every man of God in the world should be to give the Gospel and then “teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

In 1999, I met Police Major Sacrepee Jomhong in Thailand. He was led to the Lord by Missionary Philip Pope, who put a copy of the Word of God in his hands in the Thai language. Sacrepee became my translator and learned to give the Gospel while out soul winning on the streets of Bangkok. Now 26 years later, he is the Thai national pastor for Team Thailand and Missionary Tim Shook. Because of the Coronavirus, he now preaches the Gospel to tens of thousands on Facebook.

There are now hundreds of young men all over Southeast Asia preaching the Gospel, pastoring Baptist churches, and winning souls on a daily basis. The need for Scriptures is so great all over the world. Thank you for allowing BEST Missions to be a part of providing Bibles to produce disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please remember, BEST Missions has coin banks to help churches save for the distribution of the Bible. We also have Bible-reading checklists to promote the daily reading of the Word of God. Please let me know if you need them, and we will be happy to send whatever you need.

Don’t forget the Third Annual BEST Missions Conference on September 7-8, 2020, with Pastor John Wilkerson as our guest speaker.

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” (Psalm 68:11) You are a part of that great company.

We thank you!

Robert Bowen
Philippians 4:13