Latest News SummariesSummaries of stories which have been e-mailed in the Latest News series since the publication of World Report 384:
IRAQ
— In Baghdad, where bomb attacks happen nearly every week, 100
invited guests gathered on a cloudy January day to celebrate the launch
of a Children’s Bible in modern Syriac. Some had taken a long time
to get to the venue – a building near the city centre – because
so many roads have been closed due to security problems. Set against
the backdrop of Iraq’s troubles, the January 13 launch of the new
Scripture, which is adapted from the popular Children’s Bible
in 365 Stories by Lion Publishing in the UK, was a joyful occasion
for the Assyrian Christian community. It was also a milestone in the
development of the modern Syriac language. e-272
February 26, 2004 (WR 385/25 - 4/5.04) MYANMAR
— When the Karen Baptist Church and the Bible
Society of Myanmar were planning the dedication of the newly-published
Common Language Sgaw Karen Bible, they knew that many people would want
to attend. So, on a football field at the Ko Tha Byu Baptist Seminary,
they built a large temporary bamboo chapel that would provide shelter
and seating for 4,000. But at dawn on January 4, more than 6,000 brightly
dressed, eager people arrived at the chapel, soon filling it to capacity
and spilling out onto the field. As the sun rose and the heat intensified,
many took shelter under trees. A large number of them had travelled
long distances to be there, some from as far afield as Thailand. For
the Sgaw Karen people, the long-awaited publication of this Bible was
a proud and significant moment in their 175 years of history as a Christian
community. e-271 February
13, 2004 (WR 385/26 - 4/5.04) |
