Across the globe, a silent crisis unfolds: the denial of access to the Bible. Earlier this year, China’s courts handed down harsh prison sentences and fines to individuals accused of distributing Scripture outside state-approved channels, effectively criminalizing even legal Bibles once they left government control.
The repercussions extend beyond China. In Malaysia, Finnish missionaries were deported for sharing booklets containing Bible verses, part of a disturbing trend of arrests targeting both foreigners and local Christians. Simply possessing or distributing a Bible now carries severe risks in numerous nations.
In Iran, two Christian converts were sentenced to twelve years in prison – in absentia – for the “crime” of owning and distributing Persian-language Bibles, labeled as smuggled goods. Their homes were raided during a nationwide crackdown on Christian literature, forcing them to flee before sentencing. Over one hundred Christians were detained in Iran throughout 2023 alone.
These incidents aren’t isolated. Eighty-eight countries currently document patterns of Bible bans and restrictions, treating access to Scripture as a criminal act. Hundreds of millions of Christians live under the shadow of this persecution.
Open Doors reports that over three hundred million believers in the top fifty countries on the 2025 World Watch List face very high or extreme persecution. Nations like North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, and Afghanistan represent the most dangerous environments, where arrests, violence, and church destruction are commonplace.
Some nations enforce complete bans, while others impose strict controls on language, distribution, and public use. Christians in these regions often rely on scarce, underground copies or digital versions, risking imprisonment, torture, or expulsion for even private possession.
The scale of the need is staggering. Over one hundred million Christians across eighty-eight countries are waiting for access to God’s Word. Four countries – India, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria – each face shortages exceeding ten million Bibles.
Understanding the depth of this shortage is difficult for those in the West, where Bibles are readily available. As one observer noted, many possess ten or even twenty Bibles without a second thought, unaware of the desperate need elsewhere.
The challenges are complex. In some countries, restrictions prevent printing, distribution, and even warehousing of Bibles. In Malaysia, Bibles in Chinese or English face fewer restrictions than those in Malay, the language of the Muslim majority. Similar patterns exist in Iraq and Syria.
Surprisingly, countries with the highest restrictions don’t always have the greatest shortages. This is often because their Christian populations are small. Iraq and Syria, for example, have relatively small Christian communities where existing Bibles are often sufficient.
The most significant need exists in countries with large Christian populations and varying levels of restriction. India, despite facing increasing challenges, still allows some distribution, while the Democratic Republic of Congo faces fewer import and export limitations.
Often, the primary barrier is economic. Increased investment could dramatically improve access in countries like the Congo. The combination of governmental restrictions, hardship, and poverty creates a situation where even basic necessities, let alone a Bible, are unattainable.
Printing Bibles in minority languages presents another hurdle. Bible printing companies favor large production runs, making it less feasible to print in languages spoken by only a few thousand people. The sheer diversity of languages – over 840 in Papua New Guinea, 710 in Indonesia – creates immense logistical challenges.
The assumption that online access solves the problem is flawed. Online Bibles aren’t available in every language, and many lack smartphones or internet access. Government censorship and monitoring further restrict online access, particularly in countries like China, where browsing history is tracked and can impact a citizen’s social credit score.
The reality on the ground is heartbreaking. Churches often lack even a single Bible for the congregation, with only the pastor possessing a copy. This combination of factors creates a profound spiritual need and a desperate longing for the Word of God.
