Speaking about the news, Jamal Hashweh, General Secretary of the Bible Society in Jordan, which oversees Bible work in Iraq, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity in the biblical land of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar to provide copies of the New Testament so that Christian students can study about Jesus and his work for themselves.”
In more than 12 years of Scripture distribution in Iraq, the Bible Society in Jordan has been distributing Bibles and New Testaments to the churches there, and distribution has also been permitted in hospitals and prisons. The most recent shipment was in February.
In 1994 permission was granted for the local production of 100,000 New Testaments in Iraq and some of these were made available to Christian students; but the demand for Scriptures is much greater than can currently be satisfied by local production. However, it is estimated that at least 30,000 New Testaments for this latest project will be printed in Iraq.
“This is such a unique opportunity that the Bible Society must do everything possible to provide these Scriptures,” said Mr Hashweh. “We estimate the cost of this project to be about US $200,000, which is beyond our own small budget. But we know that ‘with God all things are possible’,” he added.