“All of the second printing copies of the Mouk New Testament are gone. We don’t have any more to give out to young married couples or to people who have gone through the literacy class. And there are no copies for people to buy, if something happened to their old copy. Can we get more? We have the next generation growing up, and they need Bibles too.” This is the request that came to Rick and Anji Zook’s ears from the Mouk church elders, as they were packing up to make a short trip to the USA. They don’t work directly with the Mouk church, but their co-workers are Mouk and together they work in the tribe next to Mouk in Papua New Guinea. Rick asked the Mouk elders how many copies they thought they needed.
What do you think they responded?
- a) 1,000 copies
- b) 5,000 copies
- c) 10,000 copies
- d) 50,000 copies
If you said b and d, you’d be correct. It went like this. Initially they said, “5,000 copies?” However, after taking the question back to a Mouk elders meeting and discussing among themselves, the elders said, “50,000 copies?” They are thinking that this may be their last chance to get copies while missionaries who previously worked with them are still alive. But they hadn’t thought through the logistics of storing that many copies in the jungle. Let’s just say an order of 5,000 copies is more likely.
When they got back to the USA, Rick and Anji started asking what it would take to get the Mouk New Testament reprinted. Files had to be located and updated, and a printing company had to be found. They have received a quote from one in the Netherlands. It will cost approximately $20 per New Testament copy to be printed and shipped to Papua New Guinea, and that is for a 5,000-print run.
Fifty percent of the cost needs to be paid up front, before printing can begin, the rest must be paid on completion.
If you would like to give to Ethnos360 to assist in the new printing of the New Testament, this is how you can give:
- Go to https://ethnos360.org/projects/where-most-needed
- Select “Add notes, designations or instructions for the finance office.”
- Type in “Mouk New Testament”.
Thank you for praying and being willing to be a blessing to the Mouk local church!