An evangelical vicar with a significant TikTok audience has reported that hundreds of people requested a Bible in just 24 hours earlier this month - and he is struggling to keep up with demand.
David Sims, vicar at St Thomas’ Church in Aldridge, Walsall, has more than 23,000 followers on TikTok (@TikTok_Vicar). He has used the platform since the Covid-19 lockdown to run virtual church services, read the Bible and discuss controversial topics.
In May this year, Sims published a short TikTok video inviting people to ask for a Bible. He said: “It gained around 100,000 views within a few days. Before May, we'd sent about 60 in the last year. Today, we're at around 1,070."
Sims now does a video specifically for Bibles every month or so. He said: "Each time I do I get hundreds of requests for Bibles… it's already fairly unmanageable.” He added that St Andrews Bookshop has supported them by providing Bibles at cost price, and volunteers help pack them.
Sims receives occasional messages of encouragement from followers, but not from the vast majority. “That's hard,” he added, “but we just trust that God's word will do what we believe it can do- bring people to repentance and trust in Jesus. We've had people come to St Thomas’ after seeing us on TikTok which is great!”
One follower contacted him saying: “I found Hope Church through you and that started my faith and literally changed my life… I’m like a new person… I would not have had the courage to start going to church if it wasn’t for your TikTok so thank you so much because Jesus literally changed and saved my life!”
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