For Immediate Release February 11, 2013

Contact: Bill Lohr (505) 881-3321

Quarter of a Million Military BibleSticks Deployed

Albuquerque, N.M. – Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) initiated their military outreach about five years ago at the request of a handful of active duty Marines and chaplains serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Needing a deployment-friendly version of the ministry’s standard BibleStick, military members advised FCBH engineers of the needed specs and the result was the creation of the Military BibleStick.  Today, Faith Comes By Hearing is honored to announce they have shipped – free of charge – more than 250,000 units to chaplains serving every branch of the military for distribution to troops in pre-deployment briefings, counseling sessions, Bible studies, weekly chapels and upon direct request of service members.

More than 1,200 chaplains have participated in the project, with regular requests for more BibleSticks coming in every week.  The small, portable, digital audio devices are so popular that the ministry is currently working to fill a backlog of requests for over 20,000 additional units.

FCBH raises funds for this project from a number of sources, which includes individual donors and on-air campaigns with Christian radio and TV stations.  However, the single largest funding source has come from churches across the country that have partnered to generously support America’s troops with God’s Word in audio.  More than 7,000 churches – across 120 denominations – have presented this project to their congregations, with many participating a second and third time.

The ministry’s church outreach currently is to raise funds for 12,000 additional BibleSticks by Easter in recognition of our troops twelfth year of deployment since 9/11. 

“We continue to be amazed at both the number of requests from chaplains and the outpouring of support from grateful citizens wanting to do their part to provide our military heroes with the kind of peace and spiritual guidance that only comes from the pure Word of God,” states Troy Carl.

Carl is a vice-president at Faith Comes By Hearing and oversees the Military BibleStick project.  He also has a personal perspective as the father of a West Point graduate who recently spent two years deployed.

“It’s very encouraging to see so many hard-working people financially supporting this outreach,” says Carl.  “But more importantly, these are strong, patriotic Americans who get on their knees every day and pray for our sons and daughters who are in harm’s way.”

The package a soldier receives includes the BibleStick, ear buds, and a triple-A battery.  There is also a pre-paid postcard they can return and the ministry will send Audio Bibles on MP3 discs to their spouse and children back home. 

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