National Bible Day wins official recognition in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Members of Nicaragua’s parliament at the National Assembly scrambled for Bibles distributed by the Bible Society of Nicaragua in the capital to mark the official recognition given to National Bible Day (September 29).

“Chaos broke out on the floor as members of parliament scrambled to acquire the Word of God,” according to a story published on the web site of the ministry Global Vision, sponsor of the first National Bible Day. “One member, confronted with the three Bibles he already had in his hands, said bleakly, ‘I needed five – one for each member of my family’.”

The official recognition by the parliament on July 15 2002, which was ratified by the president in August, came after more than three years of praying and lobbying by the Bible Society and the country’s churches. Working together, they managed to obtain 100,000 signatures in support of the initiative.

Churches first organised Bible Day to mark the 400th anniversary of the translation of the Bible into Spanish, in 1969. Last year’s events, however, are significant in several ways. Although the country is one of the poorest nations in Latin America and continues to experience social and political unrest, the ratification of Bible Day marks how far the country has come since atheist Sandinistas held sway in the 1980s.

The Bible Society is also delighted that the National Assembly decree makes all Bible production and distribution across the country be tax-exempt. “So we have more than simply ‘a special day’,” the Bible Society commented.