Hosanna’s BibleStick audio Scriptures player
[photo: UBS/Mary Frank WR413/ 15 USA07DJ-16]
USA — Recent research shows that, while many Americans are actively seeking spiritual information, only a small percentage of Christians read the Bible every day. Indeed, 65 per cent of adult Bible readers have never completed the New Testament. Many Christians claim that lack of time is the main reason why they do not read the Bible more regularly. This is the background against which Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing has launched a new program designed to encourage people to make listening to the Bible part of their daily routine. And as another element in its ‘toolkit’ for promoting Bible listening, it is also offering a new product based on the latest digital technology.
The You’ve Got the Time program combines two elements: bringing Bible listening into the heart of people’s daily lives and raising funds for audio New Testament recordings and listening programs in parts of the world where people do not have access to printed Scriptures. In what the organisation is calling “a brand-new way to partner with the American church,” each member of participating churches receives a free audio Scripture on MP3 CD. Guided by a series of sermons, the church members embark upon their own Bible listening program, covering the entire New Testament in 40 days by listening for just 28 minutes each day while they go about their daily tasks, especially those that involve spending time in the car (Americans spend, on average, two and a half hours in the car each day). With this structured and convenient approach, “Anyone can take the time to know God’s Word personally!” says Hosanna/FCBH.
Other countries
While the program is running, the participating churches also collect funds for Scripture listening programs in other countries. Each family represented in the congregation is set a fundraising target and each church is challenged to donate enough money to the Global Scripture Fund run by the American Bible Society (a partner of Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing) to fund the recording of at least one book of the New Testament. Some 40 per cent of Americans born between 1984 and 2002 own a mobile music player such as an iPod. Tapping into this trend for ‘listening on the move’, Hosanna/ FCBH has launched the BibleStick, a compact MP3 player which is pre-recorded with the New Testament in either English (six different dramatised and non-dramatised Bible versions) or Spanish (three different versions). As with the You’ve Got the Time program, the BibleStick is designed to encourage people to listen to the entire New Testament in 40 days as part of their daily life. And for children there is the Kidz Bible, an MP3 player pre-recorded with primary Old and New Testament stories.
(WR 413/15 - 07.07) [2 photos]