The Bible is hidden to millions of Canadians
The mission field may be closer than most Canadians realize.
According to Carey Jo Johnston of Literacy and Evangelism Canada, approximately 42 percent of Canadians are considered functionally illiterate — able perhaps to read simple text, but lacking the literacy skills necessary to fully function in modern society.
The statistic is startling precisely because most people never see it.
“They’re hidden,” Carey Jo explains. “A lot of them are even fairly affluent.”
Low literacy often remains invisible in daily life. Adults develop coping strategies, avoid situations that expose their limitations, and quietly adapt. Yet the effects ripple through employment, poverty, mental health, incarceration, and social isolation. Organizations like ABC Life Literacy Canada note that millions of Canadian adults struggle with everyday reading tasks despite appearing outwardly functional.
For Literacy and Evangelism Canada, however, literacy is more than an educational challenge. It is also a spiritual barrier.
“Our goal,” Carey Jo says, “is to open the Bible — that’s a locked book to people who can’t read and write.”
Part of the larger Literacy & Evangelism International network, the organization partners with churches worldwide to develop literacy and English-as-a-Second-Language programs infused with biblical content. Since its founding in 1967, the ministry has helped create literacy materials in more than 270 languages.
The philosophy is intentionally grassroots. Volunteers do not need advanced teaching credentials. In many cases, ordinary church members can learn the basics of ESL or literacy instruction within a weekend.
That accessibility has opened surprising doors.
In Oshawa, Ontario, one church launched an ESL ministry with ten volunteer teachers and nineteen students. Within two years, the outreach had grown to roughly one hundred students representing seventeen language groups.
Internationally, the impact extends even further.
Carey Jo describes partnerships in Ghana where churches are training hundreds of literacy teachers at a time. In Guatemala, ministries are helping Indigenous communities learn to read Scripture in the Mam language. In Uganda, a ministry called Hands Across Nations adapted literacy programs for marginalized communities and prisons.
Inside those prisons, wardens reportedly noticed dramatic changes. Prisoners who once spent their days idle and fighting began teaching one another to read. Discipline improved. Purpose emerged. After completing literacy training in their local language, many inmates then continued into English-language instruction, giving them practical skills for life after release.
But for Carey Jo, the deeper transformation goes beyond employability.
Every literacy curriculum includes Scripture.
Bible stories become reading lessons. Language becomes a pathway into faith. For many students, it is the first time they have ever been able to read the words of Jesus for themselves.
The ministry also reflects a changing reality in Canada itself. Immigration and multicultural growth mean churches increasingly encounter mission fields within their own neighborhoods.
“God’s brought the nations to us,” Carey Jo says.
And sometimes, the first act of evangelism is simply helping someone learn to read.
