By God’s grace, your generous support of Ligonier’s mission is making an eternal impact in support of the global church.
We’re greatly encouraged by all that the Lord is doing through Ligonier to equip people worldwide with trusted Bible teaching that exalts the holiness of God. After reaching more than 100 million people in 2023 through the gospel partnership of donors like you, this momentum continues into 2024 with signs of significant growth on the horizon.
Below is an update on the global outreach achieved so far in 2024 as Ligonier builds toward sustained ministry in the world’s most-spoken languages. This is the outreach you empower through your prayers and financial support. Thank you for your gospel partnership.
Top 20 Language Progress
We’re making steady progress in our pursuit of initiating sustained daily or weekly ministry in the top 20 languages of the world by the end of 2025. Following the recent release of the Ligonier Statement on Christology in Filipino and Marathi, we have now published content in all 20 languages.
Bengali
In May, we launched our Bengali online outreach (bn.Ligonier.org) to support Ligonier’s desire to build the world’s most extensive library of teaching resources faithful to the historic Christian faith. This means we now have active ministry in 15 of the top 20 languages, 75% of our initial goal. And we know that people are reading what we share—our current social media audience has quickly grown to 1.6 million souls overall.
Turkish
In December, we launched our Turkish outreach, with active content production and distribution through our website (tr.Ligonier.org) and social media channels. We pray that this pioneering outreach will strengthen and sustain the young churches in Türkiye (Turkey), which face tremendous pressure from the country’s Islamic grip.
Tamil and Vietnamese
Translation and editorial teams for Tamil and Vietnamese are being assembled to deploy into active service. Lord willing, we will announce these new dedicated language outreaches in 2024.
The Reformation Study Bible around the World
Recent studies estimate that 90% of the 5 million pastors worldwide have no formal education. The Reformation Study Bible is a foundational tool for discipleship and preaching preparation with its 1.2 million words of detailed notes and careful explanation. In addition to the editions currently available in five languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Korean), several more translations are underway in major world languages.
French Edition
Printing of the French edition of the Reformation Study Bible began mid-May, with two celebration events scheduled for Paris, France (October 26), and Montreal, Quebec (November 22), later this year. Plans are coming together to distribute thousands of copies to pastors in Europe, Quebec, and especially in French-speaking Africa, where 26 countries extensively use French. Some demographic forecasts indicate there could be as many as 700 million French-speaking Africans by 2050.
Arabic Edition
Translation for the second phase (of six) began in earnest this past February. We continue to pray for our team of translators and editors, who are working under challenging conditions economically and spiritually due to Islam’s grasp over much of the Middle East. Nevertheless, God’s faithfulness remains as steady progress is being made with the opportunity to provide study Bibles to serve 400 million Arabic speaking people in the coming years.
Condensed Edition in Spanish
Expanding our reach into Latin America, translation of the Condensed Edition will provide a more portable option for Spanish speakers using the Nueva Biblia de las Américas (NBLA) translation. This updated Bible translation will soon replace the La Biblia de las Américas (LBLA) edition that is currently available. Lord willing, more than 15,000 copies of this new edition will be available by October.
Study Bibles for Africa
Ligonier’s Study Bibles for Africa project has already distributed more than 74,000 copies of the Reformation Study Bible to pastors, missionaries, and seminary students in more than 15 countries. Our goal is to send 100,000 copies by 2028. Through the generosity of thousands of donors, we have accelerated printing and distribution, well ahead of our 2028 goal.
We regularly receive testimonials from those who receive the Bibles, expressing the profound impact on their spiritual walk with the Lord:
“Thank you so much for the study Bible. I am looking forward to an exciting journey of personal Bible study that will enrich and empower my spiritual growth and that will eventually extend to those that I minister to. I am deeply eager to cultivate my personal fellowship with God through consistent Bible study, and I believe that this study Bible will be a powerful tool that God has placed in my hands. Thank you, and God bless you.” —Martin M., Kenya
“The way the authors handle theological and other topics is wonderful. They also cover creeds, hermeneutics, and interpretation. Every topic a pastor needs to understand has been covered. Every pastor, preacher, or elder needs a copy of the Reformation Study Bible.” —Jones T., Ghana
Study Bibles in India
Distribution has been completed of 4,000 Reformation Study Bibles. The Bibles have been given to pastors and seminary students throughout India with much joy and delight. It is our firm desire to send additional Bible shipments to India, especially while the door remains open amid increasing government hostility to Christianity. Plans are now in motion to send another container with 4,000 copies to India before the end of July.
Here are examples of testimonials sent to Ligonier by attendees at a pastors’ conference in India:
“I was overjoyed when I received the Reformation Study Bible at AIPC. Ligonier has been very gracious in gifting this study Bible. It is a great resource for every student of God’s Word. It is filled with God-centered and Christ-exalting interpretive notes.”
“First of all, I am thankful to God for the Reformation Study Bible that I have received freely. It is a great help for me in studying the Bible and understanding the Word of God as it provides verse-by-verse commentary. What I most love about this study Bible is the Christ-connection in every book of the Bible. Indeed, it’s a great resource in my library, and I am massively blessed by it.”
Demand continues to grow. We have now received requests for more than 20,000 study Bibles for pastors, students, and lay leaders from multiple missions and training organizations since 2023.
Study Bibles in the Philippines
More than 200 Reformation Study Bibles were gifted to participants of pastor training events in the Philippines earlier in 2024.
The ministry has already received many thankful responses:
“These Reformation Study Bibles are a great resource and truly a help. The cost of Bibles in the country, decent ones with sound commentary such as these, are not generally affordable. Thank you for your grace and goodness in providing us these Bibles. Serving Christ with you until He comes for us.” —Pastor Ray C., Philippines
“It is with great delight to express my deepest praise and gratitude for the unsurpassed mercy and grace of our great God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He has ordained and blessed you with the obedience to heed His call of advancing the gospel of Christ by providing essential resources to help the faithful and truthful equipping of many of God’s saints across the world—of which we have recently become one of the blessed recipients! I personally wish to thank you for sending to local church leaders in the Philippines copies of the Reformation Study Bible. It is our prayer and desire that through these study Bibles, pastors and other church leaders in our country will grow deeper both in understanding and affection for God and His Word and, in turn will continue to rightfully reform and be rightfully equipped to care for God’s flock.” —Pastor Ian I., Philippines
Current Translation Efforts
Multi-year projects are underway with trusted partners to translate the Reformation Study Bible into Arabic, Russian, and Polish. Ligonier is also receiving interest in study Bible translations for other minor Eastern European languages.
Expanding Global Outreach
Spanish Outreach
This fall, we look forward to the first Ligonier conference in the Dominican Republic. We are prayerfully planning to serve more than one thousand Spanish-speaking attendees from all parts of Central and South America.
Our outreach, including the Spanish website (es.Ligonier.org) and weekly radio broadcast Renovando Tu Mente, contributes to ongoing reformation in Latin America. Total engagement with Renovando Tu Mente was 4.8 million in 2023 (an 18% increase over 2022). We are preparing to publish the condensed edition of the Spanish Reformation Study Bible later this year. Our online learning platform, Conexión Ligonier, continues incorporating new video teaching series covering various biblical and theological topics.
Ligonier’s Church Partnership Program has enabled the distribution of 3,200 copies of the Spanish Reformation Study Bible to pastors and seminary students in Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, and Cuba in 2024.
Portuguese Outreach
Earlier this year, 477 copies of Portuguese study Bibles were sent to pastors throughout Brazil. We continue to pray for the millions of people impacted by the flooding in Rio Grande do Sul in Southern Brazil that began in April. More than 600 thousand have been displaced. Our hope is to send hundreds of study Bibles to pastors in that region in the coming months.
Arabic and Farsi Outreaches
Alongside Ligonier’s new online outreach in Turkish, longstanding partnerships enable us to share teaching in the Middle East in video, print, and digital formats. Teaching series by Dr. Sproul and other gifted teachers are broadcast in Arabic and Farsi on satellite TV across the region. Recently, No Other Gospel and Learning to Love the Psalms were dubbed into Farsi. Both series are available on Ligonier’s Farsi website (fa.Ligonier.org).
In February, The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul was published in Arabic for the first time and is now being distributed in Egypt. Dr. Sproul’s expositional commentary on the gospel of Mark is being made freely available in Lebanon in print and online, and the Arabic edition of Surprised by Suffering is now available in audiobook format on Ligonier social channels. Three additional Crucial Questions titles by Dr. Sproul have been released online and in print in Arabic.
Other Outreach Updates
Everyone’s a Theologian, Dr. Sproul’s highly regarded introduction to systematic theology, has now been translated into 13 languages, including our most recent release in German.
We give thanks that Ligonier’s Urdu social media followers have surpassed 66,000 in just over one year. Four titles from the Crucial Questions series are now available online in Urdu on Ligonier’s dedicated website (ur.Ligonier.org).
Since June 2023, Ligonier.org has welcomed over 2.4 million visitors from India, the Philippines, and Nigeria. These countries rank second, third, and sixth, respectively, in terms of traffic to our English website, highlighting our expanding outreach to the growing global church.
Dr. Sproul’s teaching series Justified by Faith Alone has been dubbed in Indonesian and is available on our dedicated website (id.Ligonier.org). Plans are also in place to broadcast this series via satellite throughout Indonesia.
French editions of 24 titles from Dr. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series have now been published. They are free for download on our dedicated French-language website (fr.Ligonier.org), including audiobook format.
Plans for the Singapore Conference in September 2025 are taking shape. We are also praying that the Lord will open doors to launch a definitive staffing presence in Southeast Asia.
We are exploring solutions to expand our Always Ready youth conferences into the Philippines, Singapore, and Australia.
A pilot program is now being tested with 3 large hospitals in Eastern Africa using Lightstream mobile storage devices loaded with short clips of Ligonier teaching series and conference messages. The content will be aired on a TV monitor over a 90-minute loop in the hospitals’ waiting rooms for guests seeking medical attention. By God’s grace, thousands will hear the gospel through this new outreach.
We are exploring a 2026 conference for pastors and church leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, as funds allow.
The 2024 Paris Olympics outreach featured The Race of Faith by Dr. Sproul, an evangelistic booklet that summarizes the gospel message through the Apostles’ Creed. The booklet is now available in 15 languages. We have reached tens of thousands of souls with the message of salvation through this initiative.
To God alone be the glory.
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support in bringing the truth of God’s Word to more people in more places and languages.
Ligonier Ministries