Faith Comes By Hearing
God's Word in Audio
Mission
Faith Comes By Hearing’s mission is to get God’s Word to everyone everywhere in their heart language. We accomplish this ambitious goal by recording God’s Word in the world’s languages and freely distributing Audio Bibles for listening programs and personal engagement through playback devices and other technological means. Faith Comes By Hearing has Scripture recordings in more than 1,580 languages spoken or signed by over 6.6 billion people. We have implemented more than 1.3 million Bible listening programs, reaching an estimated 114 million people with the Word of God. We have shipped 1.4 million Military BibleSticks to military personnel and veterans, and millions of people are engaging with God’s Word via our mobile app, Bible.is.
Ruling year
1973
President/Co-Founder
Mr. Gerald Jackson
Main address
2421 Aztec Rd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87107 USA
Formerly known as
Hosanna
EIN
85-0223225
NTEE code
Christian (X20)
Religious Media, Communications Organizations (X80)
Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. (S99)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
At least 50% of humans today cannot read well enough to understand the Bible, and 70% live in oral communities. Many others live in such extreme poverty that they cannot afford to buy a Bible. We seek to overcome the barriers of non-literacy, poverty, and orality by freely providing Audio Scripture to people in their language so they can hear God’s truth.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Audio Bible Recordings
We record God’s Word so people can hear the Truth for themselves in their language.
Launched as an audiocassette ministry nearly five decades ago, Faith Comes By Hearing is now a recognized leader in Audio Bible recordings, distribution strategy, and Scripture engagement. Thanks to our donors, we have spent the last 30 years working with translation organizations, national Bible Societies, and hundreds of field partners to record God’s Word in more languages and freely share it with everyone.
Faith Comes By Hearing records and produces Audio Bibles in the languages of the world. There is no one-size-fits-all recording method, so different approaches are employed to meet each people group’s unique situation—regardless of region, hardships, or political unrest. The following are the ways we produce our Audio Bible recordings:
Oral Bible Translation (OBT): Created for languages with no written form, OBT utilizes an oral-friendly software called Render, which was developed in partnership with translation organizations.
Virtual Recordings: A flexible, web-based method ideal for recordings based in restrictive-access areas.
Partner Recordings: These recordings are created entirely by our partners and graciously contributed to our library.
Joint Recordings: In partnership, these recordings are initiated and fulfilled by working closely with other agencies in the field.
Field Recordings: Time-tested method that deploys international recording teams to where the language is spoken.
Audio Bible Listening Programs
Faith Comes By Hearing works with other Christian organizations and ministries in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Pacific Islands to establish Audio Bible listening programs in indigenous languages. These listening programs are established by national workers, who train, equip, and encourage listening group leaders to facilitate the listening and discussion sessions.
Various devices are employed in the field to allow people to hear God’s Word in their language. Proclaimers, Micro SD Cards, and BibleSticks are the primary devices people use to listen to Audio Scripture, and the Bible.is app allows people to engage with God’s Word via their mobile device.
Before COVID, large listening groups met at least once a week to listen to Scripture and discuss what they heard. We receive many testimonies from listeners who have experienced salvation, healing, peace, freedom from all kinds of sin, and greater spiritual maturity by listening to the Audio Scriptures in their heart language. Now, people participate in online listening groups via social media platforms or join together in small numbers to listen in their homes. Where there is limited internet access, COVID restrictions, or danger of persecution, people can listen on their phone via the Bible.is app or a Micro SD card. Through Scripture engagement, the hearer can experience a richer relationship with God.
Military BibleStick
More than 180,000 men and women enter and leave military service every year, many of them unchurched. Veterans often struggle with post-traumatic stress, enduring physical and mental wounds that last decades. Thanks to thousands of chaplains and our donors, they can receive the Word of God on a portable BibleStick and find comfort and hope.
The provision of God’s audible Word to our service members and veterans through the Military BibleStick program is one branch of our efforts to record and provide God’s Word in every language that needs it by the year 2033. Faith Comes By Hearing’s military outreach program has equipped 1.3million service members and veterans, as well as many of their families, with the comforting truth of God’s audible Word.
Bible.is
Bible.is is a Scripture engagement tool where anyone with internet access can stream or download Bible recordings and text. The intuitive app lets you listen to God’s Word in high-quality dramatized audio. Currently, we have Audio Scripture available in more than 1,400 languages. Users can also watch Gospel Films on the app.
Gospel Films
In partnership with the LUMO Project, Faith Comes By Hearing provides a multi-language biblical film resource that helps you engage with the life of Jesus through the four Gospel accounts. These full-length feature films use the actual Gospel texts as their scripts—word-for-word. Created by LUMO using extensive theological, historical, and archaeological research, each film has been adapted with Faith Comes By Hearing's audio Scripture in the languages of the world. Currently, we have Gospel Films available in more than 560 languages.
As part of our Vision 2033 goals, Faith Comes By Hearing has committed to creating at least one Gospel Film in every recorded language so that people everywhere will have the opportunity to hear and see the Gospel.
Vision 2033
Faith Comes By Hearing has come alongside the worldwide translation community in a movement to ensure that everyone on Earth has access to the Gospel in a format they can understand. Our goal is to work in partnership to see that the Word of God is recorded and freely available in every language that needs it by the year 2033. Because of the unified focus in reaching this goal, fulfillment of the Great Commission is possible within this generation.
Where we work
Awards
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2008
CHARITY NAVIGATOR
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2007
CHARITY NAVIGATOR
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2009
CHARITY NAVIGATOR
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2010
CHARITY NAVIGATOR
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2011
CHARITY NAVIGATOR
4-STAR RATING for SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2012
Charity Navigator
3-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2013
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2014
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2015
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2016
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2018
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2018
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2019
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2020
Charity Navigator
4-STAR RATING FOR SOUND FISCAL MANAGEMENT 2021
Charity Navigator
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of languages with Audio Scripture available
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Indigenous peoples, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Audio Bible Recordings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric shows the total number of languages that have Audio Scripture available at the end of each fiscal year (ending March 31).
Number of Audio Bible listening programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Indigenous peoples, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Audio Bible Listening Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Listening programs allow people to gather together on a regular basis to listen to Scripture in their language. Over the life of a program, an estimated 90 people can be reached with God's Word.
Number of Military BibleSticks distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, Veterans
Related Program
Military BibleStick
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This shows the number of Military BibleSticks distributed to active-duty U.S. military service members and veterans. The Military BibleStick is loaded with the Audio New Testament and selected Psalms.
Digital Engagements
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Bible.is
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The total number of digital engagements with digital Bible content through the Bible.is app, Global Bible Apps, podcasts, and streaming. All digital Bible content is pulled from the Bible Brain.
Number of Gospel Films
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Indigenous peoples, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Audio Bible Listening Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric shows the total number of Gospel Film completed in languages we have recorded and used in conjunction with Audio Bible listening programs at the end of each fiscal year (ending March 31).
Number of Bible.is app downloads
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Audio Bible Recordings
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The number of downloads through our mobile application, Bible.is, at the end of each fiscal year (ending Mar 31).
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Faith Comes By Hearing is committed to spreading the Gospel to people of all nations, tribes, and tongues. We accomplish this ambitious goal by recording God’s Word in the world’s languages and freely distributing Audio Bibles for listening programs and personal engagement through playback devices, individual language Global Bible Apps available in Google Play and App Store, Bible.is, and other technological means.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Faith Comes By Hearing partners with like-minded ministries to see that the Gospel is available to people in the language and format they best understand. We do this primarily by producing Audio Bible recordings in every language that needs it and providing these recordings to people everywhere. Our goal is Scripture engagement that results in discipleship and heart transformation.
Recording teams around the world utilize local readers to record God’s Word. When it is not possible to send a recording team, individuals record via the internet. In partnership, we have also developed an oral Bible translation method using software called Render to record Scripture where there is no written text.
Partners implement Audio Bible listening programs using self-contained Audio Bible playback units, while the Bible.is app allows people to engage with God’s Word via their mobile device. Micro SD Cards enable users to listen to and share the Audio Bible without the internet.
We provide Military BibleSticks to chaplains in every branch of the armed services. Chaplains distribute these BibleSticks to military personnel and veterans who request them.
The Bible.is app provides access to Bible content via an internet connection.
Gospel Films combine Audio Bible recordings with LUMO video content, allowing people to both see and hear the Word of God.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Faith Comes By Hearing began in 1972 as an audio cassette ministry. Over four decades later, it has become a recognized world leader in Audio Bible recordings and engagement.
Faith Comes By Hearing began in 1972 as an audio cassette ministry. Over the span of nearly five decades, it has become a recognized leader in Audio Bible recordings and engagement.
The ministry’s spirit of innovation continues to drive practical ways of recording and distributing God’s Word. The launch of the Bible.is app in 2010 allowed for personal engagement with Scripture through digital outlets. Four years later, oral Bible translation (OBT) was launched using a unique software called Render, which allows translators to listen to the Bible in a language they understand, translate it orally into their mother tongue, and record the translation. In 2017, a fruitful partnership with LUMO gave birth to the visually inspiring Gospel Films.
Faith Comes By Hearing’s invaluable partnerships with translation organizations, Bible Societies, churches, and donors significantly assist in accomplishing their mission. Their knowledge, sacrifice, and contributions ensure that the Gospel continues to be heard and shared around the world and that lives are eternally impacted.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Faith Comes By Hearing has Scripture recordings in more than 1,580 languages spoken or signed by over 6.6 billion people. We have implemented more than 1.3 million Bible listening programs, reaching an estimated 114 million people with the Word of God. We have shipped 1.4 million Military BibleSticks to military personnel and veterans, and millions of people are engaging with God’s Word via our mobile app, Bible.is.
In 2018, we launched Vision 2033 to partner with like-minded ministries to record Scripture in every language of the world that needs it by the year 2033. As part of our Vision 2033 goals, we will make these recordings freely available and create at least one Gospel Film in each recorded language. Today, we have more than 1,060 Gospel Films available.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, Donor reporting
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We record new languages as a result of requests from partners in the field who have a pulse on the spiritual needs of a specific community or people group.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We sometimes encounter language barriers which can make it challenging to understand full impact
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Faith Comes By Hearing
Board of directorsas of 07/06/2022
Murray Crawford
No Institutional Affliation
Term: 2019 - 2020
Jeff Solscheid
No Institutional Affiliation
Term: 2019 - 2020
Gerald Jackson
Faith Comes By Hearing
Clay Jackson
Faith Comes By Hearing
Murray Crawford
No Institutional Affiliation
Betty Shaum
No Institutional Affiliation
Janet Lloyd
Faith Comes By Hearing
Rich Gantner
No Institutional Affiliation
Judy Muscarella
No Institutional Affiliation
Richard Esterly
No Institutional Affiliation
Albin Jacobson
No Institutional Affiliation
Tim Haist
No Institutional Affiliation
Scott Hauquitz
No Institutional Affiliation
Jeff Solscheid
No Institutional Affiliation
Jim Dutton
No Institutional Affiliation
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/21/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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