"Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world." {The 26 "lead soldiers" is referring to the 26 letters of the alphabet.}
I am not sure who originally quoted that. Some say Karl Marx did. Others say it was Benjamin Franklin. Here they say it was Lenin, and that he referred to the 33 letters of the Russian alphabet. No matter who said it, the truth is the same: teach people to read, and you can influence them. The communists did that by teaching everyone to read, closing outside influences [i.e. books, magazines, and newspapers from the outside world], and printing their own propaganda.
We have an incredible opportunity here in Ukraine due to the astounding literacy rate here. An impressive 99.7% of Ukrainian adults can read! [Find out your country's literacy rate here. We're 9th on the list.]
Think about missionaries who go to countries where it is common for the people to not know how to read. This was especially true centuries ago. However, we have an amazing opportunity of sharing God's Word. It is not illegal to give out Bibles here, and the people can read them! What more can a missionary ask for?!
“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” Psalms 68:11
Hmmmmm....Wow. Sure makes you stop and think, doesn't it?! What a great privilege to have the Word of God and to be able to read it!
ReplyDeleteThere is a dear sweet Christian lady in our church who cannot read. How my heart goes out to her!
We definitely have so much to be thankful for. And "to whom much is given, much is required!"
Thank you for this great reminder!
I love you. Can't wait to hear how your time was in Israel!
Hugs!
Anna