You've probably never heard of Book Aid. (That's Book Aid, not to be confused with Live Aid). Until this morning, neither had I. It's a very small charity, run out of a disused church in Grove Park, southeast London. But since 1987, they've been dutifully supplying second-hand books for Christians in the third world. Sounds like a worthy, if unglamorous and almost humdrum activity, until you begin to grasp the sheer number of books they've shipped. In 18 years of steadily collecting, packing and dispatching books, they've sent 200 containers of material on their way. This apparently works out at a whopping 20 million volumes. Just try, for a minute, to imagine 20 million books. It's quite staggering.
I only discovered Book Aid this morning, when a friend asked me to help them move some of their stock to their new premises, a warehouse in Sydenham. Yes, it was hard work, and yes, I do have scratches all the way up both arms from carrying steel bookshelves, but I think it was worth it. I love discovering people who are quietly and cheerfully doing extraordinary things for God. When Bob, one of Book Aid's workers, told me he'd spent 17 years collecting, packing and dispatching books, my immediate thought was to wonder how he coped with the crushing boredom. But it gradually occurred to me that here was a group of people, sending quite incredible quantitites of books to people who needed them, and they had, until today, completely slipped under my radar. I wonder how many other people are quietly and patiently, with little or no recognition, doing amazing things in God's name? I suppose this is what serving God is all about. Just doing what you know God wants you to do, not making a fuss, and keeping going until it's finished, or He tells you to stop. We'll probably never know half of what people do in God's name, just because they work as servants, and get on with it, never expecting credit.