Building on the rock: Bible Society joins home-building agencies in nation-building

Young women in Baseco, where the Philippine Bible Society distributed Ilaw sa Tahanan (Light to the Home) Bibles in September 2005 after entering into partnership with community building agency Gawad Kalinga. Philippines. Photo: PBS/Edna Mae Rabago (PHI05DJ-175.JPG)

PHILIPPINES — The Philippine Bible Society (PBS) has taken an important step towards its vision of “a Bible for every Filipino family for a transformed Philippines” by entering into partnership with two community building agencies, Gawad Kalinga (GK) and Habitat for Humanity. The Society hopes that the partnership will enable it to reach poor families more effectively by distributing 8,000 copies of the Ilaw sa Tahanan (‘Light to the Home’) Bible in GK and Habitat communities throughout the country.

Building for the future in Cabiao

The first Bible distribution project between PBS and Gawad Kalinga took place in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, on September 10, 2005, during a GK ‘Build’ with the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC). “This is God’s appointed time for us to gather… and be part of this historic event,” said Tony Meloto, GK Executive Director. “It’s historic because it breaks a lot of barriers… one is religious barriers.”

This was the first time that pastors in Cabiao – members of the ministerial association God’s Royal Priesthood of Nueva Ecija – had been involved in a GK ‘Build’. Prior to the Cabiao project, GK, an organisation that aims for the holistic development of poor communities in the Philippines, had been working with the Catholic group Couples for Christ.

The partnership between PBS and GK was made official in a formal signing of a Memorandum of Agreement and Covenant at the GK site in Baseco, Manila on September 21, 2005.

Lighting up Habitat homes

Children in Baseco, where the Philippine Bible Society distributed Ilaw sa Tahanan (Light to the Home) Bibles in September 2005 after entering into partnership with community building agency Gawad Kalinga. Philippines. Photo: PBS/Edna Mae Rabago (PHI05DJ-181.JPG)

Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide Christian charity which builds and rehabilitates simple houses in partnership with homeowning families. In the Philippines alone there are currently 29 Habitat communities, and the agency’s program includes placing a copy of the Bible in each home built. PBS has been giving Bibles to Habitat-built homes since the World Leaders’ Build in 2001.

Through the signing of a Covenant between PBS and Habitat in Baseco on September 24, 2005, all future Habitat homes are ensured a copy of the Tagalog Light to the Home Bible. Habitat aims to build 1,000 homes in the area through its project Building on Faith with Families. The new partnership enables PBS to provide the family Bible to assisted families here and at Habitat sites in other parts of the country. (WR 399/20 - 01/02.06) [3 photos]

Continued support for needy families The Light to the Home program has been running since 2002 (see World Report 379/4, 381/8, 384/4, 388/21, 389/30, 393/6 and 397/27) helping relocated families build new homes and communities in the light of God’s Word. This is PBS’s response to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s program to rehouse 150,000 poor families living in slum areas across the country. By relating biblical principles to family issues such as parenting, finance and handling marital concerns, the Light to the Home Bible points the way to building a future on a sure foundation.     Since its inception in 2002, this Bible has already reached more than 40,000 new homes in 94 communities. Distribution is done in co-operation with local churches, the local government and housing offices.     PBS is hoping for wider and more effective distribution in the future because of its new partnerships with community building agencies Habitat for Humanity and Gawad Kalinga.     “We will ensure that the Bible will not become a mere decoration in the home,” says Tony Meloto, Executive Director of housing agency Gawad Kalinga. “It will be a foundation for lives.”