Missions fuels Jimmy Draper scholarship recipient

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Not long after LifeWay Chistian Stores associate Anna Dible began asking customers if they would like to purchase a Bible to send to South Asia, she asked God a question as well: "Can I go?"

Dible believes God called her to go and used her selection as the recipient of LifeWay's Jimmy Draper Mission Scholarship to make it possible.

In April, Dible was part of a team of LifeWay employees who distributed 5,000 Thomas Project Bibles in South Asia. The Thomas Project is LifeWay's initiative last year to encourage customers to purchase Bibles to send to South Asia. "I loved sharing with our customers about this awesome opportunity to reach people with the Gospel and put Bibles in their hands," she said.

Store manager Scott Glover says Dible's passion was contagious in the Reynoldsburg, Ohio, store. "Anna was instrumental in our store selling the Bibles," he said. Along with inspiring customers to donate them, Dible helped train other employees on the Thomas Project.

Dible said she "couldn't stop smiling" when she found out she had been chosen for the scholarship. "It was such an honor to receive this scholarship and be part of what God's doing in South Asia," she said.

Part of what struck her during her time overseas was the importance of the Bibles. "It is such a treasure," she said. "We were able to give people their very first Bible. We were able to equip them with their own copy of God's Word and allow them to grow closer to God as they read and study their own Bible."

At 19, Dible is the youngest recipient of the scholarship that is awarded each year to an employee participating in a LifeWay mission trip for the first time. The scholarship is named for former LifeWay president, Jimmy Draper. In her application, Dible explained she had recently graduated from high school and "funds are pretty tight." But she said, "God calls us to things beyond our wildest dreams."

After reading an article in LifeWay's employee magazine last year, Dible began to pray about going on an international mission trip with LifeWay.

"I find it awesome to be part of an organization that not only provides Bibles and biblical resources here in the United States," she said, "but also impacts other countries with the Gospel."

After her trip to South Asia, she said she is looking forward to sharing with customers "how God is using LifeWay to impact other cultures."

Glover noted, "Anna was a leader on our team in getting those Bibles donated," he said. "... She is an outstanding, exemplary employee."

Dible said, "one of the most powerful prayers we can pray to God is 'Here I am. Send me.'" For anyone else thinking about going on a mission trip, she said to pray about it and then step out in faith. "If we offer ourselves up to be used by Him, He will use us," she said. "And it is such a tremendous blessing to work with God Almighty."

Her favorite memories from the trip were being able to share the Gospel and seeing how receptive the people were. "It's crazy to realize there are still so many people who have never heard the Gospel and need to hear about Christ," she said. "Someone just has to go and tell them."