Azerbaijan Soldier ‘Can’t Live Without the Bible’
New Bible Center Opens in Beirut (Lebanon)
Jesus Video Draws Crowds at Cairo Book Fair (Egypt)
Breaking the Ice in Northern Iraq
When God Lends a Hand (Kazakhstan)
Refugees Caught Between Two Continents (Ceuta)

Spain: News in Brief

Arabic Bible Seen as ‘Bestseller’ (Egypt)

Rufat Gadjiverdiyev relied wholeheartedly on his book containing the New Testament and Psalms, and when it was taken away he felt lost. He waited for it to be returned, but “nothing happened,” he recalled.

“One morning,” Rufat explained, “I was watching the commander’s window on the second floor, thinking about finding a way to get my book back. When he left his house I was under his balcony, and a little boy passed by.”

Rufat told the boy to go to the commander’s wife and say that her husband had sent the soldier downstairs and she was to return his book. She believed the boy and sent the New Testament down with him.

“I realised I would not go far on lies, and it is not right to deceive,” he explained. While he was thinking this through, the commander’s wife called him from the balcony.

“I decided to confess and went up, gave the book back and said, ‘I am a Christian, I can’t live without this book. I cheated. Your husband does not know that I came to you.’”

He went on to ask the woman to speak with her husband on his behalf. She did, and the next morning she called him back, with a surprising request. “I have spoken to my husband, and he will return it to you. But, can I read it first?”

Rufat told her that at the end of the book was a prayer, adding, “You can open your heart to him and receive Christ as your Saviour.”

The woman explained that she had prayed already but was not sure if God had accepted her. “Yes of course He came into your life,” Rufat assured her. “Now with Jesus you have eternal life.

The Center was formally opened by UBS General Secretary the Rev Fergus Macdonald and Tom Hoglind, Director of Distribution for the Bible Society in Lebanon (BSL).

The service was held in the Center’s large basement warehouse, which will hold Bibles and other materials that will serve the entire Middle East.

The Rev Macdonald read from the Book of Revelation: ‘“The voice said, “Write in a book what you see. Then send it to the churches…” “This,” he commented, “is the mission of the Bible Society – to take the Word of God to churches in all parts of the world.”

Greetings were received from representatives of the many Christian communities in the Middle East, including Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, representing the Roman Catholic Church, and His Grace Zareh Aznavourian, representing the Orthodox Church.

One distinguished participant in the service was Dr Siegfried Meurer, former General Secretary of the German Bible Society. BSL General Secretary Rev Lucien Accad thanked Dr Meurer for challenging him to build the new Center in 1988 and for the many ways in which he had supported the project. At the end of the service Rev Accad encouraged everyone to take part in the ongoing work of the Bible Society.

Participants later swam in the Mediterranean before mounting bicycles to ride to the Center in time for the inauguration service. (WR 342/18 - 7/8.99) [PHOTOS]

“Whenever you saw a crowd of people around one of the Christian stands, the chances were that the Jesus film was being shown, and it had probably reached the crucifixion scene,” said Ramez Atallah, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Egypt (BSE). This was despite the fact that this is the fourth year running that the BSE has made the film available on video at the book fair.

Hardly expecting to match the record distribution figures from last year’s book fair, Mr Atallah was overjoyed that the number of products sold, and their value, was very close to the previous year’s record.

“With some products, such as audio-cassette distribution, we bettered last year’s figures,” he said. In one month, 351,444 audio cassettes were distributed, which was 30 per cent more than the previous year and more than the year’s total for 1997. This was despite a downturn in Egypt’s economy.

“There is a real thirst for the Scriptures, for spiritual answers,” Mr Atallah said. “And it is this thirst we want to quench in a big way for the millennium. I have a dream to distribute one million packages containing a Jesus video, a children’s Bible video, two audio cassette tapes, a specially-designed Gospel of Luke, and some Bible Selections.

“What an opportunity we have to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and not just at the book fair, but throughout the year 2000. We are currently working on the right combination of products to include in the package, and we hope to involve suppliers in sharing some of the cost. But we still need to raise US $1.5 million to cover the costs of these packages. That is a phenomenal amount of money which would be in addition to our regular budget,” Mr Atallah said.

But there is something about the Jesus video that people find hard to resist. Even those who disagree with it feel drawn to watch it.

“It is very moving to see people from a variety of backgrounds with tears in their eyes as they watch this touching moment in the film,” said Mr Atallah. One man bought a copy of the Jesus video but refused the free copy of the New Testament offered him. The following day he returned. He had watched the film and now wanted the New Testament.

Another woman could not stop asking all sorts of questions as the video progressed: “Who was this man? Why did he choose 12 disciples? What was the little girl’s sickness?” She insisted on watching the video right through to the end, testing the patience of the staff who tried to answer all her questions as best they could while seeing to the other customers. Finally the lady accepted the offer of the Portion Life of Jesus and left.

Mr Atallah’s daughter was in a taxi and got into conversation with the driver. He told her that he had bought a copy of the Jesus video at the Cairo book fair because he had heard so much about it. He did not have a video player, but on discovering that the young lady’s father was the leader of the BSE, he asked her to convey a message: “Tell your dad that I intend to buy a video player so that I can watch the video,” he said.

“We are pleased with the success we have had both at the Cairo book fair and in our bookshops which have offered the Scriptures at a specially reduced rate during this period,” said Mr Atallah. “But now our thoughts are focusing on the millennium book fair. We want to make a real impact and focus people’s attention on Jesus being the reason for the millennium celebrations.

“All the staff testified to the fact that there was a great difference at this year’s book fair: a remarkably relaxed and open spiritual climate, which also extended to our bookshops around the country.

“We feel we must take advantage of the opportunity, the openness to God’s Word, to reach as many people as possible with the Bible’s message throughout the course of the year 2000.

“We cherish the prayers of the UBS fellowship as we look forward to what will be our greatest Scripture distribution task,” Mr Atallah concluded. (WR 342/19 - 7/8.99) [PHOTOS]

First, permission had to be obtained to enter northern Iraq through the port of Mersin in Turkey, which is a free zone for the importing of goods. Then permission to travel in the north of Iraq was sought from Mesut Bazani, one of the Kurdish leaders. His representative in Ankara, Sefin Dizayi, was contacted and the necessary permission was obtained. This proved very important in the event and facilitated the Bible Society team’s movements in Iraq.

Everything was now looking positive. The lorry was loaded with 24,000 New Testaments, 4,000 Bibles and 48,000 Portions, Jesus is the Messiah, and the journey to the Iraqi border was without major incident. In fact, the team was well on the way, travelling in western Iraq, when Kurdish officials stopped the truck. There was some questioning, some explanation, and then the officials confiscated the lorry and all its contents.

Behnan visited several church leaders: Chaldean, Assyrian, Roman Catholic and Protestant. There was some hesitation on behalf of the Chaldean and Assyrian church leaders: the Bible Society has traditionally been perceived as a Protestant organisation, and it took some time to explain that the Bible Society aims to serve all the churches with the Scriptures they use.

Finally the church leaders were happy to accept the Scriptures the team offered them: New Testaments and Bibles in Arabic, and Portions about Jesus. The churches asked for 500 Bibles, 1,000 New Testaments and 2,000 Portions, which they said they could distribute to their church congregations.

The other member of the team, Abdullah Kiran, the Kurdish translator of the Kurmangy New Testament, met the head of the Kurdish Writers’ Association in northern Iraq. He learnt that there are 800 members of the association in northern Iraq and that they prefer to use the Latin script rather than the Arabic one.

The Kurdish people in northern Iraq have no problem in reading and writing Kurmangy. But economically the people are very poor, leading a simple farming life. They were pleased to welcome the Bible Society staff and took care of them. There is a great respect for Christianity and many people are open to the Word of God.

Five members of the northern Iraqi parliament, which has 50 members, are Christians. Another fact is that the different Christian churches get along together very well with each other. So once the ice had been broken, and the churches realised that the Bible Society team was there to serve them all as best possible, word spread very quickly. The next time it is possible to organise a Scripture shipment to northern Iraq, there is likely to be an enthusiastic welcome, which bodes well for future Bible work in the area. (WR 342/20 - 7/8.99)

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Martha just could not believe her eyes. She had brought only 30 copies of the English-Russian Bible and 30 Children’s Christian books, but around the tables were at least 200 people and everyone was holding a new Bible in the air, thanking her and her husband Ross for the gifts. Where had the other Scriptures come from? And on such an occasion! Which was the greater miracle, she wondered?

Ross and Martha King are two business people who set up in Kazakhstan some time ago to teach business principles in a former communist country. They also help a thriving church that has not long been planted. These two Texan Baptists have won many friends through their openness and obvious love for people. They run Bible study sessions, and aim to give out as many Bibles as they can in a meaningful way.

So when the Kings were invited to a traditional Kazakh wedding last year, they were not at a loss to think of a present they could offer. Martha put 30 copies of the Bible and 30 pieces of Christian literature for children and adults into a canvas bag. At an appropriate time during the course of the festivities she began to hand out the books suitable for children. Very soon there was a crowd of eager children around her. Then the adults began to be interested and asked for the books.

Finally, when the grandfather of the clan stood to make the customary toast to the bride and groom, he proudly held up a Bible. And so did 200 others – men, women and children – all waving the Bibles and books they had received from Martha King’s canvas bag.

 “You can believe it or not, but I only had 30 copies of each when I left our apartment,” said Martha King. “But as long as people came wanting a book, there was something there for them: the sets did not run out. Finally, when they did run out, no-one else asked me for one.” (WR 342/21 - 7/8.99)

CALAMO REFUGEE CAMP, Ceuta — As we descended by means of a very steep winding road, we caught glimpses of the young black people who watched our descent. Each time we saw them there were more young boys and girls watching us.

We spoke with the refugees in French and English, each one from a different country. They were fed and clothed but their faces were blank.

Soon we heard singing and as we drew near we could hear their voices. “We are Christians,” they said. “I am Catholic”, “I’m a Baptist”, “I’m a Methodist”. Then, “Do any of you have a Bible?”

The question surprised us – we did not think we would need to take Bibles, as we were only visiting the Bible House in Ceuta. However, when a Belgian colleague gave his French Bible to one of the young people, the others crowded around it. “We would also like one; can you give us more?”

Our director, José Luis Andavert, assured them that our staff in Ceuta would visit them, bringing French and English Bibles as they requested. We were overcome with emotion at seeing so many young people caught between one world which is impossible and another which is inaccessible.

Once again it was clear that in these refugee camps the Word of God could be an effective weapon against the depression and vacuum caused by an uncertain future. We have already distributed New Testaments: 500 in English and 80 in French. In this same place, some days later, there were several baptisms. A church has been born.

Among the refugees there are three African missionaries – Jorge Ohanhen, Kingsley Ohanhene and Davis Albert – who are responsible for the distribution. The problem facing us is that there is a constant flow of new men, women and children, and although some leave, we were told that some 200 people would enter the camp within a very few days. We would like to be able to attend to their need for Scriptures but we haven’t got the funds and we’re running out of Scriptures. We need help to be able to fulfil the need for Scriptures in French and English. (WR 342/22 - 7/8.99) [PHOTOS]

Sales of the top-of-the-line luxury edition of the New Van Dyck (NVD) Arabic Bible (advertised as the “full-option” Bible) have surpassed the most optimistic predictions of the BSE sales staff. In the past the rate of sales of luxury editions as compared to the standard hardback was 1 to 10. In this case the rate to date is a remarkable 6 to 10!

1.  full voweling (Arabic desktop computer systems that support full voweling are extremely rare)
2.  paragraph headings
3.  full punctuation
4.  a 3000-word glossary of antiquated words
5.  a complete harmony of the Gospels
6.  16 new easy-to-read maps
7.  a table of weights and measures
8.  a guide to Bible passages which respond to reader’s emotional stress.

The beautifully produced two-column Bible comes in a standard hardback edition and a wide variety of luxury gilt-edge, zippered and thumb indexed editions.

Mr Atallah concluded that in a “paradigm shift” for Bible Societies in developing countries this Bible is being marketed at commercial prices. The standard hardback retails for $14 and the “full-option” Bible sells for $56, a price worthy of its name.

(WR 342/23 - 7/8.99)