Contact: Jon D. Wilke, Faith Comes By Hearing, 505-881-3321

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 30 /Standard Newswire/ -- Portable audio has come a long way since the popular '80s cassette players. With major advances in digital audio, such as MP3 file compression, Apple's iPods, Microsoft's Zunes and other devices, many people subscribe and listen to their favorite podcast content on their cell phones.

Now, free Audio Bible podcasts are available for your on-the-go lifestyle through the iTunes Store and 10 other podcast directories.

Faith Comes By Hearing, the foremost Audio Bible ministry, has 449 free Audio Bible podcasts on the iTunes Store. Since January, nearly 1.3 million Audio Scriptures have been subscribed to in more than 275 languages.

In the first 90 days of availability on this popular podcast directory, over 1 million chapters of Audio Bible podcasts from Faith Comes By Hearing were subscribed to. Then, within the next 40 days, roughly 400,000 more chapters were subscribed to -- all without any advertisement or publicity.

Audio Bibles in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Korean and Russian are the most popular so far. This large catalog is organized by region and country, allowing users to easily find their free New Testament in their language. As an example, after selecting the country "Ghana," 33 language choices for podcasts become available.

"People of different cultures and languages look to podcasts for content that is important to them," said Troy Carl, the national director of Faith Comes By Hearing.

"The rapid growth and integration of digital audio and mobile technology present new challenges to the mission community. Mission organizations must stay relevant and effective in a digital world. We see free Audio Bible podcasts as a major and effective outlet for helping people hear the Word of God in their language," Carl said.

These free, dramatized Audio Bibles have multiple character voices, sound effects and music, yet are word-for-word Scripture recordings.

National research polls indicate nearly 70% of American believers have not read the New Testament and many do not read their Bible on a regular basis.

Carl said Audio Bibles and mobile technology are changing the way people interact with God's Word.

For more than 35 years, Faith Comes By Hearing has been standing with poor and illiterate people of the world to provide them Scripture in their own language. From mobile phone applications to solar-powered Audio Bibles, Faith Comes By Hearing continues to innovate and invite people to hear God's Word for themselves.