Kiwi blokes are renowned for their spirit of adventure. From Sir Edmund Hillary to Sir Peter Blake, they have a tendency to wade into the unknown with sheer temerity and a grin. It was something like that spirit of adventure which led a team from St Christopher's Anglican Church in Christchurch to meet up with Bruce and Karen in East Asia late last year.

The team had been at Crossroads in Hong Kong. When the storehouse closed for the weekend, the guys decided to head further into East Asia for another challenge. Tom had been in touch with Bruce and Karen through a few chance meetings, so his team joined them for two days as part of the Southern Cross Bible Distribution programme.

What they experienced there surprised them. "They were shocked at the amazingly positive response from the Chinese people to taking a Bible," Karen says. "We gave out 750 Bibles in the space of an hour and a half their first day here."

The team was led by Tom Scott, who simply wanted to expose the guys to the work and world of mission and 'ruin them for the ordinary.' "We were standing in the streets, stinking hot and sweating like pigs," Tom says with characteristic honesty. "I really felt like I was just peddling stuff on the streets." A little disillusioned, Tom reflected on the experience with a friend in the team. His response was challenging, Tom recalls. "He said, 'We could go somewhere and ladle out soup for five hours or so ... and those people would get fed for today ... but if these Bibles go back into East Asia and the Christian population there keeps growing like it is, there is potential for significant social change.' I realised this could actually have a pretty significant effect in the long run."

Karen notes that at the debrief several of the guys commented on how the experience had impacted on them personally.

"One guy said he never would have believed he would do such a thing – standing on a street corner giving out Bibles. However, he was the most animated and excited of the team. He really enjoyed the opportunity."
Tom has been part of a number of short term and longer-lasting mission experiences, and is committed to taking more teams out, including returning to work alongside Bruce and Karen and the Southern Cross project.

"I have four Bibles on my bookshelf," he says, "most gathering dust a lot of the time. We don't place significance in owning a Bible because we have never been deprived of it."

He recognises just how valuable the Bibles they distributed will be in the hands of those who take them home. "We had one guy there, decked out in his Rugby World Cup jersey and gear – he was a star. Maybe it was his smile, but people were lining up to get a Bible from him, taking photos with him and everything. One person even wanted him to autograph their Bible! I reflected later: what if that Bible somehow made it back to that guy in a few years' time? What stories could it tell?"