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Romania
25% of Romanians live below the poverty
line, so a Bible remains out of reach for
many.
In an effort to meet the needs
of ordinary people – particularly those
who may not have regular contact with
the Church – Bible Society is producing
MegaVoice audio Scripture units for the
elderly, the visually impaired and hospital
patients.
Chad
After 26 years of work, the Sar Bible was
finally launched in November. Bible Society
General Secretary, Pastor Jérôme Altana,
declared: “Not only will the new Bible
transform lives, it will also help to preserve
the Sar language and encourage people to
learn to read and write. The Sara people
will no longer be able to say: ‘I have never
heard about God.”’ 3,400 copies were sold
following the ceremony – 90% of the entire
print run!
Austria
Bibles and reading guides distributed to
prisoners are touching the hearts of ‘people
under pressure’. One prisoner wrote: “The
Bible has changed my life. It has led me to
the path I was seeking for such a long time…
Thank you so much for your support; please
continue to help us with prayer and many
more Bibles, so that we may follow His way.”
Tanzania
“This project has helped people to break
the silence.” This is the Bible Society of
Tanzania’s assessment of the HIV/AIDS
awareness program: ‘Where is the Good
Samaritan Today?’ Across the country,
people are receiving Bible-based teaching which is encouraging them to talk openly
about their health, make positive lifestyle
changes and challenge the stigma attached
to HIV/AIDS.
Sudan
The Moro felt that their language and culture
were under threat and would die unless they
took active steps to preserve and strengthen
it, so the Bible Society and others helped
the Nuba Moro community set up a literacy
program. In five years it has shown steady
progress and has begun to change the lives
and attitudes of the people – both Christians
and non-Christians – who register and attend
the classes.
Philippines
Nearly 20,000 people gathered in Quezon
City to celebrate the Bible and its importance
in their lives on Jan 25 – a commemoration
of the apostle Paul’s conversion, and
the culmination of National Bible Week
and Ecumenical Week. The Bible Society
partnered with Pauline, Catholic and
evangelical church leaders to stage the event,
titled ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel’.
Latvia
The Bible Society is planning to publish
some parts of the Bible in a magazine format
to better engage Latvia’s next generation
with the Scriptures. These appealing, youthspecific
versions of God’s Word will be
distributed not only in bookshops, but also
at newspaper stands, petrol stations, cafés
and other places where young people go.
Italy
Please remember to pray for the Italian
people and the Bible Society in Italy following
the earthquake which struck the mountainous
Abruzzo region of the country early on the
morning of April 6. Measuring 6.3 on the
Richter scale, the quake killed at least 228
people and is estimated to have left some
17,000 homeless.
Belarus
Rates of drug addiction are rapidly rising,
but the Bible Society’s ‘Breaking the
Bonds of Drugs and HIV’ project is making
a difference. Packages containing Bibles,
Scripture materials and a CD containing
health, social and spiritual advice are
being distributed to rehabilitation centres,
syringe disposal facilities and church groups
working with drug addicts.
Vietnam
“Roman Catholics in Vietnam have only
relatively recently discovered and fallen in
love with Scripture,” says Father Nguyen
Ngoc Tinh. His organization has partnered
with Bible Society to distribute more than
150,000 New Testaments and 30,000 Bibles
each year to Vietnamese Catholics – a clear
indication of a deep hunger for God’s Word.
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