SÃO PAULO, Brazil — In the three years from 1997 to 1999,
Scripture distribution by the Bible Society of Brazil
(BSB) rose by 48 per cent, from 2.26 million to 3.35 million copies, and it
is expected to reach four million by the end of the year.
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The achievement was noted during the Society’s 16th General Assembly in August. Investing in welfare projects, increasing Bible distribution in both Latin America and in Africa and using every available technological means to reproduce the Word of God were some of the challenges set out for the new millennium.
“The BSB is a focal point for spreading the Gospel and for the unity of all the Christian family and the people of God,” said the President, the Rev Guilhermino Cunha. He was re-elected at the Assembly and will run the organisation for the next three years. Pastor Samuel Câmara, President of the Assembly of God in the city of Belém, and Pastor Enéas Tognini, President of the National Baptist Convention, respectively, were chosen for the posts of first and second Vice-President of the BSB.
The last three years have been most prosperous for the BSB in all its fields of endeavour, said Pastor Câmara. Mr Cunha said what he found “really thrilling” was that the number of Bible Selections printed in Today’s Language had grown to 180 million – “more than the entire population of Brazil,” he observed.
The Assembly also heard that Bible production costs in Brazil have become so competitive that by the end of the year the BSB expects to export more than a million copies. One of the challenges set out for the Society during the Assembly was that it should make full use of electronic media for spreading the Gospel, including video, audio, CD-ROM and the Internet, and ensuring that employees were suitably trained, said Pastor Câmara.
Keeping the Bible at affordable prices so that it is accessible to all Brazilians, taking the Scriptures to the needy people in the north and northeast of the country, and investing in projects focusing on children and young people are among the organisation’s further plans for the years to come.
“Taking the Word of God to those in prison, the sick, children and those most in need is the mission of the BSB,” said Pastor Enéas Tognini. “And the more we increase Bible distribution, the better our chances of expanding our welfare projects.”
The Society’s targets for the early years of the millennium do not stop there. The Assembly also set out plans to produce Bibles in indigenous languages for African countries, to introduce the new series Studying with the Bible into Brazilian schools (please see article), to publicise the Faith Comes By Hearing program in order to reach the majority of Christian churches in the country; and, finally, to create a Bible Museum which will be a national centre for study and evangelisation. (WR 356/21 - 12.00)