by Isaac Dotson

In empty New Mexico Senate chambers, volunteers leave behind personalized Life Application Study Bibles that have been prayed over and anointed with oil. When session resumes, senators will find these Bibles, each engraved with a name and tabbed for easy reference.

This scene, which played out in January, will be repeated in states around our nation because one man discovered the profound difference that daily Bible reading makes and heard God calling him to replicate that difference to the magnitude of 8 billion Bibles. Yes—billion.

The seed of this call was planted with a single Life Application Study Bible. David Hoke, founder of Understanding the Word Ministries, took one up when he committed to reading the Bible every day. After some time of reading, he felt an inward prompting to collect and distribute copies of the LASB—and heard the rather exact and bold 8 billion figure. So he bought one. And then he bought two. And soon, perhaps to his children’s chagrin, Amazon boxes began piling up on his porch. As the scope grew, he formed a nonprofit to accept donations, enlisted his children’s help (his daughter to be the master engraver and his son to help with loading and off-loading cases of Bibles), and began working directly with Tyndale to purchase discounted Bibles.

According to the Understanding the Word website, “In 2020, our ministry began with a leading from the Holy Spirit to provide a Life Application Study Bible to all that seek knowledge from the Bible or thought it was impossible to read and understand the Bible. We were also led to customize each Bible to the individual.”

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“What has been difficult to understand, is simplified.”

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The ministry website is populated with examples of personalized LASBs and testimonies from individuals who received a Bible. One of these individuals is a pastor from Uganda who shared his appreciation of the ministry:

“This Bible is very unique compared to others. It brings the Historical word to reality in our daily application of life, it is easy to read due to simple English with deeper explanation at the side. What has been difficult to understand, is simplified.”

The idea to give Bibles to our nation’s legislators came from the spouse of a representative in Louisiana, where Understanding the Word is based. She heard David give a testimony to a church preparing to send 2,000 Spanish Bibles to the Dominican Republic. David helped her deliver Bibles to the Louisiana State Legislature, and again, he felt a divine call—this time to provide Bibles to representatives and senators across the United States. The ministry’s website shares how this aspect of their work is in part a fulfillment of the original call David received:

“While we focus on this significant task, we remain committed to fulfilling the daily requests we receive from individuals around the world. To date, we have provided over 20,000 Bibles to those in need in Peru, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Russia, Honduras, Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Germany, and the United States. We are determined to continue spreading the word far and wide.”

While sharing his testimony, David corrected a sentiment he often hears from others who say, regarding his Bible ministry, “You have such a great purpose.” David shifted it and said, “We all have such a great purpose.” Bible distribution, he explained, is a task, an assignment. We all share a purpose that is defined not by our tasks, but by God. In David’s words, that purpose is “to get to heaven.” Not that our work gets us there—that’s God’s gift—nor that our hope is an escape to somewhere else, but that our focus should be eternal and our hope set on life with God.

To David, the assignment is an obedient response and not fulfilling in itself. What’s fulfilling is a loving, obedient relationship with God in Christ. Which is why, when David heard God tell him to acquire and distribute 8 billion Bibles, his first response was simply “Yes, sir.”