Although many of the world’s oldest libraries are located in the 10/40 window, many residents of these countries lack access to public lending libraries. Photo by Jessica Ruscello for Unsplash
In countries where freedom of religion is not a right, the Church brings new ways of joining varying religions together under the values of Christ’s message. This is especially true in the 10/40 window, a term referring to countries between the 10- and 40-degree lines of northern latitude that have limited access to the Gospel, as defined by the Joshua Project.
One non-profit organization in this region of the world uses a lending library to build a safe community for children and families. (For safety reasons, due to the location of the organization, the name is not disclosed in the article and is referred to as “the organization.”)
This organization was founded by a former missionary-turned-professor couple in their retirement. Their son, James, who eventually took over the organization, said his parents wanted to further the mission of Christ even as their professional careers came to an end.
According to James, the couple traveled to the Middle East to see if it was a place they could impact. On their trip, they discovered something missing within communities – public-access libraries.
“Literacy changes so much in our world,” James said. He continued, saying that books could comfort people, show them places they would never have seen before and even teach them “about Jesus in a non-confrontational way.”
Libraries are also important because they help people educate themselves. English stories in libraries can immerse young readers, helping them learn a language in addition to their first language, Arabic, and in turn, aid them in getting a job.
“So this is often said, and I would fully agree with this statement, ‘Educated people usually bring peace,’” James said. “And in a region where there is a lot of unrest, if we can bring even a moment of peace wherever we go, it's worth it.”
Public-access libraries are identified as a need across social demographics. According to James, the community center and library established by his parents has served as “a bridge between the Christian community and the Muslim community,” since it was founded.
The organization does not advertise itself as Christian, due to challenging laws and perceptions present in the country where it resides. Less than 3% of the population identify as Christian, according to James. Christians and Muslims are often isolated from each other.
“We knew, in reaching just the Christian population, that would mean 97% would probably never walk into our facility,” James said. “They would never come to our community center. They would never come for teacher training or language training or community development. And so, that was our desire, from day one; [it] was to bring those communities together.”
According to James, the organization was the first public-access library of its kind in the area. While libraries already existed, not all of them allowed books to be checked out. However, at James’ lending library, anyone — regardless of citizenship or societal status — can take a book home.
The organization’s community center provides a space for children of various ethnic and religious backgrounds to sit side by side and form a community. Photo by Andrew Ebrahim for Unsplash
The Importance of Integrated Community
Housing 35,000 books, James said the organization also hosts a wide variety of people at its community events, including literary programs, cooking classes, language classes, day camps and clinics.
“For us to just be a community center only for [members of our country] would be really almost impossible. We have almost 50 nations that are represented in our programming, so we have people from all over the world that are sitting together,” James said. “And so, you have Christians and Muslims and atheists and agnostics and Hindus and Buddhists all sitting together in the same circles.”
When people are in the same room, it is easier for them to recognize their similarities, James said. This is why a community center is so important. While participating in the same activities, a person can realize, “We have the same values. We want our families to be prosperous. We want to have a good job. We want to live in safety. We want to share a good meal together.”
Within the community center, the walls between religions or regions come down, James said. When people focus on their similarities rather than on their differences, conversations of faith are able to come into existence.
“As I, as a believer in Jesus, sit with my many Muslim friends,” James said, “I remind them we're brothers. We are brothers in Abraham, brothers in Adam. We believe in one God, though we see Him differently. We still believe that there is one God, and He matters. So, let's talk about what we have in common first. Then, we'll talk through the differences.”
“Sometimes, [a discussion on the Gospel is] in that conversation. Sometimes, it's years down the road,” James said. Projects like this community center invest in people long-term and focus on building relationships. These bonds allow conversations to naturally emerge from a place of love and trust.
James discussed an encounter with one man whom he had known for nearly twelve years. “He said, ‘I want to do something to give back to [the organization].’ He goes, ‘I've been watching all summer, and you've been sharing about all these things you're doing for the community and doing for my people. I've known you for a long time. You bring people, and they shop in my business. They support me. They support my family. We know that you are here in [our country] to support people.’”
The man went on to create art with children at the community center, James said. It was his first time getting involved with the community center, although he had seen its impact from the outside.
“All the pieces are starting to click for him,” James said. Years invested into the relationship began to affect change.
Many children attend the community center for six or seven hours a day, James said, and during this time, they form bonds with the interns. Because of the children, parents’ lives are affected as well.
“I watched those moms who looked me deep in the eye — which is not even culturally appropriate for a woman to look me in the eye — but they would stop me, and they would just say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for what you are doing for our community– what you're doing for our kids.’”
Moments such as these remind James of the reason why he runs the library and continues his parents’ legacy, he said.
Building a community outside of our demographics is important, even off the mission field. Photo by Claudia Raya for Unsplash
Building Community at Home
A person doesn’t have to be working in a country lacking libraries to affect change. James emphasized the importance of building a community that breaks down walls in the same way his organization does. He encourages members of the Church to find people they don’t know or who they may normally not interact with. From there, members should seek out a common cause or trait to unite under.
“It sounds scary,” James said. “The first couple times, it might be, but it's not. After that, you begin to realize, ‘Oh my gosh; we have the same things in common.’ [You] live in this town, so if you have kids, they go to the same school. If you don't have kids, you go to the same gym; you go to the same grocery stores. You go to these same things. There's a lot you can talk about.”
James acknowledged the individuality of the diverse communities across nations, states and cities. “It’s going to look different for your town than it does for my town,” he said. However, adapting to one’s community is the best way to truly serve people and form authentic relationships.
“It’s never too late to start to make an impact,” James said. “It’s never too early to start to make an impact.”
The best thing to do is throw away excuses that prevent a person from pursuing God’s calling and from impacting the lives of others, James said.
“I hosted 21 people from a church this summer, which was a lot of people in one building at one time, and many of them had been saying for five, ten, fifteen years, ‘One day, I'm going to come to [the 10/40 region]. One day, I'm going to come [here],’” James shared. “And they came this summer, and almost every one of them said, ‘I wish I would have come sooner. I wish I would have done this sooner.’ And many of them had never left the country before. Many of them were a bit nervous, a bit scared about what could happen because they bought into the idea that everywhere in the Middle East is scary.”
Being led by faith rather than fear allows for the Church to leave a full, unhindered impact. “And so, I would just encourage everybody to step out of what is comfortable and to step into what God is calling them to do,” James said. “Because usually, [what] God calls us to do is never comfortable, but always what God calls us to do is worth it.”
Lucy is a life-long learner and a lover of all things creative. A current student at Oral Roberts University, she is studying Writing with a double minor in Art and Media; she plans to graduate in 2026. She wishes to use her passion for storytelling and the written word to tell wide-reaching stories that unify and encourage those in all walks of life.
