PUT YOUR USED HYMNALS BACK IN THE MINISTRY!
NEW & USED HYMNBOOKS NEEDED FOR INDIA
Q. What do you do with used church hymnals?
A. Donate them to the ministries of SWMI and Vision 20/20 in India! Our missions, along with Open Door Baptist Mission, partner together in this project and others. We are asking you to join us in this partnership, specifically in the following request.
SWMI seeks to help several churches and Bible colleges throughout India with USED HYMN BOOKS. (They would take NEW ones also!)
I, David Bennett, first noticed the need for used English hymnals in Liberia, West Africa. Churches, plural, did not have hymnals for their worship services. Therefore, they relied on a few verses of hymns that everyone had memorized. However, visitors and new converts were left out of the hymn singing and worship because they did not have the words of those few hymns memorized as yet. Besides that, they were not even familiar with some of the rich texts of sacred hymns available in the English world. Being a lover of doctrinally rich hymns, I was sad that such a treasure was not available to our brothers and sisters in so many churches I visited in Africa.
I also noticed that in one church of 300 people, there were only 30 (thirty!) hymnals to share… and they were all in horrific condition! Some of their hymnbooks were missing covers, or even missing pages. Besides that, they were using TWO different hymnbooks, making it necessary to call out two numbers and specify which book they were using. This was very confusing and time-consuming, not to mention the bad testimony to visitors who either had no hymnbook in which to follow along or had one that was literally coming apart at the seams. Clearly, the meager use of their 30 dilapidated hymnals was a bad testimony and frustrating to those who did not have one. A few were able to sing along while the majority had to simply sit and listen.
SWMI was able to collect and send over 1000 hymnbooks to Liberia to meet the immediate need. However, other churches were still in need and we took it upon ourselves to raise more money and find more used (and NEW) hymn books that would be used in the ministry of those local churches.
Now, there is a HUGE PLEA coming to us from around India for used hymnals! And, to make matters worse, or better, as soon as Indian pastors heard that we were collecting used hymnals for churches in India, IMMEDIATELY more Indian pastors put out their plea to us for help.
Beside the need of churches for solid, doctrinal hymnals, leaders in Bible colleges and seminaries are also sending in requests to us for hymnals for their chapels and students.
We are in need of both large quantities and small quantities of new and used hymnals! The need is immediate. Therefore, we are asking that churches donate used hymnbooks for use by Indian brothers and sisters in the churches and theological institutions.
Many British, American, Canadian, South African, Australian, and English speaking churches in other countries have used hymnbooks sitting on shelves or in boxes, collecting dust. Those hymnbooks could and would be very much appreciated and greatly used to God’s glory and praise in India!
You may be asking, “What hymnbooks specifically are you requesting?” That is a very good question.
Obviously, it is unlikely that we will get all the same book. That is not a problem.
Because there are several churches that need books, we can place different books in different churches, and divvy up the number of books donated between the churches according to their Sunday attendance or number of students in the colleges. Therefore, we are willing to take any and all hymnbooks that you would be willing to donate. Hymn books that have the same numbering system will be gathered together and sent to the same church while other hymn books with different numbering systems will be gathered and sent to different churches. We do not want to have confusion with different hymn books going to the same churches.
Send your used hymnals to us and we will send them to India soon in a container. We want to get YOUR hymnbooks into the hands of those who desire to have the old-time Christian hymns for their worship services.
Where should you send the hymnals? Great question.
First of all, I request that you call me, David Bennett, at 423-322-7995. I will answer your questions personally.
Maybe you are reading this request, but do not have used hymnbooks to send. Can you still help in this project? The answer is, “YES. You can help by sending funds to HELP SHIP these books to India.” If you desire to help with the expenses of sending these hymnbooks to the brethren in India, then please use the following address for mailing your gift to help these churches, and designate it for HYMNAL PROJECT: INDIA.
Silent Word Ministries International
PO Box 889, Trenton, GA 30752
If you have any questions or concerns about the hymnbooks that your church has sitting around, and wonder if we might indeed be able to use them, then please contact me personally.
By the way, we are also looking for good theological materials to distribute to pastors, Bible college students, and seminary libraries in India and Myanmar. Used theological materials are also being accepted for shipment to India.
Your heartfelt gift and eternal investment in providing hymn books and theological materials, including used Bibles, for the churches in India will be appreciated much more than you can ever imagine.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this request, and to respond. We at SWMI look forward to partnering with you in this missionary project.
Get involved! Make that phone call now at the phone number above. Allow us to get your hymnals into the hands of brothers and sisters in Christ in India ASAP!
To God be the glory… Great things He is still doing!