FirstBible International

What FirstBible International does

FirstBible International is a private, donation-funded nonprofit ministry founded in 2003 by Dr. Charles Keen and operating as a ministry of First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio (headquartered at 1369 Woodville Pike, Milford, OH). The organization provides Bible translation, publishing, and national-training services to Bibleless people groups, primarily in the 10/40 Window across Africa (Liberia, Ivory Coast), Asia (India, Mongolia, Armenia, Nepal), and North America (Mexico). It serves two distinct customer sets: (i) Bibleless people groups receiving their first Scripture in their heart language — recent outputs include the Kom New Testament, Thadou Bible (31,000+ copies), Simte Bible second edition, and a first draft of the Mongolian Whole Bible delivered March 9, 2025 — and (ii) Christian churches and individual donors who fund and pray for the ministry's projects. Core products and services are organized around three integrated pillars: Bible Translation (working with national translators), National Training (equipping nationals for church-planting movements), and Bible Publishing (printing and physical distribution). The product surface is supplemented by the "Opening the 10/40 Window" 13-week educational curriculum, digital distribution through the My Own Bible mobile app, and three affiliated sub-brand programs (Bearing Precious Seed established 1973, Seedline, and the El Paso Mission Program).

The business model is donation-based with a "100% to field" pledge: revenue is generated entirely through charitable contributions from individuals and churches, with no product pricing, subscription, or licensing stream. The organization employs 1-10 staff and runs project-specific donation pages via Wufoo-based online forms, with unit-cost exemplars such as $4 per Kom New Testament and per-project funding goals ranging from $40,000 to $300,000. Go-to-market is direct-to-donor and direct-to-beneficiary: the website (firstbible.net) and free prayer materials drive top-of-funnel donor engagement, while on-the-ground distribution is executed via national church partners and short-term mission trips (notably El Paso-to-Mexico). Technology infrastructure is non-proprietary and lightweight — no APIs, SDKs, integrations, AI/ML tooling, or patents are disclosed; the ministry's competitive posture rests on its 50-year-old BPS printing infrastructure, its founder's pastoral credibility, and its in-country translator network rather than on a software platform. Revenue, donor mix, and financial statements are not publicly disclosed.

Name

FirstBible International

Legal name

FirstBible International

Website

https://firstbible.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FirstBible International is a donation-funded nonprofit ministry that translates, publishes, and distributes Bibles to Bibleless people groups across Africa and Asia while training national believers for church planting. Founded in 2003 as a ministry of First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio, it serves unreached language communities and supporting churches and individual donors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization operates entirely on donated funds. All money donated goes 100% to printing Bibles, training nationals, and planting churches in unreached areas. Donors contribute to specific projects such as the Kom New Testament ($4 per copy), Dan-Gio Old Testament ($265,000 commitment), Mongolian Bible Project, and various other Bible translation and publishing initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FirstBible International is a Bible translation and publishing ministry that provides Bibleless people groups with their first Scripture in their heart language. The organization operates through three integrated services: Bible Translation (collaborating with national translators), National Training (equipping nationals for church planting), and Bible Publishing (printing and distributing Bibles to unreached people groups primarily in Africa and Asia).

Product overview

FirstBible International is a Bible Translation and Publishing Ministry operating as a single unified offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization provides three integrated services: Bible Translation (working with national translators to produce Scripture in heart languages), Bible Publishing (printing and distributing physical Bibles), and National Training (equipping nationals for church planting). These services are supported by affiliated programs including Bearing Precious Seed (BPS), Seedline, and the El Paso Mission Program for church involvement in Bible publishing and distribution. The organization also offers the Opening the 10/40 Window Curriculum as an educational product, and distributes digital Bibles through the My Own Bible app. All ministry activities support the core goal of providing Bibleless people groups their first Bible.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bible Translation Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 6000+ unreached people groups targeted
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• First Baptist Church of Milford, OhiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirstBible International is a ministry of First Baptist Church of Milford. The church provides organizational oversight, administrative support, and connections to the broader church network. Dr. Charles Keen, after 35 years of pastoring the church, founded the ministry with vision for unreached people groups.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Biblica: Bible translation, publishing, and ministry organization (formerly International Bible Society); directly comparable on Bible translation and global distribution, though at a much larger scale.
• Ethnos360: Mission organization (formerly New Tribes Mission) focused on church planting among unreached people groups, often involving Scripture translation; highly comparable mission and field-deployment model.
• Pioneer Bible Translators: Faith-based organization focused on translating the Bible for people without access to Scripture; shares FirstBible's church-partnership-driven model and emphasis on church planting alongside translation work.
• Wycliffe Global Alliance: The largest global alliance of Bible translation organizations; directly comparable as it pursues the same mission of translating Scripture into heart languages of unreached people groups through field-based national translator partnerships.
• Seed Company: Accelerates Bible translation through church partnership and mother-tongue translator teams; highly comparable donor-funded model and emphasis on rapid Scripture access for Bibleless groups.
• Lutheran Bible Translators: Mission organization focused on translating Scripture into languages of unreached communities; closely comparable on translation-first methodology and donor-funded operations.

Broad incumbents

• Bible Society (UK): One of the oldest Bible societies, involved in translation, publishing, and distribution; comparable mission and donor base but with a much wider portfolio including advocacy and education initiatives.
• Crossway: Christian publisher producing Bibles and theological resources; comparable on Bible publishing and distribution but operates as a commercial publisher rather than a translation ministry.
• American Bible Society: Large, established Bible society engaged in translation, publishing, and distribution globally; overlapping mission but operates at significantly greater scale with broader portfolio including advocacy and Bible engagement programs.

Emerging players

• Jesus Film Project: Produces and distributes Scripture-based film content in thousands of languages; thematically aligned on reaching unreached people groups with the Gospel, though using media rather than printed Bibles.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firstbible-international

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FirstBible International