New
Global Bible
Initiative Gets Under Way
READING, England — The new millennium has hardly begun and already hundreds of new projects have been planned to boost Bible distribution around the world. Some of them have started, some have already reached their targets; many of these projects will get under way in the next few months.
Ultimately,
at least 338 more Bible-related projects affecting some 65 countries will
aim to bring the Bible message to hundreds of thousands of people whose
hunger for spiritual answers cannot be ignored.
Opportunity 21, shortened to O-21, is a joint initiative creating three areas of opportunity: it is an opportunity for people. Through the various projects this program will aim to respond to the needs of literacy, to the disadvantaged, to people living in areas where access is restricted. The UBS translation program which aims to reach major language groups with the Scriptures in their heart language will benefit.
Communicating
“Opportunity 21 is all about communicating to people,” says Bill Jefferson, the UBS O-21 Coordinator, “communicating the Bible message in its fullness and that includes the love of God for humanity and His plan of salvation. Our aim is to create many more opportunities through this program to reach people who otherwise would never get to hear the Bible’s message or get to hold the Scriptures in their hands.”
It is also an opportunity for the Bible cause. O-21 is a great step forward in partnership. It began as a partnership in funding, and has become a partnership in conveying the biblical message. The Summer Institute of Linguistics, Sat-7 – the Middle East broadcasting satellite station – Hosanna – the developers of the dramatised Bible audio cassette – and the International Bible Society are all entering into partnership with the UBS and national Bible Societies to further the Kingdom of Heaven by making sure that the Bible message gets heard and read. The program is also an opportunity for giving – a partnership in funding, which any organisation can join. Initially created by the American Bible Society (ABS) entering into an agreement with the Maclellan Foundation and the UBS, Mr Jefferson sees the program as an ongoing source of additional support for Bible work.
Always growing
“People should not think that the sums of money talked about mean that we have this support and we don’t need any more,” he said. “We need people to contribute over and above what they pledge to their national Bible Society every year. We need people to realise that the demand for Scriptures is always growing, just as our support for new ventures like O-21 should always be growing.”
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That was just the beginning. Now that the planning has reached a more substantial stage it is possible to talk about exact projects, when these will take place, and which areas will begin to feel the immediate benefits.
Translation benefits
Ten national Bible Societies are expected to receive between them some US $37.7 million and this will be put towards the development of Bible translation, production and distribution. Over the next four years some $90 million will be raised for Bible work over and above the pledges of about $40 million per year for the UBS World Service Program.
This was made possible initially by the ABS agreeing to make available a large amount taken from its invested capital. The ABS entered into an agreement with the Maclellan Foundation, and the UBS, that extra funding for the program would be found.
Unique growth
Unique in church growth and in desperate need for the Bible, the People’s Republic of China stands to gain through projects costed out at more than seven million dollars. India and its wide and complex needs will also receive a large share of extra support, with Colombia, Russia and Nigeria all to receive projects to a value of between $3-4 million.
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“Our aim is to create many more opportunities
through this program to reach people who otherwise would never get
to hear the Bible’s message.”
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But what does this mean in practice? In some cases the money will be made available to produce and distribute more Scriptures. For example, it is planned for Madagascar to receive up to $300,000 by 2001 and a further $435,000 in 2002-3. This would be to supply mainline Protestant churches with Bibles. Malawi should also receive help with its distribution boosted by at least $1,600,000 between 2001-3.
In PR China, the development of Scripture Selections, specifically targeting current social issues, such as families, spiritual fulfilment, AIDS, abortion, to mention but a few examples, is earmarked to receive the benefit of $2 million spread across three years and starting in 2001.
In Italy, a special Pilgrims’ Portion, prepared in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Church, should receive $900,000 worth of funding spread out over the next three years. A seven-language Gospel edition which is to be made available to visitors to Rome has already been printed and is being distributed this year and next.
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But the extra support will also be used to help national Societies develop their Bible work more effectively. In Israel O-21 funding has already supported the opening of a new Bible Exhibition, (please see story 350/23) as well as the renovation and opening of Scripture bookstores and the production of a video How the Bible Came to Us.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in Honduras, where the Bible House was badly damaged by the floods in 1999, $400,000 is planned for a new Bible House. And in order to modernise Indonesia’s already effective Bible production plant in Bogor, more than $800,000 of O-21 funding could be available by 2002.
Binding
Equipment for binding Bibles and new typesetting is needed to make the plant even more efficient. It was thanks to the effectiveness of this printing plant that the Indonesian Bible Society was able to keep going through the terrible economic crisis in 1997-98. Improvements to the plant will be a tremendous help to Scripture production not only throughout the many islands of the Indonesian archipelago, but also to the other Bible Societies in the region.
Depots, bookshops…
New Bible depots, a bookshop, a warehouse, recruitment and training of specialist staff, audio as well as print New Testaments, a university Bible centre and the development of effective fundraising are all areas in Romania that will be assisted through O-21.
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Sometimes a new distribution vehicle is needed. But the O-21 program hopes to help the national Societies see beyond simply purchasing a new Bible van. The aim is to help a national Bible Society set up the means to raise the income locally both to maintain and eventually replace the vehicle without depending upon the UBS.
In the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf, a large amount of support will help to boost far-reaching Bible work. This could be as varied as the stocking and maintaining of a Bible centre in one of the compounds set aside for Christian worship in a Gulf state or giving support to the Bible-based television broadcasting unit Sat-7. This station broadcasts biblical material to North Africa and the Middle East. It has an office in Cyprus and studios in Lebanon. Enquiries for the Scriptures will be answered via the national Bible Societies.
Strong focus
There is a strong focus upon young people in many of the O-21 programs: Liberia, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Netherlands, Ukraine, Thailand and Myanmar are just some of the countries where children and young people will benefit from the provision of more Scriptures. In many cases these are linked to church or school-run programs. In Cuba the plan is to provide Children’s Bibles for use in schools.
Olympic games
Special-focus projects such as Major Sports Events Partnership, with a view to this year’s Olympic Games to be held in Sydney, Australia, will also gain from the support of O-21.
“It is hard to grasp the scope of O-21 without spending time studying the many projects that it will affect both directly and indirectly. What we know already is that it has given Bible workers in many countries a real cause for encouragement, and hope that some of their dreams and goals can finally be made reality,” said Mr Jefferson. (WR 350/2 - 4/5.00) [PHOTOS]
Countdown
to World Assembly
By Pauline Hurst, UBS World Assembly Organiser
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Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses (Ecclesiastes 3:1) |
READING, England — The UBS World Assembly being held from October 10-4 in Midrand, South Africa, will be the fifth World Assembly since the UBS was founded in 1946.
A time for consultation
The five-day Assembly, which will be attended by national Bible Societies from all parts of the Fellowship, has four clear aims: