The following news concerns Indonesia, SAT-7 television station, Turkey & Kenya.
(Views expressed in the following material are not necessarily those of the United Bible Societies)
INDONESIA: The Bible Society of Indonesia has
responded to the country’s recent crises
by distributing Scriptures to victims of natural disasters, social upheaval
and political conflict.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: The partnership between
the UBS and satellite television company SAT-7 is set to present the Scriptures
to a whole new audience in the Middle East and North Africa as part of the UBS
global funding effort Opportunity 21.
TURKEY: The Bible Society in Turkey has answered an appeal for Bibles from theology students in the region devastated by last year’s earthquakes.
KENYA: The first publication of a Gospel in Lukakamega/Lutuiriki was greeted with singing and dancing by people in western Kenya.
JAKARTA, Indonesia; June 2000 — The Indonesian Bible Society (LAI) knows from experience that Scriptures of peace and hope can have a marked impact on victims of crisis. So it has responded to a recent series of crises across the archipelago by distributing more than 3,000 Bibles, Gospel Portions, and Bible Comics to victims of the recent disasters and troubles.
These include the intense flooding in Besikama, in the Belu regency of West Timor, where more than 10,000 people were made homeless by the rapid rise of the rivers. At least 160 people died. In the Luwuk Banggai region of Sulawesi many people suffered from the effects of a devastating earthquake and a following tidal wave that caused more destruction in May.
Social conflict in the Moluccas, in Poso, northern Sulawesi, and other regions where the churches have suffered and where Christians have been made homeless, has brought about a generous response from LAI. More than 1,000 Bibles were distributed in the conflict areas of the Moluccas through the LAI Manado branch earlier this year.
Again LAI’s resources will be tested to continue supplying victims of both natural disasters and social violence. An earthquake in Sumatra hit the port city of Bengkulu on June 4 causing widespread damage. The quake, which was felt in Singapore, killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500. Some 50 aftershocks were recorded and a tsunami (tidal wave) was anticipated but did not materialise. Following a quake in 1992 a tsunami killed 2,500 people on Flores, a southeastern island of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the government was taking a strong stance against the most recent declaration of independence from West Papua (Irian Jaya), stating that the congress which issued the declaration on June 5 and appealed for worldwide support did not represent the majority of the people. Hundreds of people had begun to flee the capital, Jayapura, anticipating an outbreak of violence. Violence and social unrest continue in the Moluccas and worries of unrest abound in other parts of the archipelago.
“The political turmoil and social conflict in Indonesia have not affected the work of LAI,” said Dr Supardan, the LAI General Secretary. He noted that LAI would continue to respond to people who had become victims of violence and disasters as resources permitted, either by replacing their lost Bibles or by bringing them hope through Scripture Portions.
“The children in the West Timor refugee camps were heartened when they received the colourful Bible Comics,” said one observer who had been part of a recent distribution. “I believe these distributions do have a very practical help in raising their spirits. They make them aware that people care about them.” (435 words - INDONESI.7.6.00)
NICOSIA, Cyprus; May 2000 — The partnership between the UBS and satellite television company SAT-7 is set to present the Scriptures to a whole new audience in the Middle East and North Africa.
Under a program called Audio-Visual Scriptures for the Arab World, the UBS is working with Christian broadcaster SAT-7 to develop video material suitable for an Arab audience. The program is part of Opportunity 21 (O-21), a three-year drive by UBS to reach a larger global audience with the Gospel.
SAT-7 was set up in 1995 with the aim of strengthening the Church in Arab countries. In much of the region fewer than five per cent of the population are Christians.
In April SAT-7 began broadcasting daily, a move which increased its need for high quality Christian programmes. When funds allow, the channel aims to extend its transmissions to 24 hours a day.
According to Nadim Costa, SAT-7 Country Director for Lebanon, children form the most important section of the channel’s audience.
“If they are happy with a programme, they’ll talk about it and eventually the whole family will sit down and watch… You capture the children’s attention and you capture the family.”
Included in the broadcast and distribution programs planned under the terms of the SAT-7 partnership with UBS are the highly-acclaimed series Storykeepers and Testament: the Bible in Animation.
Storykeepers is an animated series for children which retells the main incidents of the life of Jesus in the context of an adventure story set in Rome in AD64. The 13 films were originally commissioned by Independent Television in the UK where they are now being shown for the fourth time.
So far the series has been sold in 105 countries and translated into 36 languages. The Bible Society of Egypt has been distributing a dubbed version of the series for more than two years. The Testament series, combining the skills of animators in Wales and Russia, was made by S4C Films and shown on BBC television in 1996 to great acclaim.
A 90-minute drama called The Prodigal Son, made in Egypt, drew a favourable
response when it was broadcast on SAT-7. The O-21 funding will provide for further
broadcasts and for its distribution on video cassettes.
Also included in forthcoming schedules will be new programmes for young people
and other programmes tackling social issues such as AIDS and attitudes to disabled
people which are seldom covered on television in the region.
Television is the primary source of information and entertainment in the Arab world. Offering the prospect of uncensored broadcasts from overseas, satellite receivers found a large ready market in the Middle East from the end of the 1980s - particularly in countries such as Morocco and Algeria where there is no free press. While literacy rates are low, televisions are found in the homes of more than 95 per cent of the Arab population.
SAT-7 broadcasts on two satellites to ensure coverage of the entire Middle East, North Africa and much of Europe, where there are many Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. (539 words - SAT7.6.6.2000)
A photograph is available to view on the UBS Intranet and can be ordered from the World Service Center.
ISTANBUL, Turkey; May 2000 — Theology students at a university in the north west region of Turkey devastated by earthquakes last year have received new Bibles to help them continue their studies - thanks to the Bible Society in Turkey.
“In the first week of April we got a telephone call from the acting dean of the Theology Faculty of Kocaeli University in Izmit,” said the Executive Secretary of the Society, Ameniel Bagdas. “He told me he had 300 students, most of whom had suffered losses in the earthquakes last August and November, who urgently needed Bibles. Could we supply them quickly?”
The dean was concerned about how much the Bible Society would charge for the Bibles, because the students were all very poor.
“I asked him how much they could afford,” continued Mr Bagdas. “His answer was 500,000 lire (a little less than US $1.00). When I told him that it was the aim of the UBS to provide people with the Word of God at a price they could afford he was very happy and asked me to send them as soon as possible. Two days later we sent him 300 Bibles.”
Mr Bagdas was also the co-ordinator of a committee of church leaders organising relief for the thousands of earthquake victims living in camps. The committee aimed initially to meet the practical needs of 1,000 people for three months by providing them with tents, food and medicines.
“In the end we helped around 7,000 people,” said Mr Bagdas. The list of supplies included more than 1,716 tents suitable for winter conditions. The tents, designed to sleep four people, came with mattresses, pillows, sheets, blankets and pallets to keep the beds off the wet ground. Stoves and winter clothes were among the other supplies distributed to the people made homeless.
The churches also supplied universities with large tents and computers to enable them to continue holding classes. In addition they helped villages to sink new water wells, bought pipes to give water to a town of 7,000 residents and helped in a co-operative project to build a school.
The mission organisations involved in the relief work held their meetings in the Bible Society offices where they agreed that the terms of their work did not extend to offering people Scriptures or Christian literature.
“As Bible Society Executive Secretary I thought it best to show Christ’s love through our action,” said Mr Bagdas. “Families living in the tents which we supplied said to us, ‘We wish everybody would help us, visit us and sympathise with us the way you do.’ We told them, ‘You should be thankful to God for using us to help you.’” (435 words - TURKEY.5.6.2000)
NAIROBI, Kenya; May, 2000 — One more language group in Kenya can now read the Gospel in their own tongue. The Gospel of Mark, the first Portion of Scripture ever published in Lukakamega/Lutiriki, was launched in March in Kakamega District of western Kenya.
The Word of God arrived at the Roman Catholic church chosen for the dedication in style. Walking in front of the band of the Salvation Army, a group of men and women led a long procession through the streets, holding high copies of the new Portion. Business in the nearby market came to a halt as people left their buying and selling to find out the cause of the excitement.
When the procession arrived at the church compound, any restraint people had shown was put aside as their excitement poured out in singing and dancing. The Word of God had indeed arrived among the Abakakamega and Batiriki.
One of the problems which had arisen during the project was what to call the Portion - and ultimately the Bible. After some research, it was given the name Lukakamega/Lutiriki. Lukakamega includes Isukha- and Idakho-speakers.
The tribal chief of the area, the local member of parliament, as well as the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Kenya, Rev Henry Kathii, were unanimous in urging people to read the Gospel, now that they had it their own language, and to support Bible work.
Mr Kathii, said he felt the development of primers and New Reader Portions in the Isukha, Idakho and Tiriki languages, which are all closely-related, was a priority and he asked people to pursue this idea with the relevant government authorities.
The UBS Translation Consultant for the project, Dr Mikre-Sellassie, pronounced himself delighted by the publication and launch. He symbolically presented the Portion to Mr Kathii, who in turn presented it to the Chairman of the Bible Society of Kenya, the Rev Micah Amukobole. Finally, Mr Amukobole presented it to one church leader, representing the various denominations. Then all the church leaders gathered around the table where the Portions had been placed and dedicated them to God. Each held the Portion high and prayed that God would use it for his glory.
After hymns had been sung the congregation hushed to hear the first ever public reading from the Scripture in their language: Mark 10: 35-45.
In the sermon which he gave afterwards, Mr Amukobole declared, “Now we have a book to read!” Emphasising the need of people to hear God speak in their own language, he added that merely to hear it was not enough: they also had to obey it.
When the formalities had drawn to a close, there was a commotion as people rushed to buy copies of the new book. Children crowded around a single copy excitedly trying to read Scripture in their own language for the first time.
“This is a milestone in the development of our relationship with God,” said one church leader. “We shall never be the same again.”
Yet even amid the jubilation surrounding the publication of the Portion, the
thoughts of some people were already turning to the rest of the work.
“May God help in the translation of the remaining part of the Bible,”
one voice was heard to pray. (533 words - NAIROBI.4.5.2000)
A photograph is available to view on the UBS Intranet and can be ordered from the World Service Center.
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