Sometimes, I receive an email that defies an explanation. Today, I received the following email from someone in Nigeria:
Grace and peace to you in Jesus name. Our church mission is soul winning ‚”He that winneth souls is wise‚” ‚– If it were not for soul winners, the other four ministries (Eph. 4:11-16) couldn‚’t do their job. It takes a complete working of the body, controlled by the head, to bring sons to glory. One plows the ground, another plants the seed, another digs around it and water it, while yet another cuts the weeds down and digs out their roots ‚– but only God can do the increasing of it. I thank God for his beautiful plan of salvation.
We have ministered the gospel to Souls in the Villages, Schools, Hospitals and in different other places and I am so glad informing you that so many souls have been won and Souls who are worshipping Idols have surrendered their lives to Christ and together We can reach more Souls in villages here.
Please, We are in need of 23 Giant Print Bibles for old Men and Women. And Please help us with 2 Study Bibles as well. We are praying believing God that as you read you this Letter, you will help us purchase these Bibles and We will love the KJV Bibles. And Please pray for the Orphans in our Orphanage home. The safest means of sending bibles to us is via post office insured mail. Please help for this need and God will richly bless you.
I responded:
David,
You read my contact form, right? You know I’m an atheist, right? Why would I send you Bibles?
Bruce Gerencser
I received no response from Pastor David. 🙂
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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O.K. I’m going to lay this one on the line.
You don’t tell this person that you are an atheist. This poor man didn’t have enough $$$$ to purchase 23 print bibles for the elders of his village. Shame on you Bruce. You should have at least tried to help by telling him that you would be scraping together donations from your readers for this special and thoughtful occasion towards the enlightenment of his village.
We all should have all got together and purchased 23 books on “Origin of Species” coupled with Bart Ehrman’s books on Jesus. You should also have placed a short note in an envelope pointing out that God does indeed work in mysterious ways.
Double shame on you Bruce.
To me, it seems more likely that the correspondent was simply a troll, attempting to get a reaction.
Typically, they get you to send books/Bibles and then sell them.
I assume you forwarded to the Gideons???
If this were a true request, it would have been 7, 12, or 40 Bibles.
I like the idea of sending “Origin of the Species” and Bart Ehrmann. Throw in some Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion.”
But don’t forget that the Ehrmann, Dawkins and Hitchens need to be the Large Print versions! Preferably with nice, simple cartoon illustrations for the semi-literates, in case they can’t understand the words. 😄 You know, like a Chick tract.
This was a common experience for my pastor husband. He ran a small charity and visited more than a few poor countries and always happily gave his business card to all and sundry. So, he regularly got random email requests for bibles, like Bruce’s one, usually from folk he could barely recall meeting. And always they claimed to have converts or potential converts just gagging for bibles. I’m sorry to say this, but many folk in poor countries perceive that western x-tians are not only wealthy – they must be, they can afford a plane ticket for a start – but also gullible. They’re suckers for any request for money/bibles to spread the gospel to their poor heathen compatriots. Pictures of cute kids gratefully receiving bibles were added for effect sometimes – and claims for dozens of converts and flattering comments, that if we sent bibles, we’d be honoured in their church and surely the almighty would reserve a special place for us in heaven.
I’ve long shared the opinion that the two most symbolic issues of Nigeria are fraud and religion, and they so frequently tie in together. When I worked in banking any links with Nigeria were treated with suspicion, and almost always these were well founded. A request for these bibles is a scam. It’ll lead to trying to get your bank details as sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow.
Incidentally, Nigeria is now home to Black Axe, the most feared organised crime unit in the world after the Mafia. I’d never heard of them, but I guess that’s what makes them dangerous
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59630424
Yes, Geoff, my husband found that in Nigeria, and other places, an initial request may not lead to the person asking for your bank details, but it certainly was, they hoped, just an initial contact giving them access to your friendship and charitable nature. So he’d then be asked for help with hospital bills, a house, a new car or visas for western countries. He always told anyone asking for a new car that we drove an 18yr old rust bucket quite adequately, which was true. Forgive me if this sounds derogatory, but hubby said that, way before the internet,there seemed to be something in that culture which prized your getting one over on your neighbour by sneaky, dodgy or illegal means to better your own and your family’s situation – so the nigerian internet scam when it came along, fitted their mindset absolutely, it’s how they operated in life from way back.
And of course there are many who feel the UK owes them, british colonisation of their country led to much suffering, many atrocities they’d like us to atone for.
I’ll send them thoughts and prayers, how about that?