Delegates Find Inspiration, Praise,
Challenge at World Assembly

MIDRAND, South Africa — Inspiring music, praise for the Bible Society movement from a world-renowned Christian activist, and challenges to expand Bible work were all part of the UBS World Assembly in Midrand, South Africa in October.

The Assembly opened on October 10 to the beating of African drums and a colourful parade of banners from dozens of Bible Societies all around the world. It closed on October 14 with a candlelit march through the Gallagher Estates conference centre.

In between, more than 360 delegates from 138 Bible Societies conducted what was called a ‘working’ Assembly, but they also experienced high spiritual moments, the flavour of South Africa and some challenges concerning, among other things, the ‘meaningful’ distribution of Scripture.

One of the highlights of the Assembly was undoubtedly the ‘South Africa Evening’ organised by the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA). The event, a fundraiser for BSSA, featured world-class African entertainment and an address by the former Archbishop of Cape Town, the Rt Rev Desmond Tutu.

The Archbishop commended the Bible Societies for working to take God’s Word to “God’s children everywhere”.

Recounting his own love for the Scriptures, he told the audience how God’s Word had sustained him and other South African Christians during the apartheid era.

“Over the last decade, we have published six billion Scriptures,” said Mr Jeffery. “That is one Scripture for every person alive today. But the reality is very different – there are whole swaths of people we have not touched with the Word.”

“The Word of God inspired us so wonderfully in our struggle against one of the most oppressive systems in the world,” he said. “During those dark days it assured us we were living in a moral universe and that freedom and justice would prevail.” Today’s South Africa, he said, was “a beacon of hope for the rest of the world.”

Entertainment for the special evening also included the Soweto String Quartet, the Imolonji Kantu Choir, a marimba band, and Christian singer Liz Pass.

Zimbabwe-born Ms Pass also led the music for the worship and business sessions and wrote the Assembly theme song, People of the Word.

“It has been wonderful to see people getting involved in the African-style worship and experiencing how Africans love to celebrate God,” she said. “It has also been fun to see so many people from different cultures embracing the ‘African-ness’ of some of the celebratory praise.”

But as well as being inspired, delegates also heard challenges.

A hard-hitting presentation by UBS Planning and Research Officer Jon Jeffery and UBS Communications Consultant Loida Ortiz highlighted the plight of unreached people groups in a rapidly changing world. They challenged Bible Societies to act on their compassion and share God’s Word with a wider audience in a more relevant way.

Six billion Scriptures

“Over the last decade, we have published six billion Scriptures,” said Mr Jeffery. “That is one Scripture for every person alive today. But the reality is very different – there are whole swaths of people we have not touched with the Word.”

Citing the example of the illiterate, child prostitutes and people with AIDS, Mr Jeffery said that Bible Societies need to follow the lead of Jesus, “going out among the people and telling them stories that speak to their fears, despair, and dreams.”

“Jesus did not sit in Bible House and hand out scrolls of the Law,” he said.

Ms Ortiz contended that one of the reasons Bible Societies have made only limited progress in implementing past resolutions to open the Word to new audiences is that the Fellowship has been “trying to put new wine in old wineskins”.

New wineskin

“For 20 years we have been saying what we should be doing, while continuing to do what we have been doing,” she declared. “My question today is, ‘Will Midrand 2000 be the new wineskin for the UBS?’” Ms Ortiz noted, for instance, that despite publishing Scripture in new media, Bible Societies still measure their effectiveness by the number of products distributed rather than by the number of people they impact.

Delegates were also exposed to challenges during a series of ‘Key Issue Sessions’. These explored themes such as meaningful Scripture distribution, ‘Many Members – One Body’, ‘What is an Effective Bible Society?’, new audiences, and holistic programs.

Some presentations incorporated video, music and drama to increase their impact. One, by Dr Mae Alice Reggy-Mamo and the Rev Pedro Arana, challenged delegates to expand their vision of Bible work through involvement with holistic programs.

Demons

Dr Reggy declared that Bible Societies should not become “social agencies” but should “work alongside social organisations to make Scriptures available” to those in most need of help.

Drawing a comparison with a biblical parable, she described illiteracy, hunger, unemployment, homelessness, poverty, and hopelessness as “demons” that oppress people in both developing and developed societies.

Examples of how the provision of Scriptures had helped alleviate social problems included the transformation of Cairo’s so-called ‘Garbage City,’ the liberation of sex slaves in Ghana, and the Bread of Life program for children in Peru.

In line with the ‘working’ nature of this Assembly, delegates formed Key Issue Dialogue Groups to discuss how the ideas presented could best be turned into reality. These, and the similar Working Groups which followed the Identity and Ethos and Governance Structures presentations, were given high marks by most participants.

The Rev Courtney Stewart, General Secretary of the Bible Society of the West Indies, commented, however, that while World Assembly declarations and decisions were important, “What is most important is how we return home and meet the needs of our people.”

Concern

His concern was also reflected in the Closing Celebration, when the Rev Fergus Macdonald, General Secretary of the UBS, challenged the Assembly with the question, “What do we need to become?”

“Our answer to this question,” he said, “should be determined by another question: ‘What does Jesus Christ want us to become?’”

In answering that question, the General Secretary told the delegates that people working for the Bible cause needed to become “followers” of Jesus, they needed to be “learners”, and, in all circumstances, they should be “optimists”.

In following Jesus, he noted, they should not pass judgement on churches of different traditions, and they should follow Christ’s lead in ministering to the poor. Both points, he noted, were emphasised in the new UBS Identity and Ethos Statement.

Learning, Mr Macdonald noted, is more akin to an apprenticeship than to scholarship – and he challenged delegates to learn how to be servants as well as leaders, to learn to accept others in spite of doctrinal differences, and to learn to overcome prejudices as they worked together.

Referring to the heavy financial constraints under which UBS is now functioning, the General Secretary called for optimism instead of pessimism. Opportunity 21, he said, had the potential “to lift the whole UBS program to a new level and to generate subsequent similar programs” to sustain the new level.

Resource

But ultimately, he said, “Our greatest resource is not the funds donated by Bible Societies to UBS programs, vitally important as these are. It is not even the skilled staff in the national Bible Societies or the UBS, dedicated as they are. The most important resource is the Word itself.

 

“Our greatest resource is not the funds donated by Bible Societies to UBS programs, vitally important as these are. It is not even the skilled staff in the national Bible Societies or the UBS, dedicated as they are. The most important resource is the Word itself”

“Jesus is ahead of us and beckons us, saying, ‘Come and see!’ Are we willing to respond? At the close of this World Assembly, I am more convinced than ever that God’s Word is light for the world! And that the darkness will never put out that light.”

Following those stirring words, delegates symbolically carried that light out into the clear African night, a parade of candles illuminating the manicured streets and gardens of the conference centre, and stirring their hearts with the thought of the mission ahead. (WR 356/2 - 12.00) [PHOTOS] e-117

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