Emergency Gideon Bibles Rushed to Nepal, We Cannot Eat Bibles, Tells Nepal: Facts

Story:

We cannot eat Bibles: Nepal tells

Slamming the contemptible act of the Church Missionaries to send 100,000 paperback editions of Gideon Bibles to mourning Nepal, the government of Nepal has told the missionaries that next time perhaps they “give their thick heads a shake” and send emergency supplies, not stacks of New Testaments.

“Well, isn’t that just a plane-load full of stupid?” said a shocked and annoyed Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala when told by CNN that the plane taxiing in to Tribhuvan International Airport was full of Gideon Bibles.

Other Versions

Instead of Food , Medicine or Tents Ford foundation have sent 100000 copies of Bible To Nepal’s Starving Citizens.

Analysis:

The story shared widely online, especially through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter claims that Church Missionaries have sent 100,000 paperback editions of Gideon Bibles to mourning Nepal residents after the earthquake havoc in late April 2015. To this, it is said that the Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala got annoyed and called it a ‘plane-load full of stupid,’ and that the Nepal residents need Food, Medicine and Tents (equipment), not Bibles. The story is not a fact!

About Picture

The picture that comes with the story is not a jet load of Bibles rushed to Nepal, it is an old picture that goes back to at least 2013 as used on rosalynandroy.com, and simply shows a box of Gideon Bibles. Gideon International is an evangelical Christian organization distributing Bibles and New Testaments around the world.

Source of Story

The story in question originated from an article on the website thelapine.ca with a title ‘Emergency Gideon Bibles Rushed to Nepal‘ that was published on 27 April 2015. According to the article, a jet load with skids of boxed Bibles were sent for the millions of Nepalese desperate for help after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the country. After the Nepal PM and people have supposedly expressed displeasure at this, it is also said that the Gideons International Director of Advertising and Marketing, Craig Warner responded saying it was an ‘opportunity to feed their souls’. The story suggested that Christian missionaries were looking forward to religious conversions in Nepal, a predominantly Hindu nation. But the fact of the matter being, the story is a hoax!

Screenshot of article on The Lapine website

Satire

The website The Lapine, where the article first originated, is a satirical online newspaper that satirizes politics, life, media and the human condition; it is all about poking people, as mentioned in their about information. This interesting story became popular online because some online news outlets like newsbharati.com reported the same story, but were taken down later.

The satirical story seems to have come up after some controversial messages about Christian conversion surfaced online post the Nepal earthquake havoc (especially on Twitter). The tweets were from Christian believers, followers and missionary workers. Many people responded saying that the Christian ‘Soul Vultures’ are exploiting the Nepal earthquake. A month before the earthquake, even Pope Francis tweeted that “Suffering is a call to conversion: it reminds us of our frailty and vulnerability.”

.@CNN Praying 4 the lost souls in Nepal. Praying not a single destroyed pagan temple will b rebuilt & the people will repent/receive Christ.

— Tony Miano (@TonyMiano) April 25, 2015

1400 souls dead in Nepal and climbing, I wonder how many of those heard the Gospel? #PrayersForNepal #PrayForGospelMovement

— Joshua Aguilar (@joshnnomi) April 25, 2015

@CPIAAP Already our mission workers are there to help the people and tell them the goodness of Jesus. India is in need of knowing true God.

— Lavey Prabu J (@laveypj) April 25, 2015

Suffering is a call to conversion: it reminds us of our frailty and vulnerability.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 24, 2015

When many nations and organizations are thinking about relief programs, help and support for the victims of Nepal earthquake, some Christian missionaries and preachers are thinking about opportunities for conversions. Perhaps, this led to the satirical article.