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Bible work in Lebanon: ‘We do everything!’ LEBANON —
“Things are changing very rapidly in our country,” says Mike
Bassous, General Secretary of the Bible Society
in Lebanon. As the Lebanese people adapt to a new political climate
following the withdrawal of Syrian troops, so the Bible Society is also
constantly developing new programs to meet the spiritual needs of a
diverse population.
“We are a medium-sized Bible Society but we do everything,” continues Mr Bassous. “We publish in Arabic, English, French and Armenian, we do a lot of distribution, we do fundraising, and lately we’ve been very much involved in Bible encounter and engagement.” The Society’s flagship Bible engagement project in recent years has been the interactive, multimedia Scripture experience Bible World. Since it opened in November 2002, this facility has been visited by around 12,000 children aged between eight and 14 (see World Report 391/22). Indeed, the original Arabic Bible World has been so popular that the Society is now planning an Armenian version to serve the needs of the approximately six per cent of the population who speak Armenian. But the Society also wanted to be able to reach a slightly older audience, Mr Bassous explains, so in January it opened the Books for Life Christian Resource Center (see Latest News #299). Public libraries hardly exist in Lebanon, so at first many people were rather suspicious about this “public library for young people with Christian books”, Mr Bassous recalls. “They wanted to know what was in it for us! We explained that we want to encourage people to read Christian books and come closer to the Word of God.” In its strategic location in the busy Abraj retail and entertainment complex in central Beirut and close to several universities, the Center has already begun to attract a steady stream of young people who, their initial suspicions set aside, are now pleased to have access to a quiet place for reading, studying, chatting and using the Internet. Keen to take Bible engagement beyond the printed word, another project which the Bible Society is developing is the dubbing of most of the acquired broadcasts from SAT-7, the not-for-profit organisation which broadcasts God’s Word to mainly Arab satellite television viewers in the Middle East and North Africa. “We have studio facilities in our building,” says Mr Bassous, “so we can do dubbing, subtitling and some picture editing. We cooperate closely with SAT-7: we have already finished dubbing The Miracle Maker into Arabic and we are now the main distributor for this film. “Lebanon is a tiny country, but it is the only Arabic-speaking country in the Middle East which has a strong Christian presence and identity. This means that our programs are never just for Lebanon: they have an impact on the Christians in neighbouring countries too.” (WR 396/6 - 09/10.05) [5 photos] |
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