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Celebrating God’s Faithfulness in 2020

December 01, 2020 by: Crossway

God, Our Refuge and Strength

As we near the end of 2020, we thank God for his continued faithfulness to Crossway over the course of a year full of unexpected challenges. We are encouraged by the words of the psalmist in Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

In the midst of a global pandemic, political tensions, and economic uncertainty, we take comfort in the reality that God is on the throne and that his word remains “living and active” (Heb. 4:12) in the hearts of men, women, and children around the world.

Before sharing more about an important and exciting new initiative at Crossway, we wanted to reflect on how God has been at work in and through our publishing efforts over the past twelve months.

Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper

In April, Crossway partnered with Desiring God to publish Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper. In an effort to respond as quickly as possible to the reality of an unprecedented pandemic, the entire publishing process—from conceptualization, to writing, to editing, to printing—was dramatically expedited, resulting in a process that would normally take a year or more being completed in just four short weeks.

Within days of the release of Coronavirus and Christ, thousands of Christians and non-Christians alike around the world had downloaded free copies of the ebook and audiobook. Additionally, the book has now been translated into twenty-eight languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, and over 2 million copies of the book have been distributed worldwide to date.

We’re grateful to John Piper, Desiring God, and many others throughout the United States and around the world who partnered with us to get Coronavirus and Christ into the hands of readers with unprecedented speed. More importantly, we’re grateful to God who reigns over the coronavirus and humbled by how he continues to use this timely resource to point men and women toward Jesus Christ—the solid Rock on which we stand, now and forever.

Bible Publishing and Distribution

In 2020, Crossway published over sixty new editions of the Bible, including

We also launched a suite of new Bible browsing tools on Crossway.org aimed at helping Christians find the right Bible to suit their personal, family, and ministry needs.

In partnership with numerous Bible societies, Christian ministries, and local churches around the world, more than 29 million print copies of the ESV Bible were distributed freely around the world over the last twelve months in countries such as Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, India, and the Philippines. Additionally, the ESV Bible text was accessed over 3.5 billion times digitally in nearly every country of the world via ESV.org, the ESV Bible app for iOS and Android, and many other digital distributors of the ESV.

Book Publishing and Distribution

In 2020, Crossway published over seventy new books, including

In partnership with local publishers and ministries around the world, we also helped to fund the translation, publication, and distribution of Crossway books in print, ebook, and audio formats in over sixty countries, including Afghanistan, Argentina, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Haiti, Iran, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nepal, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Togo, Turkey, and Zimbabwe.

We thank God for the pastors, speakers, and ministry leaders who have partnered with us to build up Christ’s church through the publication of gospel-centered, Bible-based resources.

Introducing the Crossway Global Ministry Fund

As we look to 2021 and beyond, we are struck by the incredible advance of Christ’s kingdom around the world but also by the ongoing need for gospel-centered resources. Thousands of pastors and church leaders have little or no access to doctrinally sound biblical teaching and training for ministry.

That’s why we’re announcing the launch of Crossway’s new Global Ministry Fund—a place for you to give directly to support carefully chosen translation and ministry distribution projects. We work with authors, translators, publishers, mission agencies, and theological training schools to provide books and Bibles to the least resourced.

How You Can Support the Global Church

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us in providing thousands of pastors and church leaders around the world with Bibles and Bible-based resources? Our goal is to raise $150,000 by December 31, 2020. Crossway will match every dollar given up to $150,000, doubling the impact of your donation. Your gift to the Global Ministry Fund will contribute directly to equipping church leaders with doctrinally sound biblical teaching and training for ministry.

Give Now

By the grace of God, and with the help of your giving and prayer, church leaders around the world will be equipped, church members will be strengthened, and the power of the gospel will spread to the ends of the earth, for God’s glory.

Sincerely,

Josh Dennis
President and Chief Communications Officer
Crossway

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian ministry that exists solely for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel through publishing gospel-centered, Bible-centered content. Learn more or donate today at crossway.org/about.