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SAN
JOSÉ, Costa Rica — An Opportunity
21 (O-21) project aimed at putting Christ back into Christmas –
and into the millennium celebrations – began last year with a distribution
of 500,000 millennium Selections and the building of a spectacular Bible
Society float for the annual Festival of Light Christmas parade.
The project – Celebration of Christianity – is set to run all year, and includes plans to follow up last year’s Christmas activities with a Christian art exhibition and museum in Bible House and a concert of biblically inspired music. According to Susan Mills, O-21 Regional Manager for Central America, the project arose out of the need to remind people of the real reason for celebrating Christmas and the millennium:
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“This project aims to bring real Christian
content to an annual Christmas parade... a celebration of 2,000 years
of human history, but rather of 2,000 years of the influence of Christianity
on human history.”
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“The main event of the Festival of Light celebrations is a parade of floats through the capital, San José…but the floats usually have nothing to do with the biblical content of Christmas,” explained Ms Mills.
“This project aims to bring real Christian content to an annual Christmas parade at the turn of the millennium, and to remind people that the millennium is not a celebration of 2,000 years of human history, but rather of 2,000 years of the influence of Christianity on human history.”
The Bible Society float, which was built by a 150-strong volunteer team of electricians, designers, welders and engineers, depicted Noah’s Ark emerging from the pages of a giant open Bible. The one million people who attended the parade on December 11 applauded as 70 volunteers, dressed as animals and clowns, performed mime, songs and dances with a biblical theme.
One song, especially written for the occasion by a volunteer, tells of the ‘pact’ between man and God which was made possible through Jesus’ death on the cross 2,000 years ago. The words of the song were printed in a special millennium Selection, entitled Rainbow of Love. Half a million of these were handed out to people attending the Christmas parade.
Rainbow of Love also contains passages from the Scriptures showing the enduring love of God for humanity, as well as a calendar for 2000. According to Alberto Reyes, General Secretary of the Bible Society in Costa Rica, Costa Ricans were particularly in need of reassurance as they faced the new millennium.
“The Costa Rican people believed that the world would end in 2000,” he explained. “Grandparents used to say to their grandchildren: ‘Mankind lived past the year 1000, but we will not survive past 2000.’
“This traditional fear made people more open to the Bible and to God and that is why we decided to publish the Selections. Rainbow of Love shows the history of love between God and humanity.”
One man who was selling goods during the parade was so moved when he read his Rainbow of Love Selection that he went in search of the young volunteer who had given it to him. He told the Bible Society team that it was the most beautiful message he had ever received.
The event was shown live on three television stations, and the Bible Society float received a significant amount of airtime. Bible Society workers and volunteers were interviewed about the prominent presence of the Bible in this festival, and of their belief in the Word of God as the hope for humanity in the next millennium. (WR 352/4 - 7/8.00)
NEW YORK, USA — The American Bible Society (ABS) has launched a major initiative to introduce young children to the Bible with the production of a series of videos called Kingsley’s Meadow.
The
star is Kingsley, a friendly teenage lion, who tells children Bible stories
which emphasise particular moral qualities. These are dramatised and sung by
a multicultural group of young actors. The stories are adapted from the CEV
Bible.
The first video, entitled Hang in There!, teaches about perseverance through the story of Elisha, while the second one – Wise Guys – includes the story of Naaman, the Syrian general who was cured of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. The video teaches about self-control and has proved very popular among American children.
Two more videos – Munch, Munch, Where’s my Lunch? and Funny Money – have just been released, and emphasise the qualities of gratitude and patience. The video series has also recently been made available in Spanish.
Kingsley’s Meadow is the result of three years of work and research by the ABS and its partners, Classic Entertainment and Sony Wonder. It has been described by Bob Hodgson, Director of the ABS Research Center for Scripture and New Media, as a ‘breakthrough’ in religious television.
David Burke, Associate Vice President of Scripture Publications at the ABS, says that the videos are simply another form of Scripture translation, helping pre-school children to “build a positive, happy feeling” for God’s Word. It is hoped that the videos will eventually be broadcast on national television. (WR 352/5 - 7/8.00) [PHOTOS]
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — “Ten years ago I was a very troubled person. Alcohol and drugs ruled my life and I was rude and abusive to my mother who kept trying to persuade me to go to church with her.
As time went by I gave myself over more and more to my addictions. I did not wash anymore and sometimes drank so much that I lost control of my bladder. I would often sleep on the streets like a beggar.
People began to scorn me, saying that I was beyond help. I lost the will to live and longed for death because I believed it was the only way out for me. But on November 15, 1990 my life began again.
That day I drank so much that I could hardly stand. At one point I fell over, and when I looked up I realised that I was in the doorway of a church. A man at the door invited me in, and as I entered a Bible verse written on one of the pillars inside caught my eye: “Always be clothed in white and always anoint your head with oil.” (Ecclesiastes 9:8)
At that moment I took a good look at myself. My hair felt stiff with dirt and I knew that I had ruined my life. There and then I spoke to God: ‘I did not want to come in here,’ I said. ‘But since I have, do something with my life, because I do not want to leave this church as the same person who entered it!’
I do not remember what happened after that. Maybe there was a preacher who invited me to accept Jesus as my Saviour, but my memory is not clear. All I know is that God changed my life forever that day through that Bible verse. Today I serve God as a pastor in the Pentecostal church and have been blessed with a wife and daughter.” (WR 352/6 - 7/8.00) [PHOTOS]
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