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Bible News in Brief

l PAKISTAN — Christians in Pakistan planned to take a special train on a journey of more than 1,000-miles in December, stopping to preach, pray and distribute literature at major stations along the way. Some 500 Christians were due on board the ‘Peace Train’, with banners proclaiming Jesus on the sides, to travel all the way from the city of Peshawar, in the North West Frontier Province, to Karachi in the south. Their five-day journey was a daring and potentially dangerous undertaking in a country where Muslim fanatics have a record of violent opposition to proclamation of the Gospel. The passengers planned to spend much of their travelling time praising God, singing and praying for the country. At every major station they planned to hold a rally where they would preach and distribute Portions of Scripture published by the Bible Society of India. (WR 348/IB1 - 02.00)

l NEW ZEALAND — In the 12 months to the end of last October the Bible Society in New Zealand increased its distribution of copies of the New Testament by 101 per cent. They distributed 45,083 copies, compared with 22,362 during the previous year. The figures for complete Bibles also showed a 16 per cent increase. The Society’s Scripture Distribution Manager, John Jennings, said there were good reasons for the improved performance. “Our best-selling version of the Bible, the Contemporary English Version, is user-friendly, and easily accessible to the pre-Christian,” he said. “Secondly, we are offering it in formats that are both attractive and targeted.” He added that the discounted prices at which Christians involved in evangelism could buy the Bibles in bulk was a third factor in their popularity. (WR 348/IB2 - 02.00)
 

Bible People in the News

l UNITED STATES — Dr Louis Dorn, who worked for as a UBS Translation Adviser and Editor of translation handbooks for a total of 21 years, retired in November. Speaking of his contribution, UBS Translation Services Co-ordinator Basil Rebera said that Dr Dorn’s work reached into “every corner of the earth where Scripture translation was done”. A biblical scholar specialising in the Old Testament, in the 1950s Dr Dorn served as a missionary in the Philippines. Knowing that Philippine Bible Society was working on a new translation of the Bible, he adopted the habit of telephoning its translators with questions. Eventually, he jokes, they got so tired of his calls that they suggested he join the translation committee. Eventually he was appointed a Translation Adviser and from 1978 he was based in the offices of the American Bible Society (ABS) in New York City. At a party held there in October to mark his retirement, UBS and ABS staff members expressed their love and affection for him. When called on to speak, he spoke of Jesus on the cross being “the starting point of all our work together”. In conclusion, he said simply, “To God be the glory”. (WR 348/IB3 - 02.00) [PHOTOS]

l FRANCE — The French Gypsy pioneer Bible translator Matéo Maximoff died in Paris in November at the age of 82. In addition to his Bible translation work, he was the author of 14 novels and other books, almost all of them about the life and history of the Romany people. He translated the entire Bible from French into Kalderash (a Romany language). The New Testament was published in 1995 and the Old Testament is currently being prepared for publication. Born in 1917 into Russian émigré family, he came to France from Spain at the age of three. During the Second World War he was interned by the French authorities and it was while he was in prison that he began to write. His first book, The Angels of Destiny, was a novel about the Gypsies’ fight for freedom in Romania, where many of them, including Maximoff’s own grandfather, had been used as slave labour in the nineteenth century. (WR348/IB4 - 02.00)

l BANGALORE, India — The death has been announced in India of the Most Rev Dr Alexander Mar Thoma. Dr Mar Thoma, Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, was 83. He served as President of the Bible Society of India from 1972 to 1982. The General Secretary of the Bible Society of India, Dr B. K. Pramanik, said that Dr Mar Thoma had steered the Bible Society at a very difficult time. “He was a noble soul and as head of the Mar Thoma Church, he was well respected and admired all over the world,” said Dr Pramanik. The funeral was due to take place in Kerala on January 13. The Syrian Christians of south west India trace the founding of their church back to St Thomas, who is held to have been martyred near Madras in the first century AD. Today the Syrian Orthodox Church is one of the most literate communities in India and is active in missionary work in Africa and most of Asia. (WR348/IB5 - 02.00)

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