Pocket Testament League: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Christian organization}} |
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{{unreferenced|date=November 2011}} |
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{{refimprove|date=December 2013}} |
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== History == |
== History == |
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The Pocket Testament League was founded in 1893 by a 12-year-old named Helen Cadbury, daughter of the president of the confectioner [[Cadbury]], who wished to introduce her classmates to Christianity.<ref>[https://www.ptl.org/about/our-history/ Official website]</ref> She formed a group with her Christian schoolfriends, “The Pocket Testament League.” |
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In 1904, Helen married American [[Evangelism|evangelist]] [[Charles McCallon Alexander]], who officially organized the league with Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman in [[Philadelphia]] in March of 1908.<ref>Archie R. Crouch (ed.), Christianity in China : a scholars' guide to resources in the libraries and archives of the United States, New York 1989, p. 226.</ref> Alexander had been associated with the prominent evangelist [[Dwight L. Moody]], and his experience in worldwide evangelism gave a huge impetus to the League. In 1914, The Pocket Testament League opened an office in [[London]] and began sharing gospels as part of its [[First World War]] outreach. In October, one of their campaigns gave out 400,000 New Testaments to soldiers on [[Salisbury Plain]]. |
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During the [[Great Depression]], members of the League shared Gospels through the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] in the [[Southern United States|South]] and throughout [[New England]]. [[Billy Graham]] encouraged the League, commenting that "I am completely sold on the work of The Pocket Testament League, and continue to pray for those associated with it."<ref>[https://www.ptl.org/about/our-history/#toggle-id-3 Official website]</ref> |
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In 1914, [http://www.ptl.org The Pocket Testament League] opened an office in London, England, and began sharing Gospels as part of its [[First World War]] outreach. In October, a campaign gave out 400,000 New Testaments to soldiers on [[Salisbury Plain]]. |
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| ⚫ | Many people heard the story of a pocket sized Bible in a soldier’s pocket that saved his life. It was [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=157116%20 Private Jennison of the 5th Yorkshire Regiment] who, during WWI, was carrying his New Testament supplied by The Pocket Testament League which stopped the bullet that would have pierced his chest. |
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During the [[Great Depression]], members of the League shared Gospels through the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] in the South and throughout New England. The Corps was a government-organized effort to put jobless men to work on public projects. |
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| ⚫ | After WWII, General MacArthur asked the league for Pocket Testaments. Members of league contributed 11 million Gospels for the nation of Japan. As a result of these Gospels being shared in Japan, Captain [[Mitsuo_Fuchida|Fuchida Mitsuo]], who had led the attack on Pearl Harbor, later became a Christian and worked for The League. |
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Throughout its history, over 100 million pocket-sized Gospels have been shared by its members in every part of the globe. |
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After WWII, the league started missionary work in foreign countries. With the support of Generals [[George Marshall]] and [[Chiang Kai-shek]], Bibles were distributed among Chinese soldiers fighting in the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref>Archie R. Crouch (ed.), Christianity in China : a scholars' guide to resources in the libraries and archives of the United States, New York 1989, p. 226.</ref> |
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[[Billy Graham]] was a great encouragement to the League, commenting that "I am completely sold on the work of The Pocket Testament League, and continue to pray for those associated with it." |
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==Present== |
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The Pocket Testament League is a relatively small non-profit organization serving hundreds of thousands of members from many different denominational backgrounds. A tiny team runs the ministry. It is managed by a 15-person Board of Trustees. |
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The League has over 450,000 members and a staff of 5 full-time people that work from virtual offices. A small team runs the ministry and it is managed by a 15-person board of trustees. The League has members from all 50 U.S. states and from 140 countries. |
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The League is based in [[Lititz]], Pennsylvania, US. It is also known as Bridge Builders in the UK.<ref>[https://www.ptluk.org/about/ Official PTL-UK website]</ref> |
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Members of The Pocket Testament League have shared over 110 million Gospels. |
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Today, the league still prints small, pocket-sized [[Gospel of John]] in languages including English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, [http://www.ptl.org/it Italian], [http://www.ptl.org/jp Japanese], [http://www.ptl.org/ru Russian], [http://www.ptl.org/de German], [http://www.ptl.org/es Spanish] and Portuguese, with wide range of cover designs. In 2019 about 16,000 individuals shared 1,150,000 gospels. It also partners with local Bible Societies for accurate Bible translations and ships from several locations around the world and in 2019, 300 partners distributed 6 million gospels. |
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The ministry provides free resources and tools to help Christians develop a lifestyle of biblical discipline and personal evangelism. |
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The ministry does not sell anything. It motivates and equips Christians to read, carry and share the word of God. |
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== References == |
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== League Celebrates 120 Year Anniversary in 2013 == |
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<references /> |
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Motivating and equipping Christians to read, carry and share the Word of God has been a 120-year passion for The Pocket Testament League. |
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*{{official website|http://www.ptl.org}} |
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== Further reading == |
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With over one million Facebook fans in dozens of countries, over 350,000 members, and a tiny staff of just 5 full time people that work from virtual offices, The Pocket Testament League is celebrating its 120 year anniversary. |
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'''Helen Cadbury And Charles M. Alexander''' Copyright 1989 Simon Fox [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Helen-Cadbury-Charles-M-Alexander/dp/0551019476 A Love That Embraced the World by Simon Fox] |
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The Pocket Testament League began in 1893 as the vision of a teenage girl named Helen Cadbury, daughter of the president of Cadbury Chocolates. Her heart’s desire was to share her faith, so she organized a group of girls who sewed pockets onto their dresses to keep a part of the Bible. The girls called their group "The Pocket Testament League”. They pledged to read a portion of the Bible every day, carry it with them in their pocket and share the Gospel wherever the Lord would lead. |
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Today The League still prints small pocket sized Gospels of John in many languages, such as English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese. The League partners with local Bible Societies for accurate Bible translations, and ships from several locations around the world. They offer dozens of choices of cover designs, ranging from original artwork and sporting events to skiers, horses and Harleys so as to appeal to a wide audience. They even have a “camo” cover for the outdoorsman. |
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The League has members from all 50 states and 140 countries. They receive over 2,000 stories each month on their website (www.ptl.org) about lives changed by the power of God’s Word. In their efforts to reach all people, The League has recently expanded its efforts to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Macau, the Peoples Republic of China, Mexico, Argentina, Italy, Japan and Brazil. |
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In keeping current with technology, many new members find The League through an online search and then become members in countries not being targeted like Ireland, England, the Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and many more. |
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The League utilizes the latest technology to resource its members including mobile apps for iPhone and android in both English and Chinese. The most utilized feature of this mobile app is the interactive map. When members carry and share Pocket Gospels, they can drop a pin on the map and share their location and their news with other members. While using the map, you can see pins dropping as other users share life-changing Pocket Testaments in their town. You can then tap on the pin to go right to the story that the user posted about how they are handing out their Gospels. |
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One of the newest, exciting opportunities is The League’s partnership with Christians in China to legally provide pocket Gospels for Chinese people to read. China’s population is 1.3 billion people. It is estimated that a billion Chinese have never read the Bible. In the Last 15 months, the League has shared over 1,000,000 Gospels in mainland China, with amazing results. |
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| ⚫ | After WWII General MacArthur asked |
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== Mission == |
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The Pocket Testament League’s mission is to motivate and equip Christians to read, carry and share the Word of God. For more information about ordering pocket sized gospels in over 50 different cover designs, or to sign up for online training and Bible Studies, go to www.ptl.org |
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*[http://www.ptl.org Official website] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocket Testament League}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocket Testament League}} |
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[[Category:American evangelists]] |
[[Category:American evangelists]] |
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[[Category:Christian missions]] |
[[Category:Christian missions]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Christian organizations established in 1893]] |
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[[Category:1893 establishments in the United Kingdom]] |
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Latest revision as of 20:18, 16 January 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2013) |
The Pocket Testament League is a Christian nonprofit organization which distributes printed copies of the Gospels from the New Testament.
History
[edit]The Pocket Testament League was founded in 1893 by a 12-year-old named Helen Cadbury, daughter of the president of the confectioner Cadbury, who wished to introduce her classmates to Christianity.[1] She formed a group with her Christian schoolfriends, “The Pocket Testament League.”
In 1904, Helen married American evangelist Charles McCallon Alexander, who officially organized the league with Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman in Philadelphia in March of 1908.[2] Alexander had been associated with the prominent evangelist Dwight L. Moody, and his experience in worldwide evangelism gave a huge impetus to the League. In 1914, The Pocket Testament League opened an office in London and began sharing gospels as part of its First World War outreach. In October, one of their campaigns gave out 400,000 New Testaments to soldiers on Salisbury Plain.
During the Great Depression, members of the League shared Gospels through the Civilian Conservation Corps in the South and throughout New England. Billy Graham encouraged the League, commenting that "I am completely sold on the work of The Pocket Testament League, and continue to pray for those associated with it."[3]
Many people heard the story of a pocket sized Bible in a soldier’s pocket that saved his life. It was Private Jennison of the 5th Yorkshire Regiment who, during WWI, was carrying his New Testament supplied by The Pocket Testament League which stopped the bullet that would have pierced his chest.
After WWII, General MacArthur asked the league for Pocket Testaments. Members of league contributed 11 million Gospels for the nation of Japan. As a result of these Gospels being shared in Japan, Captain Fuchida Mitsuo, who had led the attack on Pearl Harbor, later became a Christian and worked for The League.
After WWII, the league started missionary work in foreign countries. With the support of Generals George Marshall and Chiang Kai-shek, Bibles were distributed among Chinese soldiers fighting in the Chinese Civil War.[4]
Present
[edit]The League has over 450,000 members and a staff of 5 full-time people that work from virtual offices. A small team runs the ministry and it is managed by a 15-person board of trustees. The League has members from all 50 U.S. states and from 140 countries.
The League is based in Lititz, Pennsylvania, US. It is also known as Bridge Builders in the UK.[5]
Today, the league still prints small, pocket-sized Gospel of John in languages including English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Russian, German, Spanish and Portuguese, with wide range of cover designs. In 2019 about 16,000 individuals shared 1,150,000 gospels. It also partners with local Bible Societies for accurate Bible translations and ships from several locations around the world and in 2019, 300 partners distributed 6 million gospels.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Official website
- ^ Archie R. Crouch (ed.), Christianity in China : a scholars' guide to resources in the libraries and archives of the United States, New York 1989, p. 226.
- ^ Official website
- ^ Archie R. Crouch (ed.), Christianity in China : a scholars' guide to resources in the libraries and archives of the United States, New York 1989, p. 226.
- ^ Official PTL-UK website
External links
[edit]- Official website
- The Pocket Testament league around the world by George T.B. Davis
- The Remarkable Story of Helen Cadbury at Therebelution.com
Further reading
[edit]Helen Cadbury And Charles M. Alexander Copyright 1989 Simon Fox A Love That Embraced the World by Simon Fox