2018 Ministry Update

Dear Reader,

The Lord has indeed accomplished “far more . . . than all that we ask or think” and “to him be all glory . . . throughout all generations” (Ephesians 3:20, 21).

It is our joy to share several things below that the Lord has accomplished recently, as an encouragement to you and with our appreciation for your partnership in the Gospel with Crossway, as a not-for-profit ministry.

A Few Highlights . . .

• 26 Million ESV Bibles – More than 26 million printed editions of the ESV Bible were published and distributed during the last 12 months—with most of these being complete Bibles or New Testaments distributed free through evangelistic ministry partnerships on six continents.

• Africa and Asia – During 2017, 100,000 ESV Global Study Bibles were distributed free of charge to pastors and church leaders in 37 countries around the world. This brings the total to more than 350,000 ESV Global Study Bibles distributed free, with Crossway underwriting the complete cost during the last three years—to equip pastors and leaders in areas of great need, especially in Africa and Asia.

• Prison Ministry – This last year, more than 34,000 Bibles, books and Gospel tracts were provided free through Crossway’s Free Literature Initiative to prison ministries in the US and to Crossway ministry partners in countries worldwide.

• West Point – A special edition of the ESV Bible was presented free to more than 900 incoming cadets at The United States Military Academy, as Crossway now carries forward this annual West Point Bible distribution tradition started 149 years ago.

This Coming Year . . .

Many of the above efforts will be ongoing next year, and I would be most grateful for your continued prayers and gracious support for ministry projects such as those listed above, as well as for additional ministry initiatives that we are planning to undertake during 2019, including:

• Strategic Translation Projects – Financial support of the translation of ESV Study Bible notes and resources into Arabic and Tamil—two major strategic languages that are spoken by as many as 343 million people across the globe. In all, we have 40 additional language translations of the ESV Study Bible notes that are in various stages of planning or development with publishing ministries around the world.

• Mainland China – We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to publish about 100,000 copies of the Chinese Study Bible during this last year in partnership with the Chinese church throughout Mainland China, including the opportunity to provide a free copy of the Chinese Study Bible to 5,000 seminary students in China.

• 1.6 Billion Free ESV Digital Accesses – We are likewise continuing to develop and expand the digital Bible resources that we are creating, for free distribution around the world. Through our open-handed commitment to provide the ESV free digitally everywhere in the world, the ESV Bible was accessed for free digitally more than 1.6 billion times in partnership with other global ministries.

In all of this, we want to express our deep gratitude to you for your partnership in the Gospel with Crossway, in this 80th year of celebrating God’s faithfulness and provision.

One of the founding verses for Crossway 80 years ago was Romans 1:16—“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for Salvation to everyone who believes”—which continues to be at the heart of our entire publishing ministry and calling, as the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord is and continues to be the only way, the only truth, and the only hope of salvation, now and forever.

We would be grateful for your prayers and for your gracious consideration of an end-of-the-year donation to Crossway ministry projects, as the Lord leads you in His own way.

With our great thanksgiving, and with all glory to God alone,

In Christ our Savior,

Lane T. Dennis
President and CEO