Bible people in the newsZAMBIA — Safeli Chileshe, the first chairman of the board of the Bible Society of Zambia (BSZ), died on January 5 at the age of 90. Mr Chileshe, who led the board from 1966 to 1988, also became the first black mayor of Lusaka. A well-respected public figure, he later served as advisor to the first president of the Republic of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, after the country became independent. Originally a Methodist, he strongly supported the unification of several Protestant churches, which led to the formation of the United Church of Zambia in 1965. “Mr Chileshe was a prominent civic leader whose influence and commitment to Christ greatly contributed to the development of Bible work in Zambia,” said Mpundu Mutala, BSZ General Secretary. “He never stopped hoping to see people come to discover the Bible as the Book of Life for themselves.” (WR 367/IB1 - 3.02) [PHOTOS] Bible news in brief...NEW ZEALAND — The first Children’s Bible to be made available in a language of the Pacific Islands was recently published by the Bible Society of New Zealand. The Samoan Children’s Bible, which contains revised text from the Samoan Bible and 20 colour illustrations, was available in shops across the country in time for Christmas. “I am very confident that this Bible will be well received by the Samoan community and that children will take to it readily,” said John Jennings, the Bible Society’s Distribution Manager. Samoan is spoken by more than 625,000 people in Western Samoa, American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga and the USA. (WR 367/IB2 - 3.02)
UK — A video co-produced by the British and Foreign Bible Society and BBC Education has won an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in the UK’s most prestigious awards ceremony, equivalent to the Oscars in the USA. The Academy, whose brief is to promote excellence in the film and television industries, awarded the Society a Children’s BAFTA in the ‘Young People’s Factual Programming’ category for an episode of their Test of Time video dealing with forgiveness. Announcing the award, the judges said that the video “embraced…a huge subject…in a moving and inspiring way, inviting reflection and discussion.” Since its release a year ago, the episode has won two other awards – a Youth Award from the Commission for Racial Equality and a Sandford St Martin Award for Excellence in Religious Education Resources (see WR 361/27). The Test of Time video contains episodes about forgiveness, money, commitment and inner peace and shows how Christians across the world are putting the teachings of Jesus into practice, often in difficult situations. (WR 367/IB3 - 3.02) [PHOTOS] |
