Bible Society Takes Scriptures
to Teenage Offenders

Poor conditions; little to look forward to in the future; but some young
offenders in Ukraine are finding really good news in the Bible

PAVLOGRAD, Ukraine — A team from the Eastern Regional Centre of the Ukrainian Bible Society (UKBS) distributed more than 400 Bibles and books of Bible stories to a young offenders’ prison in the city of Pavlograd.

The team, led by the Director of the Centre, Vitaly Faliy, visited the prison at the end of October 1999.

Limited

The number of visits by Christians to the country’s prisons is limited and on this occasion the UKBS team accompanied members of two local churches, the Good News church and the Light of the World. Church volunteers were taking in food as they have a number of times. The church volunteers have made humanitarian visits to the prison before.

400 inmates

The prison currently holds some 400 boys aged from 14 to 18 years old who come from all over Ukraine. Many are from broken homes where the effects of alcohol have destroyed normal family life. Under such circumstances promising youngsters readily turn to petty theft.

Living conditions there are “satisfactory”, according to the UKBS team. The boys are housed in five-storey buildings, each capable of holding around 100 residents, and they divide their time between school lessons and workshops where they sew clothing and make bricks for the building trade.

Towels and bed linen

The 300 staff includes guards, teachers, cooks, cleaners and drivers. From talking to them and the young men, the local church volunteers have identified the needs of the inmates: better quality food and school supplies, decent towels and bed linen.

The majority of the literature which the UKBS team took in was in Russian. It consisted of 144 Children’s Bibles and 204 books of Bible stories.

Ukrainian

They also gave out a small amount of similar material in Ukrainian, the number of books totalling just over 400 – the same as the number of inmates.

“The teenagers were happy to receive Bibles and other literature,” said Mr Faliy. “Many of them know about God and the literature will help them learn more about him and his love. It will help to give them hope for the future when they are released.” (WR 349/8 - 03.00) [PHOTOS]

Bible Brings Peace to Children
Suffering from Nuclear Fallout

KIEV, Ukraine — Some 14 years after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor gave the world its worst nuclear accident, thousands of children made ill by exposure to radiation still languish in hospitals around the country. Others gather for recreation and what is euphemistically known as ‘treatment’ at local centres.

A team from the Ukrainian Bible Society (UKBS) recently visited one such centre in the town of Vishgorod. There are about 11,000 people in the district suffering from radiation cancer. In the town itself, which has a total population of around 800, 110 children have developed sickness from the radiation which followed the disaster of April 26, 1986.

Word about the Vishgorod centre reached the UKBS three years ago and they promptly offered to provide all the children with Bibles. Their recent visit coincided with the weekly Bible lesson given to the children by the local Orthodox priest, Father Bagdan. Some 30 children, with their mothers and grandmothers, were assembled in the church chapel, on the ground floor of a large apartment block.

Far from well

Although they all live at home with their families, they are clearly far from well. The Bible Society team arrived late and when they got there they found many of the children had already gone home, too tired to stay any longer. Cancer of the blood or the thyroid is common among them and many will not live to see old age.

Interest

Nonetheless, an interest from outsiders in their spiritual well-being is something for which they and their relatives are truly grateful. “The doctors do what they can but there is little hope for my little boy,” said one mother. “But he loves the Bible stories that he can read for himself and I can see that they give him peace in his heart.” (WR 349/9 - 03.00) [PHOTOS]

Child’s Games Led to Priesthood

Father Bagdan is an Orthodox priest in the Ukraine town of Vishgorod. Among those in his care are local children ill because of the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl.

VISHGOROD, Ukraine — “When I was a very young child I always imagined myself becoming a priest. I played games about it. My name means ‘Given by God’ and I believe that, out of the 11 children in my family, God called me to his service – even before I was born.

“When I was 12 years old, a friend gave me a Children’s Bible. I was so excited but I had to read it in secret. My parents were not practising Christians, and this was in the time of Communism when it was illegal even to own a Bible.

“After reading the first few chapters I felt that I just had to tell my parents, brothers and sisters. But my family were not at all interested. They gave me no encouragement and did not want to know anything about it. Some years later my persistence enabled me to enter theological seminary to train for the priesthood and today I minister in the town of Vishgorod.

“I was so excited to have the Bible Society team come to visit the centre and our work among the children here. They brought Bibles for all the children who did not yet have one. It is wonderful that children today can read the Bible openly – not in secret as I had to.” (WR 349/10 - 03.00)

Bibles Change Lives for Disabled Children

KIEV, Ukraine — Representatives from the Ukrainian Bible Society (UKBS) were greeted by spontaneous clapping and cheering on both occasions when they paid visits to two homes for disabled boys, in the capital, Kiev.

Warmth of welcome

Bibles published by the UKBS are distributed to both the homes, and when the representatives went to meet the boys for themselves, they were gratified by the warmth of the welcome they received. O n each visit the boys had gathered in their assembly hall for the reception. In the first home, there were 260 boys, all suffering from either physical or mental disability of various kinds.

“The boys are always pleased when outsiders come,” the matron told the visitors. “You are doing a noble work by providing the Bible for us.”

Ministry distribution

The Children’s Bibles in this home were among those which UKBS supplies to the Ukrainian Ministry of Education for distribution to schools and special homes for children. There were more whistles and cheers when the visitors presented the home with the Ukrainian New Testament on audio-cassette. For the boys who had not yet become fluent readers, this was a gift with real meaning.

On their second visit of the day, the UKBS team were welcomed at another school by the Head – and were again greeted by spontaneous applause when they entered the assembly hall.

Baptised

“We are working very closely with the Bible Society who have been supplying us with Bibles for several years,” the Head said. “All the boys who can read have been given a Bible. We are pleased to see that many of them have come to a real understanding of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. Many have been baptised.”

Among the regular visitors who contribute to the boys’ spiritual education are Orthodox priests from Pechersk Lavra, the centre of Kiev’s historical traditional Christianity, who lead worship and study sessions about the Bible.

Eager

While the UKBS team were among them, some of the older boys came to ask if they could have copies of the entire Bible. These were readily given to them and later the visitors noticed the boys eagerly studying them. One, in particular, was trying to note the differences between a Ukrainian and a Russian Bible.

The music teacher said that when she began working in the home some other members of staff did not welcome her teaching the boys Christian songs and choruses. After a while, however, they could see the good effect this was having on the boys.

“They are now all good children, well-behaved and disciplined,” she said. “The teachers are all well-qualified, the food is excellent and the place is kept clean and tidy. It is a joy to work here.” The Bible was important, she added. “So please keep in touch with us.”

The UKBS representatives visited a third institution where the Bible is distributed, an orphanage started by a doctor who was moved by the plight of the many street children in the capital.

Poverty

In addition to their dire poverty, many were addicted to sniffing glue or other chemicals, and lived by petty theft. Most were either orphans or had been abandoned by their parents. Dr Roman set up a home where some of them could be cared for and shown Christian love and compassion.

A local church, the Christian Hope Pentecostal Church, has caught Dr Roman’s vision and given a lot of help and solid Christian teaching. Thanks to church volunteers, the boys now have prayers every morning and regular lessons on the Bible.

UKBS has given all the senior boys their own copy of the Bible and the juniors all have a Children’s Bible, a special edition of the Masters Foundation Ukraine Children’s Bible. The Head of the home, Dr Natasha, says that her work among the boys is imbued with her deep Christian love for them.

Apprehensive

Like the experience of the music teacher in the home for disabled boys, when Dr Natasha first began teaching the boys Bible stories, the other staff members were apprehensive. But in due course, as they noticed a marked improvement in their behaviour, they appreciated the value of her approach. “Jesus is changing the lives of many of these boys,” she said. (WR 349/11 - 03.00) [PHOTOS]

Policeman’s About-Face

KIEV, Ukraine — Alexander Kopinonkin was a young policeman, a member of Kiev’s Special Police Force. One day he stopped a man on suspicion that he had broken the law and asked to examine his papers. It turned out that the man had been trying to sell vacuum cleaners from door to door without having a licence.

The man was a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. Evidently unabashed by being caught, he told Alexander that he believed in God and shared his testimony with him. Afterwards he took a Bible from the boot of his car and gave it to him. Some time later, quite by chance, the two men met again. Alexander’s wife had just died after an illness and the pastor was able to help him deal with the procedures for her burial.

He learned that Alexander had become a regular reader of the Bible and persuaded him that it would be a good idea if they went to church together.

This was to change Alexander’s life forever – in several ways. He acknowledged that the Holy Spirit was at work on him through the various changes happening to him and he committed his life to Christ. At the same time he fell in love with a young woman at the church and in due course they were married. And finally, he left the police force. Alexander Kopinonkin is now a member of the Ukrainian Bible Society staff working at the Lviv branch office. (WR 349/12 - 03.00)

The Book that Changed Nina’s Life

KIEV, Ukraine — Nina Donitrievna Vasyl’kivsska has been a Christian for just three years and is still enthusiastic about giving her testimony.

Nina, a primary school teacher, says that prior to her conversion she had no interest in the Bible whatsoever.

“But a grandmother of one of the children in my class kept telling me that she was praying for me every day. For a whole year she prayed that I would come to faith in Jesus Christ.”

Changed

The knowledge that she was being prayed for prompted Nina to read the Bible. “From the opening chapters I realised that God created us all. Eventually I came to believe he sent his Son to die for me. Since I became a Christian, my life has changed completely and I believe that the Holy Spirit has come upon me in a powerful way.”

Nowadays Nina is a member of Kiev’s Charismatic Victory Church and as a teacher of young children she is careful to keep her way of life clean and pure as an example to them.

Encouraged

She is also glad to describe the way in which the children have been encouraged to take the first step towards a Christian commitment. “We have 14 classes with 25 to 30 children in each class. The Ukrainian Bible Society (UKBS) has given a Children’s Bible or a New Testament to each child – and a full Ukrainian Bible to each of the older children.”

The joy she now takes in life is not dampened by the fact that her husband does not share her faith. “He is reading the Bible – he actually started reading it before me, so it won’t be long before he finds faith, too.” (WR 349/13- 03.00) [PHOTOS]

Flying Archbishop Hails Bible Work

LVIV, Ukraine — When he is not in the cockpit of a MIG AH26 fighter aeroplane, Archbishop Augustine is ministering to the needs of the Ukraine Orthodox Church in the city of Lviv (Lvov).

As head of the Orthodox Church, Archbishop Augustine sees the work of the Bible Society as key to the church’s ministry. He applauded the way the Bible Society of Ukraine has grown since the fall of communism. “The Bible Society is always straightforward in its dealings: if it says something is free, then it is free. If it has a price, then it will indicate it,” he said.

Adds value

He is in favour of charging a nominal amount for Scriptures because he feels it adds value to the book for those who acquire it. The Archbishop’s father was an Orthodox priest in the time of Josef Stalin. He remembers his father reading to him from the Bible in those days – even though it was highly illegal – and he still treasures the copy that he used.

Banned

His father was banned from working as a priest but kept the Bible at home. In the days of communism, even possessing a Bible meant risking one’s life. The influence which the Scriptures had on him through all those high-risk reading sessions stayed with him, and eventually led him to follow his father into the priesthood. Archbishop Augustine is keen to see Bibles placed in libraries across the country. He would also like more Bibles made available for the armed forces, and more Children’s Bibles at lower cost. (WR 349/14 - 03.00)

Bible Exhibition Aims to Interest
Non-Churchgoers in the Scriptures

VIENNA, Austria — November saw the launch of the Austrian Bible Society’s main project for the first year of the new millennium: a new Bible exhibition aimed at developing an interest in the Scriptures among people who do not go to church.

The touring exhibition, entitled ‘Discover the Bible’, is a project undertaken jointly with the Roman Catholic Bible organisation, Katholisches Bibelwerk.

Support

The Chairman of the board of the Austrian Bible Society, Superintendent Paul Weiland, said that one strength of the exhibition was the variety of approaches to the Scripture which it offered. It meant that many people who were unfamiliar with the Bible would quickly find an aspect of it which would interest them.

Encouragement

Much of the text on the exhibition’s 26 display panels was written by Bible Society staff member Petra Bockhorn. She compared the exhibition, while it had been in preparation, with a small child which she and others had been looking after. She hoped the child was now grown up and would make its own way in the world, encouraging many people to open up the Bible.

After the speeches, guests had the opportunity to take their first look at the exhibition. It is divided into three main tents, each offering a different approach to the Bible. One focuses on the geography and history of the Bible, showing the lands where events in the Bible took place, and describing daily life in biblical times. Other displays examine themes such as ‘The Bible As Scripture’, ‘The Bible As the Holy Book’ and ‘Translations of the Bible’, looking at the history of the book.

Persecution

There is also a special focus on the Bible in Austrian history. For example, the effects of the Counter-Reformation are shown. The revival of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe, from the 16th to the 17th century, led the authorities to prohibit people from reading the Bible for themselves. Thousands of Protestants, unable to tolerate such an attitude and the resulting persecution, fled Austria altogether.

In today’s Austria Protestant believers make up only about five per cent of the country’s population, with some 70 per cent belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.

Increasing numbers of people are leaving the church altogether. Dr Henner feels that in such a climate, projects like the Bible exhibition are valuable simply because they show Christians from different denominations working together.

Timing

Even the timing of the exhibition launch may have helped: November 26 was last year’s ‘Christians’ Day’ in Austria, which is marked every year by a nationwide program of special church services, Bible studies, lectures and other activities.

As well as having played a part in Austria’s history, the Bible has made a significant impact on the country’s culture – on the art, literature and music which it has produced through the ages. The influence of the Bible in this respect forms another part of the exhibition.

Multimedia

Guests at the launch day also found illustrations of how the Bible is being made available in multimedia formats: they could listen to it and even use a computer to ‘experience’ it.

Children can be guided around the displays by a friendly rock badger – an animal which makes its own appearance in the Bible in Psalm 104:18. They are challenged to guess biblical smells and play various other Bible-based games. And if they hand in correctly-answered question sheets, they can win prizes. The names and addresses they register will be also used as the basis of a future children’s Bible club.

The idea of reaching people who do not go to church runs right through the exhibition. It is seen not only in its content but also in the secular venues where it will be displayed.

Following an initial three weeks in Vienna, it is due to spend most of the year on tour around the country. Among the places where it will be seen are the foyer of a bank in Ramsau, a very popular ski area in the centre of Austria, and a number of town halls and local museums.

‘Thrilling’

Meanwhile, the comments which the first guests made in the visitors’ book indicated that they wanted to see it again and to bring friends, colleagues, students and neighbours with them. The organisers were encouraged by two comments in particular. One described the exhibition as “Great, thrilling, encouraging, amazing and overwhelming.” The other read simply, “I have to buy a Bible as soon as possible.” (WR 349/15 - 03.00) [PHOTOS]

Latvian Bible Society Celebrates
a Decade of Achievement

RIGA, Latvia — The Latvian Bible Society (LBS) has launched a Portion of the new Bible in contemporary Latvian as part of its celebrations to commemorate ten years of operation as a national Society.

Although Bible Societies have been active in Latvia since the nineteenth century, it was only in December 1989 that the LBS was formed, becoming the first national Bible Society in a country of the former Soviet Union to open its doors.

Celebrations

Published in time for the celebrations in December last year, all 1,000 copies of the Portion, entitled Gospels and Acts, were sold out within a few weeks. The Culture Foundation – an organisation dedicated to supporting the Latvian language and culture – welcomed the new Portion by funding the first print-run.

The LBS has printed a further 1,000 copies which are also selling well. Gospels and Acts in modern Latvian is the first harvest of an ongoing translation project which began in 1995 when it became clear that the Revised edition of the 1965 Latvian Bible was not meeting the needs of Latvians.

New Latvian Bible

Funded mainly by the Swedish Bible Society and other Societies in the UBS fellowship, the project to translate the whole Bible into contemporary Latvian is scheduled for completion in 2002.

The Gospels and Acts Portion attracted the attention of the national media, with one of the main daily newspapers – Diena (The Day) – publishing a review of the new publication.

The LBS also commemorated its decade of Bible work by holding an ecumenical worship service on December 12 in one of Riga’s largest Lutheran churches. The service was a celebration of the interdenominational character of the Bible Society and a time of thanksgiving to God for his blessing on the first ten years of its operation
in Latvia.

Relevant

The sermon was given by the Rev Juris Calitis, Co-ordinator of the Bible Translation Committee. Basing his sermon on John 1:14, he emphasised that the Word of God should not be seen as a linguistic or alphabetical concept, but as a relevant and active part of human life. The new translation is in the hands of those who read it, he said, and they are the real translators as they apply it to their daily lives.

During the reception held after the worship service, a fax from the Archbishop of the Latvian Lutheran Church Abroad, Elmars Ernests Rozitis, was read out. The message congratulated the Bible Society on its tenth anniversary, and expressed thanks for its continued work to bring the Word of God to the people of Latvia. (WR 349/16 - 03.00)