n School student David Yao reads a Bible Comic in Baoulé produced by the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire

Record distribution predicted for
Bible Comics

KORHOGO, Côte d’Ivoire — When a team from the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire (BSCI) arrived in this remote northern town to distribute Bible Comics based on the Gospel of Luke, news spread fast and a large group of children was soon clamouring to receive copies. The Society is rarely able to travel to Korhogo from the depot in Bouaké due to the unreliable distribution vehicle, and Scriptures are always received with delight here.

But Bible Comics are proving particularly popular among children and young people throughout the country and look set to break distribution records.

Tradition of Tintin

Produced by the UBS Africa Interregional Production Center, the colourful Scriptures fit in well with the French tradition of comic books, which have been the medium of world-famous characters such as Tintin and Asterix.
Dr Joachim Somé, UBS Translation Consultant for Francophone Africa, was the driving force behind the production of Bible Comics in local languages. In Côte d’Ivoire, the comics are currently available in French and Baoulé. Translations in other languages of Francophone African countries will be available soon.

“We set up the project [to produce the Bible Comics] in less than a year and it was only a matter of weeks before we had the Baoulé version corrected and ready,” said Dr Somé.

Adapted

“Once the illustrations are prepared it is only a matter of fitting the text into the bubbles. In this way, the product can be swiftly adapted for many different regional languages.”

“The Baoulé Bible Comic is proving a real hit,” said Jean Kouassi, BSCI General Secretary. “We are confident that Bible Comics in French and local languages can serve a threefold purpose across our region.

“First, in languages as widely spoken and written as Baoulé, it encourages young people to better their knowledge of their mother tongue.

Good story, simple French

“Secondly, the French versions give young people the joy of reading a good story in fairly simple French. If they do not know the story of Jesus they can learn it through the Gospel of Luke while improving their understanding of French.

“The third point in its favour is that, being the Gospel of Luke, it can be used along with the Jesus film which is the main evangelistic tool of Campus Crusade for Christ. We are currently exploring ways in which we can work with Campus Crusade to support their work with Scriptures,” he added.

Affordable

The Bible Comics are set to break distribution records, not only because of their simplicity and colour, but also because they are being made available in great quantities at affordable prices. This is key in a region where books are considered a luxury.