Bibles to be Smuggled Into Persecuted Nations Using MicroSD Cards

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bible League International has announced a partnership with the Digital Bible Society to create a microSD card filled with Christian literature, which can be smuggled into oppressive nations and be offered to persecuted people.

Countries such as China and Saudi Arabia do not permit the ownership of unapproved religious materials, and breaches of this rule can lead to jail and even possible execution.

"It's like a miniature Christian bookstore," said Robert Frank, Global CEO of Bible League International, an Illinois based non-profit ministry dedicated to assisting church leaders to properly use and optimize their use of the Bible.

The Bible League arrived on the international scene just after World War II when Gen. Douglas MacArthur requested that U.S. Christian groups send Bibles to Japan.

In 2011, the Bible League merged with the Texas Based World Bible Translation Center in order to gain the resources needed to translate the Bible into the languages of various nations around the world.

The chip currently being used by the ministry to smuggle Bibles and other Christian books overseas appears to be a microSD card that can fit up to 32GB of data on it at maximum capacity. The Bible League is compressing its data for maximum storage so that citizens of persecuted countries can insert these cards into their phones and pull up Christian content without leaving a trace on their computer or by using the internet.

The publishers contributing content to the outreach have all agreed to do so for free, and some of these works have been translated into Arabic, Farsi, Mandarin as well as many other languages aimed to reach Christians in persecuted nations.

"The content has been donated," said Synetta Armstrong, senior director of global communications for the Bible League. "We want to spread the word of God."

Aside from Bibles, the microSD cards are also packed with other content such as worship music, Christian movies, Bible commentaries, a study library and even a copy of Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life.