New Bible House needed as
Bible work set to expand

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire — This coastal city, as well as serving as the country’s political capital, is also a key site of trade and industry. Each day, large shipments of goods from around the world arrive at the port, which serves as a vital link in the supply line for the whole region.

Strategic

From its base in Abidjan, the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire (BSCI) is able to import large Scripture shipments and transport them around the country and into neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali. Its strategic significance has made it an important base for Bible work throughout the region.

That is why plans are under way to rebuild Bible House.

“The current building is the original and needs major redevelopment in order to meet the needs of the Society’s work,” explained Jean Kouassi, BSCI General Secretary.

“Supplying one country is work enough but this is increased when we consider what role we have to play in feeding the two landlocked countries to the north. Whichever way we look at things it seems vital for us to have facilities that can cope with the future scope of our work.

“Bible work is no longer just a matter of feeding the church with printed materials. There are many other possibilities being explored and these include radio, Scripture cassettes and video Scriptures. They will need the space to develop here at Bible House.”

To enable the Society to expand its work and rebuild Bible House, the BSCI has launched a new fundraising effort supported by the Opportunity 21 (O-21) program. Through it, the BSCI hopes to raise as much as US$200,000 over the next two years and develop a sustainable fundraising strategy for the future.

An important aspect of Bible Society fundraising is ensuring good relations with the churches. To this end, the BSCI has produced a promotional video showing all aspects of its work, which has been distributed to all the churches.

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