Crossway Global Ministry Fund

The Need for Theological Resources

God continues to grow his church day by day as he calls new believers to himself. And as the global body of believers grows, so does the need for more churches, especially in the Global South. In many parts of the world, even where churches already exist and are led by pastors, there often aren’t opportunities for those pastors to be trained and theologically educated.

On average, churches throughout the Global South have one trained pastor for every 450,000 people.¹ To put this into perspective, that’s the equivalent of six trained pastors in the city of Chicago, 18 in New York City, or 52 in the state of Florida. This lack of training among Global South pastors comes from little, if any, education or even access to theological resources. One Nigerian pastor highlighted this reality: “Many of my fellow pastors in the villages only have their Bibles and no other book to help them. This results in some pastors using traditional beliefs mixed with the Bible to teach.”

Without access to theological education and resources, pastors are left on their own to interpret Scripture and apply it to the situations their congregations are facing. This often results in the misinterpretation of Scripture and false teaching, and it can be difficult for these pastors and ministry leaders to escape this detrimental reality.

An Opportunity to Share the Good News

Crossway is committed to publishing Bibles and gospel-centered books that honor the Savior and serve his church. These resources support and equip pastors, ministry leaders, and lay believers around the world. By God’s grace, one way we are equipping believers with resources is through the free distribution of Bibles and theologically sound books to reach places throughout the Global South that are desperately in need. Here are just a few examples of how different kinds of resources, provided through the Global Ministry Fund, have made an impact on pastors and ministry leaders in different parts of the world.

1. Global Pastors Book Sets Distributed in Nigeria

Global Pastors Book Sets have been designed to equip pastors with theologically applicable topics as they shepherd their churches. Olumide serves the church in Nigeria where he helps to provide pastors with Crossway books specifically geared toward equipping pastors. Teaching what a biblically healthy church looks like is of utmost importance to Olumide. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church has been a key resource from the Global Pastors Book Set in this effort. He shared that one of the students in his pastoral training program commented that this book has been of great impact because “We thought we knew what the church is and how to build a healthy church. We did not know.” Now Olumide is seeing churches throughout Nigeria being transformed by a biblical understanding of healthy churches.

2. Translated Crossway Book Resources Made Available in Myanmar

Crossway resources have been translated into other languages to reach those who don’t speak English. Zaw, a pastor in Myanmar, has been impacted by receiving a copy of Paul Tripp’s Lead that had been translated into his native language of Burmese. “Because of this partnership [to provide resources to our country],” Pastor Zaw explains, “I can have access to [good, theologically sound] books. Otherwise, there’s no way that I would be able to have materials like this. I think I will be correct to say that, generally speaking, most of us pastors do not really have a good education, except on the high school level.” By God’s grace and through the support of the Global Ministry Fund, pastors around Myanmar now have access to this theological resource as they shepherd their congregations.

3. ESV Study Bible Notes Translated to Ukrainian

The study resources in the ESV Study Bible serve as a concise but robust commentary for Bible readers and have helped believers all around the world accurately interpret the Scriptures. We praise God for how he has enabled the ESV Study Bible notes to be published especially in difficult environments. Men and women in Ukraine are increasingly asking hard questions that can really only be answered by looking to God’s Word. This is why Crossway supported the translation of the ESV Study Bible notes into the Ukrainian language. Roman Kapran led the translation effort and shared the difference this Bible has made since being published. “The Ukrainian Study Bible is a real spiritual sword for Christians in the midst of the war. This Bible becomes a small light in a dark time when people are tired from the war.” We praise God for the impact this resource is having on pastors and church leaders, as well as to their congregations.

An Opportunity to Provide Resources to the Least-Resourced

Through Crossway’s Global Ministry Fund, each year thousands of Bibles and books, both English and translated, are freely distributed with the help of on-the-ground ministry partners who have committed to delivering these books and Bibles to the least-resourced. This spring, we invite you to support the funding of biblical resources for pastors and ministry leaders in need around the world. Our goal is to raise $200,000 by May 30, 2025, to provide Bibles and theologically sound books to global pastors and church leaders in need of the light the gospel brings. Would you consider joining us this spring as we continue to support these believers who lack resources that are available to so many of us?