Luggage, Logistics, and Languages

In November, I was asked to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to pick up some new recording equipment for Faith Comes By Hearing projects and to get updated on their new software. Since it wasn’t going to be a long trip, and I wouldn’t need to to take much luggage, I asked the leader of the Iranian group at our church if he needed some more Farsi-language Bibles. He said yes, there were a number of people who needed a Bible. And he asked if I could bring copies of the complete Bible, not just the New Testament. In the past, I have been able to get them at the case price of $8 each in America, while in Europe they cost 20 euros, or $23 each. 

I went online to see if I could order the Bibles and have them sent to the Faith Comes By Hearing offices. I found the website of the publisher, Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society), but discovered that in the 7 or 8 years since I had bought Farsi Bibles, the price had gone up a little bit. I wrote to my colleagues in Albuquerque to see if they could get them without paying the state sales tax. However, on Black Friday Biblica’s webstore, ChurchSource.com, had a sale, so I went ahead and ordered 10 copies, thinking this was all I could fit in my luggage.

When I arrived at the Faith Comes By Hearing offices, I found I had 25 Farsi Bibles instead of 10. My colleagues had contacted friends at Biblica about the Bibles. Their friends had wondered why a ministry that has produced audio Bibles in over 1200 languages wanted printed Farsi Bibles. My colleagues explained that their recording team in Europe (me) had a very active Iranian group in their church in Holland, and would like to take Farsi Bibles back. The good folks at Biblica responded by sending another 15 Bibles to Albuquerque for free.

In order to bring the Bibles back to Holland, I had to fill my wheeled carry-on with the Bibles, put the equipment and my clothes in the larger bag, and check both bags. The airline charged for the extra checked bag, but even so, the total cost for the Bibles was only $8.40 each. And last Sunday the members of the Farsi group at the Baptist Church of Arnhem-Center were thrilled to have 25 new Farsi Bibles.