DALLAS — A Texas ministry is leaving the Bible at home and trying to reach people with a puzzle.
Recently launched by Dallas-based EvangeCube Ministries, the puzzle is designed to teach the gospel worldwide. Ministry leaders hope to reach 1 billion people in the next decade.
"We need to use this as a tool to mobilize churches and get them involved in church planting with GMF (Global Missions Fellowship)," said Curtis V. Hail, president of EvangeCube Ministries. Global Missions Fellowship is EvangeCube's parent ministry.
Covered with illustrations about Jesus' death and resurrection, the messages are clear enough that anyone, including young children, can evangelize, officials said.
For example, the first image depicts man separated from God. The cube then splits open to an image of the crucifixion and continues through the resurrection.
The final image includes symbols of Christian ideals, including prayer, Bible study and evangelism.
"We tried to take what Paul taught, as we understand from Scripture, and boil it down to the most basic concepts," he said.
The cube's creators say its size makes it an attractive evangelism tool because it can fit in a purse or backpack. A miniature version comes in a keychain carrying case.
The cubes retail for $6 and are available at several Christian store chains. For more information, call 1-888-354-9411 or visit www.evangecube.org/.
The cube's simplicity encourages personal evangelism, conquers language barriers and can be used by people who are illiterate, ministry leaders said.
"Just using the visual pictures, we're able to overcome the literacy issues of North American teams going to different countries that speak different languages," Hail said. "This visual tool really helps overcome that."
With partners including the Russian Baptist Union, leaders of EvangeCube plan to develop national and overseas projects.
At this point, Dallas' Hillcrest Church is partnering with the ministry to send cubes to 200 evangelical pastors in Croatia. And Campus Crusade is working with the ministry to train 50,000 Indian pastors so that they can evangelize central India.
"Because it's not dependent on technology, it's a very transferable tool that we can leave with the nationals and they are able to use it very effectively," Hail said. "It empowers them to develop their own ministry."