Opportunity 21
projects aim to reach
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| Coral Islands from the air. Vanuatu. Photo: UBS/Maurice Harvey (VAN96T-3) |
The Bible Society is constantly looking
for opportunities to both strengthen its existing local representation
and to develop effective ways of operating on islands where Bible work
remains limited.
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| Father Walter Vanua, a retired Anglican priest. Santo, Vanuatu. Photo: UBS/Maurice Harvey (VAN96T-12) |
Over recent years, valuable support in tackling these challenges has
become available to the Bible Society through the Opportunity
21 (O-21) program. One O-21 project, launched
in 2000, aims to expand the Scripture distribution network in the South
Pacific and eventually establish a permanent presence on all islands
where English or French is an official language. Initially, it focused
on building up the Bible Society’s existing presence on islands
including Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. In 2002, the focus switched to islands
like Tuvalu, Tahiti and New Caledonia, where Bible work had previously
been limited, often because of the high cost of transporting stock.
One of this project’s most recent developments has been the purchase of publications, mainly in English, from the Bible Society in Australia for the bookshop which serves the 80 islands in the Vanuatu group.
When he visited Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands earlier this year, Daniel Krishna, manager of the Scripture Division of the Bible Society in the South Pacific, found that developing the Scripture distribution network is proving particularly beneficial in bringing the more remote islands more fully into the overall management of Bible work in the vast area.
Literacy skills
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| Two young boys sitting beside the sea. Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo: UBS/Maurice Harvey (VAN96T-60) |
The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, along with Fiji and Kiribati, are the focus of an O-21 project which seeks to build literacy skills by enabling people to read the Scriptures in their own language.
In collaboration with SIL, churches and literacy organisations, the Bible Society established local literacy groups to develop appropriate materials for specific communities and to plan for their distribution and use. Following a period of consultation and testing, a set of materials with the theme Responsibility has been produced in Fiji.
There was an enthusiastic response from schools and churches to sample products, and the first print run of 15,000 booklets is eagerly awaited. Plans are already being made for further sets with themes such as Positive Thinking and Making Wise Decisions.
In Vanuatu, support from the O-21 literacy project has made it possible to print New Reader Portions, Scripture booklets and Bible study books in Bislama, which is understood and used as a lingua franca by most of the islands’ 128,000 residents. It is now hoped to start distributing these materials shortly.
Games in Suva
Special Scripture materials were also
produced with the assistance of O-21 for the South Pacific Games,
which took place in early July in Suva, the capital of the Fiji island
group.
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| A woman cleaning fish in the sea. Vanuatu. Photo: UBS/Maurice Harvey (VAN96T-35) |
These items, which included 15,000 copies of the Gospel of Luke and 10,000 Selections, were distributed by young people from the Citywide Youth Network to people attending the Games, including some 4,000 athletes and officials and almost one thousand volunteers.
The Bible Society
is also collaborating with the Citywide Youth Network on other projects,
including Bible Week. Through all these initiatives, the Bible Society
is aiming, as it states in the outline for its literacy project, to
“enable people to develop their biblical knowledge, resulting in
a growing maturity of their faith and influencing their communities
with Christian values”.
(WR 380/18 - 10.03) 