It is a fair question.
In a world of podcasts, YouTube sermons, and digital everything, why does Global Christian Book Fund focus on sending physical books around the world? The answer is not nostalgia. It is conviction — a conviction shared by some of the most influential voices in the history of the church.
The apostle Paul had preached for nearly thirty years. He had written the major part of the New Testament. And yet, writing from a Roman prison near the end of his life, he asked Timothy to bring him his books. Charles Spurgeon reflected on that moment with characteristic force:
“Paul is inspired, yet he wants books; he has been preaching nearly thirty years, yet he wants books; he has a wider experience than most people, yet he wants books; he has been caught up into heaven and heard things which it is unlawful to utter, yet he wants books; he has written the major part of the New Testament, yet he wants books.[1]” – C.H. Spurgeon on 2 Timothy 4:13
If the apostle Paul needed books, so do the pastors and seminary students we serve.
The printed page has always been one of the great engines of Christian mission. Samuel Zwemer, one of the most tenacious missionaries of the modern era, described it this way:
“The printed page is a missionary that can go anywhere and do so at minimum cost. It enters closed lands and reaches all strata of society. It does not grow weary. It needs no furlough. It lives longer than any missionary. It never gets ill. It penetrates through the mind to the heart and conscience. It has often lain dormant yet retained its life and bloomed years later.[2]“
And Ralph Winter, one of the architects of modern missiology, was equally direct about the printed page’s place in the history of missions:
“There are two things in the entire history of missions that have been absolutely central. One, obviously, is the Bible itself. The other is the printed page. There is absolutely nothing else in terms of mission methodology that outranks the importance of the printed page. Meetings come and go and personalities appear and are gone. But the printed page continues to speak.[3]“
Books do not just inform. They transform. John Piper captures what happens when the right sentence reaches the right reader at the right moment:
“What I have learned from about twenty years of serious reading is this: sentences change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99 percent of what I read, but if the 1 percent of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99 percent.[4]“
One sentence. One insight. One book in the hands of one pastor in rural Africa. The ripple effect of that moment is impossible to calculate.
The Remaining Challenge
All of this raises an obvious and urgent question: if books matter this much, why do so many of the world’s church leaders not have them?
Many of us take for granted the access we have. A Bible or a theologically sound book is a few clicks away — or at most, a short drive to a local bookstore. Our bookshelves creak from the weight of what we have accumulated. This is not the experience of most of the world.
Many of us take for granted the access to books that we have.
Across the Global South, several barriers continue to keep books out of the hands of the leaders who need them most. Mass printing has still not functionally reached many regions. Shipping books in small quantities internationally is prohibitively expensive. In economically struggling nations, even a single book may be unaffordable. Good theological resources are not available in every language, and skilled translation is a massive, ongoing task. And for many languages, qualified indigenous authors remain few.
Some point to digital books as the solution. The reality is more complicated. Globally, the vast majority of readers — including in the West — prefer physical copies. In the Global South, digital bandwidth is limited, devices are basic, and reliable electricity for charging is far from guaranteed. A pastor in rural Madagascar or the Central African Republic is not reading theology on his phone.
The need for physical books is not going away. And the church around the world is too important to leave under-resourced.
Help Equip the Global Church
→ Stories like this one are made possible by donors who believe pastors and believers everywhere deserve access to sound theological resources. Consider partnering with Global Christian Book Fund to help put books and Bibles into the hands of those who need them most.
All gifts to the Global Christian Book Fund support our general ministry fund. We direct resources where the need is greatest, working with trusted partners on the ground. The projects described on this page represent the kind of work your giving makes possible.
[1] C.H. Spurgeon, “Paul–His Cloak and His Books”, Sermon no. 542. Preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on 2 Timothy 4:13, November 29, 1863.
[2] Paul Akin, “Missionaries You Should Know: Samuel Zwemer”, IMB, April 30, 2019, https://www.imb.org/2019/04/30/missionaries-you-should-know-samuel-zwemer/
[3] Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds., “Two Musts of the Great Commission” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1981), 336-337.
[4] John Piper, “1 Percent of a Book Can Change Your Life”, interview by Tony Reinke, Ask Pastor John, no. 1910, March 8, 2023, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/1-percent-of-a-book-can-change-your-life.