Christian resources are easy to come by . . . if you live in the right place. For most of us, looking for a good Christian book means going down to our local Christian bookstore. In many countries around the world, however, Christian literature is just not available.

SCC member John Crone (pictured at right with his wife, Linda) is trying to change all that. As director of Carpenter’s Helpers, the publishing division of the Josh McDowell Ministry, John's job is to arrange for the translation of Christian literature into other languages, as well as the printing and distribution of these books around the world. And Stonebriar is partnering with John and Carpenter’s Helpers to provide resources for India, the focus of Stonebriar’s international ministry.

John Crone has been involved in the international translation business for 27 years, but eight years ago, he began exploring how his own church, Stonebriar, could help out in the area of publishing. Carpenter’s Helpers was involved in translating The Bible Knowledge Commentary for both Old and New Testaments as well as the commentary sections of the Ryrie Study Bible into Hindi.

John began looking into how SCC could help accelerate the projects. There was a need for funding, so SCC answered with a monetary commitment. Stonebriar’s involvement gave the Josh McDowell Ministry the encouragement it needed to move forward with the translation work in India.

The India translation project is progressing well. The New Testament edition of The Bible Knowledge Commentary (manuscript pictured right) was completed last year and is available in bookstores. The Old Testament is scheduled to come out this year, and the Ryrie Study Bible should be completed in 2008. A fourth book project has been started—Ryrie’s book, Basic Theology.

“That’s four projects,” John said, pointing out that they are all substantial books to translate. “Not many churches in the country could undertake a project like this,” he added. “Stonebriar is uniquely qualified in two ways. First, it has the financial advantages that come from being a big church. It also has a vision for using literature in missions.”

John called books like these a “treasure” to people living in countries with little or no Christian literature. “These books will be a marvelous, marvelous addition to resources available to pastors and believers in India," he said.