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BANGALORE, India — The Bible Society of India (BSI) is planning massive Scripture production and distribution projects to see in the year 2000. With the population set to reach 1 billion by next year, the need to spread the Word of God is increasing. Ten million copies of Welcome 2000 Selections will be printed and distributed, along with 500,000 New Testaments in 16 major Indian languages. In addition, 35,000 New Testaments will be published in tribal languages for the first time. To reach those who cannot read, audio and video Scriptures are also in production. (WR 346/4 - 12.99)
HONG KONG — The Hong Kong Bible Society (HKBS) is expecting many thousands of visitors to a millennium exhibition it is planning to hold next year, in partnership with Studium Biblicum OFM, entitled ‘Bible 2000’. The exhibition will display a host of historical manuscripts and other objects associated with 2,000 years of reproducing, translating, and publishing the Bible. The exhibits range from priceless treasures owned by the Vatican, to Bibles which believers in China copied out by hand during the Cultural Revolution. The budget for ‘Bible 2000’ is (US$100,000).
HKBS collaborated with Studium Biblicum OFM on a Bible exhibition held in Hong Kong’s City Hall in 1965, and this aroused great interest. “That proved to be a successful experience in co-operation with the Roman Catholics in the spreading of God’s Word,” said HKBS Associate General Secretary Eunice Poon. “We pray that the ‘Bible 2000’ exhibition will also be successful.” The exhibition will run from November 2-5. (WR 346/5 - 12.99)
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The Bible Society of Tanzania (BST) is focusing on the longterm and aims to take the Word of God well into the 21st century and beyond. Seventy-five thousand youth-edition Swahili Bibles are being printed by the BST and will be distributed to schools over the next two years. The goal of the project is the spiritual growth and well-being of the country's young people, not only for today, but for the rest of their lives. A special millennium Pulpit Bible, due to be printed by the BST, will be at the centre of church celebrations to re-dedicate the Bible as the foundation of the church. The BST is printing a Protestant and a Roman Catholic version. (WR 346/6 - 12.99)
“As
the new millennium begins, we want all fellow Christians to come
together to express our love, gratitude and thanksgiving to God for his Word.”
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The millennium will receive a warm welcome in Sri Lanka – the Ceylon Bible Society (CBS) is hosting a special service on January 1 which will include a 400-voice choir singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. Christians of all denominations are invited to the service, to be held at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. The service will be jointly led by denominational leaders. The choir will be accompanied by the Army brass band and symphony orchestra. Those attending the service will also be able to participate in singing a new millennium hymn written by Hillary Jolly, a church cleaner in England. It is hoped that the event will be televised live. “As the new millennium begins, we want all fellow Christians to come together to express our love, gratitude and thanksgiving to God for his Word,” said Elmo Wijesinghe, CBS General Secretary. (WR 346/7 - 12.99)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The Bible Society in New Zealand (BSNZ) starts two advertising campaigns this month, one designed to encourage lapsed readers to pick the Bible up again, the other giving information about the Society's work to actual and potential donors.
Each of the advertisements in the first campaign features a question or statement designed to challenge people to rediscover the Bible. They include ‘If God wrote a book would you read it?’, ‘Over a hundred thousand weeks on the bestseller list’ and ‘Well into the journey? Perhaps it’s time to read the Guide Book’. Underneath the headline, each advertisement has an illustration of the Bible and a Bible Society logo.
Some of the ideas are borrowed from advertisements which other Bible Societies, in particular the Canadian Bible Society, have run in the past. The rest were devised by BSNZ. The campaign is appearing in the Religious Notices column of New Zealand’s secular newspapers, where churches advertise their Sunday services
“These ads are aimed at lapsed Bible readers who have at least a passing interest in Christian things,” said Errol Pike, Marketing and Resources Manager with the BSNZ. “There is a curiosity factor among some non-churchgoers that has them checking out the church services notices occasionally, and we are hoping that these ads will attract their attention too.”
The second campaign is appearing in the Christian press and consists of facts about Bible work in New Zealand and worldwide. It presents statistics about Bible translation projects and Scripture distribution and specifically mentions New Reader Scriptures and the Faith Comes By Hearing program. Each advertisement ends with a toll-free phone number.
“These ads specifically promote Bible work and the Bible Society by telling potential donors some of the good things we are doing,” said Mr Pike. Both campaigns consist of eight advertisements which will appear at the rate of one per month from now until July. Mr Pike added that the timing had two aims. “They are to bring people's attention to the reason for the millennium and to build up awareness of the Bible towards our national Bible Sunday in July,” he explained. (WR 346/8 - 12.99)
CAIRO, Egypt — The Bible Society of Egypt (BSE) is planning a special millennium package of Scripture products called ‘Messiah 2000’ in readiness for the 2000 Bookfair in Cairo and for the extra tourists expected to visit the country’s Christian sites next year. The General Secretary of the BSE, Ramez Atallah, says it is his “wild dream” to distribute one million of the packages during the year 2000.
Encouragement for his vision has come from the fact that the Egyptian government has undertaken an extensive advertising campaign to attract tourists, emphasisng the fact that Jesus visited Egypt when he was a child. Uniquely, too, Christians are being allowed and encouraged to restore the many churches and monasteries built on sites associated with the holy family.
The BSE package will include the Jesus film, a New Testament, a children’s cartoon Bible video (or a children’s book about the life of Jesus), cassette tapes, a specially-designed Gospel of Luke and some other Bible Selections. Because it is being offered at a very low price, the BSE is seeking to raise a large amount of money, in addition to its normal budget, to subsidise it.Production of the packages is already under way and the BSE has obtained an additional warehouse in which to store them. (WR 346/9 - 12.99)