Carol Stream, IL – In June, 2008 CBA retailers embarked on a summer adventure -- to be the channel through which their customers would reach out to military with God’s Word. The goal was to provide 100,000 Operation Worship Bibles for free distribution to United States military personnel stationed in posts around the world  and to accomplish this by the end of August.    Retailers and their customers quickly met this goal in less than 40 days, and a new goal was set to sell more than 200,000 Operation Worship Bibles by the end of the summer.  “The Operation Worship Bible was Number One in sales in Christian outlets for seven weeks and was in the “Top Five” Bibles sold for 13 weeks,” observed Blaine Smith, Associate Publisher, Tyndale House Publishers. “Nearly 300,000 Operation Worship Bibles have been sold – three times the initial goal!  We are pleased to extend the campaign through the fall of 2008.” The Operation Worship Bible campaign, a joint initiative of Tyndale House, CBA, Operation Worship, and K-LOVE Radio Network, is a unique promotion for CBA retailers to bring customers into their stores to purchase special NLT editions of Operation Worship Bibles.  Each Bible features an inscription page on which the customer can write an encouraging message or prayer for an American soldier serving somewhere around the world.  The customer leaves the Bible with the retailer, and the retailer ships the Bibles to an Operation Worship return center for distribution to chaplains and others who place them in the hands of the United States military personnel. “To all who have prayed, procured, and written words of encouragement to our servicemen and women, may the Lord bless you bountifully for reaching out and assisting in the spread of God’s Word,” said Jeff and Patti Hilliard, Founders, Open Window Foundation and Operation Worship.  Operation Worship is a national not-for-profit ministry whose mission is to enrich the spiritual lives of military personnel.  Operation Worship has a distribution center near its California headquarters, and Operation Worship Bibles are also processed and shipped for distribution to the military from a center in North Carolina as well from Tyndale House. A United States Air Force Chaplain deployed overseas was one recipient of a shipment of Operation Worship Bibles.  He recently wrote, “When we receive donated Operation Worship Bibles, they have and continue to boost the morale of the service members here.  Your contributions will ensure that we can give spiritual encouragement.  May God bless you for your generosity in donating to our  ministry.” Volunteers from Tyndale House personnel use Friday afternoons to read the notes to soldiers in Bibles that retailers have returned to Tyndale House.  “Before the Bibles can be sent out, each note has to be reviewed so that no inappropriate note gets to the field,” said John Seward, Vice President of Operations. “We have already reviewed tens of thousands of Operation Worship Bibles,” Seward continued.  “And, these Bibles will continue to arrive at our docks for several weeks. “Just reading the notes is a great encouragement.  It is amazing to see the response from so many Americans.  They want to say something to our soldiers that will encourage them, and often they tell a story of soldiers in their own family,” said Seward.  “The Operation Worship Bible campaign has touched many CBA customers at their core, as they use the Bible to personally reach out to our military.” Tyndale House Publishers was founded in 1962 by Dr. Kenneth N. Taylor as a means of publishing The Living Bible.  In addition to Bibles in the New Living Translation (NLT), Tyndale publishes many other resources for church and family, including numerous New York Times bestsellers.  Tyndale is located in Carol Stream, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. www.operationworship.com www.tyndale.com www.cbaonline.org