Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Gabriel Samuels

Swedish church to use drones to drop Bibles on Isis territory in Iraq

An evangelical church in Sweden has announced it wants to airdrop thousands of copies of the Bible onto areas of Iraq controlled by Isis militants, in an effort to “pass the hope and love of the Christian gospel” to local people. 

The Livets Ord church in Uppsala, north Sweden, is planning to fly remote controlled drones at high-altitude over Isis-occupied regions, which will then drop tiny, electronic copies of the gospels into occupied towns.

The church, one of the leading charismatic institutions in the Scandinavian country, confirmed the Bibles are “the size of pill boxes” and “require no electricity but work on their own”.

Representatives from the organisation dismissed accusations the Bible drop was intended to be provocative in any way, saying they were merely motivated by an “unfailing and never-ending love” for all people.

In a statement, the church said: “Our ambition is to pass on the hope and love of the Christian gospel to a population living in closed areas where they are being denied human rights.

“We start our project in a few weeks and hope to drop thousands of Bibles.

'We believe in an unfailing and never-ending love, given to us by God. And together we try to spread that love to as many people as possible.'

The church has not yet outlined how precisely it will carry out the ambitious delivery, but remain convinced it will be possible despite having to fly through dangerous airspace. The operation is likely to place "in a few weeks", the church said.

Livets Ord, translated as ‘The Word of Life’, was founded in the 1980s and has frequently been criticised for being organised like a “cult”, according to Christian Today.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.