Berean Baptist Church

"Rescuing the lost from the brink"

Vision Statement

Serving the local church in her effort to RE-ENTER the Scripture publishing ministry, realizing she must provide the Bible for the WHOLE world, delivering it to the trained national in his MOTHER tongue with the GOAL of church planting for the GLORY of God.

Our Purpose

When Jesus gave the Great Commission to the church to go into all the world and "make disciples", it was obvious that His plan was to see churches planted and new believers discipled.  As the early church evangelized throughout their world, local congregations were organized and churches became the framework through which God executed His plan.  The Scriptures were used as the authority for faith and practice of these churches.

Today the plan is the same.  Throughout our world individuals, ministries, churches, and agencies do what is commonly called "missions".  Whether humanitarian or evangelistic, the ultimate goal is to see churches flourishing among the unreached people groups or our world.  But all of this activity and the fulfillment of "discipling" hinges on the Word of God.  It is the cornerstone for every program and activity that is conducted by the church.

Every believer wanting to be obedient to the mandate given by Jesus recognizes that it all begins with God's Word.  Without the Word of God in the heart language of the people, evangelism and discipleship are severely hindered.  There is nothing small about all the missionary actions and what is being accomplished in the world today.  But if these concerned Christians could sum up what is missing in their labors into one idea, it might be, "Whatever happened to the Bible?"   

The Bible's Role:  Dominant or Dormant?

Getting the Bible into the hands of spiritually impoverished people groups of the world is the whole idea behind FIRSTBIBLE International.  FIRSTBIBLE is a local church-based ministry that's on the move globally to translate, publish, and distribute the Word of God for all unreached people groups so that they might know God's glory and worship Him.

By reproducing the Scriptures in the heart language of people, FIRSTBIBLE empowers local church leaders to spread the Gospel and strengthen believers through the planting of indigenous churches. Once the churches have been nurtured to the point of possessing a strong faith, the congregations multiply themselves by starting new cell churches.  The result is a biblical church movement that not only adds thousands of souls to the Kingdom but also makes an eternal impact in the destiny of a people group.

Cutting Edge Ministry

 

After 2,000 years of missionary effort, fulfilling the Great Commission has gradually come to include anything ministry-oriented, but seldom does the priority encompass Scripture publishing.  And yet that's exactly what's needed most in the 21st century.

Less than 15% of the languages of the world have any portion - even a few pages - of God's Word.  Of the more than 5,000 languages in the world today, less than 400 have the Bible translated and published.  Tens of millions of people have yet to hold a complete Bible, much less own one.  The need for the Word of God is staggering.  In some areas there is only one Bible for as many as 10,000 people!

And that's where FIRSTBIBLE can make a pivotal difference.  FIRSTBIBLE International is committed to establishing a Bible translation / printing hub on every continent under the authority of local churches.  The ongoing goal is to partner with Christian ministries of like faith in the translation and contextualization of the Scriptures. FIRSTBIBLE will print, bind, and implement the distribution of Scripture portions, New Testaments, Bibles, and other ministry aids.

In each instance, FIRSTBIBLE works with churches and organizations that not only share our core convictions, but also place the highest priority on biblical inerrancy.  FIRSTBIBLE is neither a Bible society nor a developer of the "latest" biblical translation.  Instead, we are true to the Textus Receptus-based translations and publish the best versions of the Scriptures as possible.

Believing is Seeing

FIRSTBIBLE International is burdened for the nations and people groups within the 10/40 Window, where as many as 97% of all unreached people reside.  While the challenge of planting a potential harvest within these boundaries is daunting, FIRSTBIBLE has always believed that God provides a way for His Word.

In Bangalore, India, for example, FIRSTBIBLE has established a printing press operation for the purpose of reaching millions of people who desperately need to hear, in their own language, that Christ died for them.  This South Asia facility includes an 6,300-square-foot printing center, guest quarters for staff and missionaries, and a state-of-the-art Web press that can produce thousands of Scripture portions weekly!

Also in Mongolia FIRSTBIBLE has been approved by the Prime Minister to enter the country and set up a press to print the Scriptures.

People Groups

What is a "people group" and an "unreached people group"?

  • A people group is a large number of individuals who have a close relationship and sympathies with (affinity for) one another because of a common origin, such as tribe, race, ethnicity, as well as a common culture that would include language, religion, occupation, etc.   It is the largest group of people through whom the Gospel can flow without meeting cultural barriers.  A people group is considered unreached when there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.  There are over 12,000 unreached people groups in our world.

What is an "unpublished Language"?

 

  • There are over 6,500 languages in our world. Of these, approximately 952 have some portion of Scripture translated and printed. The rest are yet to be published. Therefore, an unpublished language is one that:

                A.  Is yet to be translated

                B.  Is translated but is not scheduled to be printed

                C.  Is translated and printed but not doctrinally sound

    FirstBible prints versions from the Textus Receptus and Masoretic Text when available and readable.

First Bible International

Brother Shane Skelton is the Florida Director as well as the Assistant International Director for FirstBible International (FBI).  FirstBible International is primarily focused on the 10/40 Window. 

The founder and general director is Dr. Charles Keen. Who pastored for 35 years the First Baptist Church in Milford OH. He also founded Bearing Precious Seed printing ministry and has printed over 60 million copies of the Scriptures in many different languages. 

In 2003 God allowed Pastor Skelton and Berean Baptist Church to partner with Dr. Charles Keen to start FBI of Florida. Our goals are to contact every church in our state and those states that touch our borders and raise the awareness of the need in the 10/40 window and to build out of those churches a network that will partner with us on Bible projects to publish the Scriptures.

  •   What is the “10/40 Window”?

    • The 10/40 Window is a rectangular geographical box, which stretches between the 10th and 40th parallels and from the west of Africa to Japan in the east.  Within the 66 nations in the Window exist 97% of the unreached people groups in the world (3.1 billion people).  The majority of these groups do not have the Scriptures in their language or dialect. Most of the world's 12,000 unreached people groups reside here (97%)


                   

      		1040 Window factsworld map, 10/40 window map where unreached peoples live

    •   Why is the “10/40 Window” so important?

      The “10/40 Window” is important because 60% of the world’s population lives in that part of the world and those people have never been reached with The Gospel. They have never heard of Jesus.  Their main religions are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism.  It is estimated that the average Baptist Church spends .2% (two-tenths of 1%) of its mission dollar on the unreached peoples of our world, which means 99.8% of available mission dollars goes to the already reached.  It is also estimated that 85% of our missionaries are in less than 15 countries.  We must reach those who are unreached and who do not have the Word of God in their native tongue.  We are talking about 3.1 billion people, and that number grows each and every day!

                                                                                                                                       

    “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Mark 16:15

  • Key Considerations

    FIRSTBIBLE International produces the Scriptures for a people group when at least one of the following elements is true:

    1. No written translation exists for their language.

    2. A translation exists in their language, but has not been published nor is it being considered for current publication.

    3. A written translation exists that does great damage to major biblical doctrines.

    Core Values

    FIRSTBIBLE International is committed to the following:

    1. Implementing the process of publishing the Bible by and under the authority of the local church.

    2. Providing the Scriptures in the heart languages of the unreached people groups primarily in the 10/40 Window.

    3. Publishing doctrinally fundamental Textus Receptus-based Scriptures (when readable and available).

    4. Defining the world as "peoples" or "people groups" of which over one-half in the world are considered unreached.

    5. Reducing systematically the Scripture needs in the world, with a goal of bringing closure to the Great Commission.

    6. Facilitating the rapid planting of local churches among the unreached people groups of the world.

    “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”   Psalms 2:8


    • Prayer and Share

    Our Greatest Need is Sustained Prayer

    We at FIRSTBIBLE have always marveled that Jesus never taught the disciples how to preach...but how to pray!  So it's important that believers pray for continued access to unreached people groups because those prayers can help change the face of the world.  If you want to be a member of the prayer team with FIRSTBible, contact our office for free materials that will help you pray in a strategic way.

    Another major need is the funding for the translation and publishing of Scriptures.

    Our vision is to help you be strategic in providing the Scriptures for a world in need.  How can we partner with you and serve you in fulfilling our Lord's command?  We can work together to change millions of lives and to disciple those people groups that until now have been out of reach of the Gospel.

    A New Challenge

    When William Carey began the modern missionary movement more than two centuries ago, he spoke to believers with a holy confidence:  "God's cause will triumph."  It already has, but we still have a responsibility to finish the job...to make a difference in the rest of the world.
    No work is more strategic.  No task is more urgent.  No message is more relevant.  No goal is more attainable.  Contact us today at     skeltonfbi@bellsouth.net  and find out how you can partner with us in publishing the Word of God and making it available to the unreached peoples of our world.