Bible News in Brief

NEW ZEALAND — The charitable organisation Seek Freedom has seen a positive response to a project which involves placing the Contemporary English Version of the New Testament and Psalms in remote hikers’ huts managed by the Department of Conservation. So far, it has placed Scriptures in 89 huts in locations ranging from the south coast of Fiordland, on South Island, to the Kaimai ranges in the north of North Island. In 13 cases Seek Freedom has supplied a replacement Bible, the original having been removed. There are encouraging reports from hikers about several huts where the Bible has remained in place for a long time and appears to have been read and looked after. (Bible Society in New Zealand monthly newsletter 274) (WR 370/IB1 - 9.02)
AUSTRALIA — The Bible Society in Australia has joined with Christian Surfers International (CSI) to launch a New Testament edition aimed at young surfers. It is hoped that The Surfer’s Bible will build on the success of The Grommet’s Guide to God, a special Gospel of Mark aimed at surfers of which more than 100,000 copies have been distributed so far. According to Brett Davis, International Director of CSI, The Surfer’s Bible has a surfer-friendly format and includes “exciting stories, testimonies and photographs from surfing identities, all presented in full colour”. CSI hopes to make this publication available to surfers and churches very cheaply, both in Australia and abroad, and for this reason is calling on Christians worldwide to sponsor the project. The Bible Society is also making available The Prize, a New Testament edition for top sportsmen and women, and Beyond the Edge, a New Testament for people working in the emergency services. (WR 370/IB2 - 9.02)
DENMARK — The Danish Bible Society is enjoying remarkable success with its online edition of the Bible. Almost 40 per cent of visitors to the Society’s web site (www.bibelselskabet.dk) go directly to the online Bible, indicating that a lot of people have added the online edition to Favorites in their browser. This, combined with relatively high sales of the new Greenlandic Bible in Greenland, has prompted the Society to offer the same service to its customers in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The online editions of the Greenlandic Bible and the Faroese Bible can now be accessed through the Danish web site or through links from www.biibili.gl and www.biblia.fo. Visitors to the web site can search by chapter, verse or word, and the site also offers explanations of biblical terms. According to General Secretary the Rev Morten Aagaard, this initiative is designed to promote Christianity among young people in Greenland and the Faroe islands. The internet appeals to young people, and the explanations of words are helpful to those who are unfamiliar with the Bible. (WR 370/IB5 - 9.02)