A short-term missions trip with Vision Beyond Borders (VBB) isn’t your average STM. Volunteers aren’t working in orphanages or building houses; they’re smuggling Bibles.
WORLD recently profiled VBB, which sends volunteers (increasingly college-aged) into countries where Bible access is restricted.
VBB isn’t the only ministry that emphasizes the need to spread the Bible, even where transporting and publishing it is illegal. Such efforts have persisted for years–as has debate over whether or not Bible smuggling remains necessary.
CT has examined how Bible ministries debate the practice, and asked whether or not Christians should continue smuggling Bibles into China given advances in religious freedom and the dangers for all involved. CT also recently noted the rise of Christian publishing in China, where 1,300 Christian books are now available legally in spite of government restrictions. Ironically, China is also now the world’s biggest Bible publisher.
