Bible Smuggler Doug Sutphen 1936–2007

Paul Hattaway at Asia Harvest reflects on his life.

At 1:42 am on May 8, Doug Sutphen, who was better-known and loved around the world as “Brother David,” passed away in a hospital near his home in North Bend, Washington. He was 70 years old.

Doug Sutphen is best remembered for leading the audacious “Project Pearl” in 1981—when one million Chinese Bibles, weighing 232 tons, were delivered by barge to thousands of waiting Christians on a beach in southern China. Time magazine described it as “A remarkable mission . . . the largest operation of its kind in the history of China.” Many Chinese church leaders today say that Project Pearl was a pivotal moment in their history. The Church had only started to re-emerge after decades of brutal oppression, and the desperate need of believers everywhere was for Bibles. A quarter of a century later reports are still being received of the tremendous impact those Bibles had on whole communities. Chinese Christians consider Project Pearl a key event which contributed greatly to the mighty revival presently sweeping the world’s most populous nation.

Read the whole story.

See also:

• BosNewsLife: One Million Chinese Bibles Smuggler Dies At Age 70

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