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Bible Day unites Christians to support Bible work
UKRAINE — “There
is a lot of potential to raise money locally for Bible work here,”
explains Anatoliy Raychynets, who is responsible for fundraising at
the Ukrainian Bible Society. “But there is a long way to go,”
he continues with a sigh. “We are still living with an unfortunate
legacy of Communist rule: the concept of giving money to those who are
less well off than yourself disappeared from our culture and is only
slowly returning.” Despite this cultural barrier, the Bible Society has made significant progress with fundraising over recent years. Its main fundraising activity is Bible Day, which takes place each autumn. “Our first Bible Day, in 2003, raised around US$3,000,” says Mr Raychynets. “We have raised more and more every year since then, and this year we’re aiming for US$40,000!” Homeless children Travelling to churches to secure their participation in Bible Day is an important part of his job. Last year, more than 2,000 churches took part, he tells a meeting of Church leaders at the Bible Society’s Southern Region offices in Kherson (see World Report 404/3). “Bible Day allows us to help specific groups,” he explains. “In 2003, the first year in which Bible Day was held, we raised money for Scriptures for orphans and homeless children. In 2004 we focused on visually impaired children, while last year we raised funds for large-print Scriptures for elderly people (see following two articles). We support these groups on behalf of all Ukrainian Christians.” As this year is the 20th anniversary of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, funds raised on Bible Day will be used to produce and distribute a Children’s Bible for victims of this disaster. This will be based on a Polish Children’s Bible which caught the eye of Bible Society staff at the Frankfurt Bookfair. Government figures indicate that there are around 45,000 children living in institutions who are suffering health problems caused by the Chernobyl explosion. Even if it does manage to reach its Bible Day fundraising target, though, the Bible Society will only be able to print 13,000 Children’s Bibles. Gain their trust “We have to realise that churches themselves suffer from a shortage of funds,” says Mr Raychynets after the meeting. “Our first request to them is always that they support us with prayer. Only then can we ask them for money. The Bible Society here is relatively young, so we have to focus at the moment on establishing our reputation among the churches and gaining their trust. Bible Day is the main way of achieving this. It will inevitably be a long process, but I’m confident that our efforts, including all our travelling to visit churches personally, will yield much fruit in the long term.” More involved
And he certainly has great plans for developing the Bible Society’s fundraising function. “We’d like to get more involved in fundraising among young people,” he explains. “Last year, for the first time, we held a Bible Day celebration at a youth service. The pastor told us not to expect very much money, but the result was actually very good. He was amazed! These are the sort of people the Bible Society is also targeting with its redesigned and expanded web site (see World Report 404/7). Contact details “We are also gradually building up a database of donor contact details,” he continues. “We already send out newsletters to our donors giving information about our projects, but we hope to use the contact details in a more targeted way in future, ensuring that donors receive information about the projects in which they are particularly interested. For the time being though, it is best for us to operate mainly through the churches.” His greatest dream is to reach a point where supporters of Bible work in Ukraine will begin donating funds for work in other countries, too. Support others “I believe that, in five years’ time, we will be able to support fundraising projects in other countries,” he declares. “This will probably be in collaboration with other grant-making Bible Societies. Some years ago, when our country was in need, we received a lot of outside help, including free Bibles. Now it’s time for us to start thinking about helping other countries.” For previous reports about Bible Day in Ukraine, see Latest
News 291 and World Report
383/18. |
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