Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
LEFT: Mart De Haan (left) and Rick De Haan (right), talk about 'Our Daily Bread' and Radio Bible Class during an interview last September at The Gleaner's North Street offices in Kingston.
RIGHT: The 2008 Annual Edition of the popular devotional, 'Our Daily Bread'
Mark Dawes, Religion Editor
Our Daily Bread is to be found in the homes of many churched and unchurched people, work places and taxis. For many, it is an indispensable source of inspiration. Many start their day with it.
In 2008, more than 100,000 copies of this free inspirational booklet were distributed islandwide. There are projections that it could increase to 115,000 for 2009.
Last September, two top executives of the Radio Bible Class Ministries (RBC), publishers of Our Daily Bread, were in Jamaica to get more acquainted with its impact here on the island - Mart De Haan, president of the RBC, and Rick De Haan, vice president. The two are brothers and grandsons of the founder of the ministry, the late M.R. De Haan.
Just before sitting down with The Gleaner, the brothers were briefed by Hyacinth Richards, director of the RBC's local offices, about the impact of Our Daily Bread on Jamaicans. The brothers also met with about 100 persons, who function as volunteers to spread Our Daily Bread in Jamaica.
Mart De Haan said: "Our sense here is similar to what it is in the rest of the world. We are just deeply humbled by those friends and individuals, who have been reading the devotional materials and who report to us that they have been encouraged, that they have grown in their understanding of the Bible and have come to love God, through his Son, by this daily kind of reading. But we would love, in the future, to see more volunteers get the word out. We believe that the people who have become our friends over the years, who are using the materials, they are in the most strategic positions to pass it on along to their friends. We are like cheerleaders, saying it is not about us (the De Haans), but you have friends who are hurting, you have family members who are broken, you have co-workers who desperately need hope and somewhere to turn. So you are the ones who can touch them. That's how we are hoping, internationally, we will grow."
The De Haan brothers said Our Daily Bread has an international circulation of 12 million and covers more than 30 languages. The RBC publishes three editions of the devotional - a monthly, quarterly and an annual edition. Also, any part of the devotional may also be downloaded from the RBC's web site at www.rbc.org.
The Our Daily Bread devotional began in 1956. Mart De Haan told The Gleaner: "One-third of the Our Daily Bread readers say the devotional has played a part in their coming to faith in Christ."
Distribution
Jamaicans have, for many years, subscribed to this publication and received it through the postal service. There are about 8,000 Jamaicans, who still have the devotional mailed to them from the United States' head offices of RBC. Locally organised distribution of Our Daily Bread began in 1990. The RBC offices in Jamaica are located in Hagley Park Plaza, in St. Andrew.
When the De Haan brothers landed in Jamaica, it represented the first leg of a Caribbean tour, which included Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.
Our Daily Bread is the flagship ministry of RBC but it is not the only ministry. RBC also publishes the Discovery Series, booklets the size of the monthly edition of Our Daily Bread, which covers a range of topics under the broad headings of God, Christ, Holy Spirit, The Bible, Salvation, Christian Living, Marriage & Family, Church, Spirit World, Contemporary Issues, Future, Knowing God, and Counselling. These publications are also distributed free.
RBC also has radio and television broadcasts on various stations. These may also be accessed on its web site.
RBC, Mart De Haan reported, has been receiving a significant interest from persons living in Muslim nations and other countries where the Christian religion is not strong.
He said: "It is a very sensitive kind of thing. We are trying to be wise. What we can do in those countries is to send materials to Christians, who request it, and if anyone else hears about the material and request them then fine. Also, there is radio and satellite distribution".
"What we try to do is teach the Scriptures in a positive way. So, we make it a point not to be critical of other religious leaders and groups. And where we do videos, we try to let spokespersons for these other religions describe what that particular religion is all about. We just feel it is just not our position to attack other religious groups. We just speak positively about what we feel the Scriptures and Christ has to offer. We try to do so respectfully. We are trying to extend the reach of the Church. We are not trying to do the work of the church," he said.
RBC has 250 persons employed in its United States offices. Its international headquarters is located in Singapore where it is staffed by 250 persons. In Jamaica, RBC is served by a staff of five, complemented by 10 volunteers.
The RBC president said the organisation, which is evangelical and non-denominational, is seeking people, who can write material that best resonates with the souls of young people. He said the door is open for Caribbean Christians to write materials for RBC.
He said also that the organisation is pleased that it is gaining traction with young people through a specially tailored blog on its web site.
Also on its web site, one will find: the Christian inspirational classic, My Utmost for His highest, by Oswald Chambers; a sports section, which tells stories of Christians in sports; and the testimonies of people whose lives were transformed in the midst of a crisis.
RBC's web site facilitates the pursuit of courses in basic theology, all the way to advanced theology, as taught at the college level. These courses, which are offered free of cost, may also be accessed through the RBC link www.christiancourses.com
Asked what RBC has in the offing for the near future, the elder De Haan said: "As far as content goes, our purpose is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. That gives consideration for both the content and the media. We are trying to use media strategically. Right now, the Internet is giving us a wonderful instant communication - whether we are talking about video, audio, electronic and print. We believe the Bible speaks with insight and wisdom to the brokenness of human life.
Struggling
"So, we are really thinking of where people are struggling - with their families; husbands and wives; parenting; addictions; marital abuses. We have been doing things on domestic violence. We are doing things on sexual abuse".
"We are taking a look at the whole counsel of scriptures. We are not offering simplistic answers but insightful answers that speaks to the core of people's needs so that in their brokenness, when you can't necessarily fix the human problem, there still is hope and there still is direction for working out those relationships by finding the spiritual strength to show love to those who don't love you, to not response evil for evil and insult for insult. It really goes back to the teachings of Christ. If we focus on how Christ is at the centre of the story of the Bible, and to say it is all about him and learning to reflect His attitudes to our world, through His help, then we have something to offer. I cannot think of anything people need more than to find hope in their brokenness - real hope, not just pumping them up".
Send feedback to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com
