'The Lord's extraordinary provision' helps flood-affected Crossway Print
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Tuesday, 16 July 2013 01:52 PM America/New_York

Crossway has seen "the Lord's extraordinary provision" after issuing an appeal for financial support in the wake of the company's flood damage in the spring.

"It has been humbling indeed to see the Lord's extraordinary provision through the outpouring of prayer, encouragement and financial support of the Lord's people around the world," Lane Dennis, president of Crossway, wrote to supporters on the company's website. "We have received well over 2,000 emails and letters of encouragement, including gifts of support from over 30 nations around the world.

"Churches, friends in the publishing industry and thousands of individuals—mostly from people whom I have never met before—graciously responded and faithfully prayed," Dennis added. "As I signed the thank-you letters and noted the gift receipts, I was often deeply moved—even at times to tears—by the extraordinary goodness of the Lord and his people."

In a May video, Dennis asked donors to help raise $360,000 by the end of the company's fiscal year, May 31, for priority projects.

Crossway's offices in Wheaton, Ill., incurred substantial flooding, forcing closures April 17-18. About 2 feet of water poured into the building's 32 first-floor offices, and repairs and rebuilding were expected to take four to six months.

Dennis noted that the financial assistance would pay for three areas: damage not covered by insurance; installation of new safeguards to flood-proof Crossway's building; and "key ministry projects."

"Although the initial repair estimates have nearly tripled, the Lord has clearly provided through your generous help," he said. "Remarkably, as recovery and flood-proofing costs increased, so did the amount of support—corresponding almost exactly to the new cost estimate."

Dennis added that several projects "will be sustained" this year, including translation costs for the ESV Chinese Study Bible, to be published in mainland China in 2014; distribution of an additional 20,000 Chinese-English Bibles in China for a total of 250,000; completion and global distribution of the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible; and development of the "Knowing the Bible" studies, to be offered free digitally worldwide.

Keep up with Crossway at www.crossway.org/blog.