Word on Supported Bible Projects

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Welcome...Buenas Dias! (Good morning!)For a few days in July, I became ‘theman from Irlanda del Norte’. I was inPeru to visit four Bible projects whichhave benefited from the support of ourdonors here in Northern Ireland. Thepeople I met knew of our prayers and

support and were so appreciative of both. Manythings struck me:

In a city of 9 million souls I sensed no resentmentthat so many people had to live on a dollar (63pence) per day in contrast to our comfortablelifestyle.

Instead of sullen faces, wherever we went, we werealways greeted with joy and smiles.

To find a church full of people on a Saturday morn-ing who were attending a 3-hour seminar to learnhow they could read the Bible more effectively.

To discover how the Bible is being presented tochallenge politicians, journalists and society at largeto live a moral life.

These people could put us to shame. So easily, wecreate barriers for people by insisting that they wor-ship in a way that pleases us; we get into routinesthat don’t refresh our spirituality, and, perhaps un-wittingly, we are insensitive to the barriers thatmake it more difficult for lost sheep to find a wayback to the fold.

During 2011 it has become ever more evident to methat our community in Northern Ireland needs torediscover:

The privilege we have in such rich access to Scrip-ture in English;

The power of the Bible to speak into the daily chal-lenges of our lives;

The obligation to share what we believe with thosewho have nothing to believe and trust in.

The need to leave a legacy to the next generation:the truth that we have received and the Good Newsthat is for everyone on this planet, even if the firstBible verses are still to be translated into nearly4,000 languages.

What will future generations say of us if we take ourfaith to our grave and have neglected to share whatwe have been given with the rest of God’s creation?In Peru the churches are working to help people tomake sense of the Bible text, because they knowthat many parts of it are hard to understand.

Maybe in Northern Ireland we could make that astarting point: the Bible is not an easy book; many,many people do not have a daily routine to read it;starting a Bible reading group that will get peopleover the first steps would be a huge step; helpingpeople to understand the context of what they arereading could be even more valuable. In this year ofcelebration for the 400th anniversary of the KingJames Bible, could your church do that?

John Doherty General Secretary BSNI

The Bible must be at the centre of our relationshipwith Jesus Christ. In Peru thechurches and Bible Societyare doing that as they releaseScripture into society. Here,helping people to open thebook would be a start...

Volunteer taking Bible Class, Lima, Peru.See pages 6 and 7 for Peru reports.

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Switching Lights on in Pakistan

The Pakistan Bible Society (PBS) is continuallylooking to make God known through his Wordto people throughout the region. This takesmany forms from Scripture distributions afternatural disasters, resourcing Sunday Schools,translating the Bible into Braille, and makingScripture more easily understood through liter-acy classes and study notes.

We often come across Bible passages that we simplydon’t understand; the meanings of certain wordsand the context in which they were said are un-known, and the meanings of stories can just be tootricky to grasp. It can feel like we are sitting in thedark. This is the case for many of the Sindhispeaking people of Pakistan…

The Sindhi language is used by the second biggestpopulation in Pakistan, after the majority Punjabipeople. They have a small Christian population whohave a desire to go further into God’s Word. TheSindhi Old and New Testament have been trans-lated, printed and widely accepted, but it is evidentthat many are finding these hard to understand andhelp is needed.

Knowing that study notes for the New Testamenthad already been produced in the Urdu language -the official language in Pakistan - pastors, scholarsand Bible readers of the Sindhi New Testament re-

quested that PBS providethem with study notes intheir language.

Dr Anicia del Corro, whomanages translation proj-ects in Micronesia, Pakistanand the Philippines saysthat, “in some cases we areconcerned with translationprojects for languages whichdo not currently have Scrip-tures, but in others it ismore a question of buildingon what has existed for

many years... our attention focuses on presentingGod’s Word for particular audiences, such as youngpeople, and in particular formats... our desire must

always be for people to understand God’s Wordmore fully and to develop a love of reading it.”

And so, PBS received the request from the Sindhispeakers joyfully, excited by this challenge. Workingalongside an organisation called Indus Christian

Fellowship, PBS is now makinggood progress on the transla-tion work and they hope topublish a revised Sindhi NewTestament with Study Noteswithin months.

The Urdu speaking people havemade use of their study notesand it is as if a light has beenswitched on and the meaningis now clearly seen. This iswhat the Sindhi people longfor.

“I have come into the world as

light, so that everyone who believes in me should

not remain in the darkness.” John 12:46 (GNB)

Will You help share the lightin Paskistan?

Will you also pray for the Sindhispeaking people of Pakistan, thatthey will receive God’s Word and gaina deeper understanding? Pray also forthe PBS staff and volunteers who arefaithfully working to meet the desiresof the people, asking that God wouldgive them strength and wisdom asthey face this task.

It will be through the prayers andgifts of Bible Society supporters inNorthern Ireland that this translationwork will be completed and theSindhi people will gain understand-ing. If you would like to support thiswork then please send a gift to BSNImarked ‘Pakistan’ or use the enclosedreply sheet.

Dr Anicia del Corro

Working on Urdu StudyNotes translation

SPECIAL

APPEAL

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Some days at Bible House in Belfaststand out as particularly special. The2nd of June this year was one suchday with a visit from Gabe (Gebre)and Connie Beyene from Ethiopia,accompanied by Sandra and BillyLivingstone from Ballinderry ParishChurch.

Gabe co-ordinates a translation proj-ect in Mekele in the northern Tigrayprovince, while Connie works in thelocal orphanage. Gabe was born nearby in Tigrai to Orthodox parents, while Connie was born in Addis Ababa,the capital and largest Ethiopian city.

The call to translationTigray province has a population of 4.5 million people and is about half the area of the UK. Tigrinya is themain spoken language rather than Amharic, with more speakers in other cities like Addis Ababa. This vastarea had only two High Schools during Gabe’s youth, a fact difficult for us to comprehend with so manySchools here!

Sadly, recurring drought is a fact of life in Ethiopia and Gabe has lived through two hard famines, as well as abrutal Communist regime following the fall of Ethiopia’s last Emperor, Haile Selassie. During the regime,murder was commonplace, particularly the murder of young men whose passion for justice was often silencedwith a bullet. A bullet relatives were forced to pay for before their loved one’s body was released. Like manyother Tigrayans, Gabe felt unsafe and left Ethiopia first for America, then India for degree studies. Gabe spokeof feeling unease until the plane had taken off, as it had been known for young men to be called out andtaken, even as they boarded a plane to leave the country. Gabe had no intention of ever returning toEthiopia, but God’s plan for Gabe’s life was somewhat different.

It was through reading a borrowed Bible while in India, that the Lord spoke to Gabe and changed his life. Hethen met an elderly Ethiopian doctor on one occasion at a church in India. Recognising Gabe’s origin, heurged Gabe to return to Tigrai, to make God’s Word available to his people.

A Case for the Ethiopian Tigrignan BibleThe main languages in Ethiopia are Amaharic, Oroma, and Tigrignan. While the Bible exists in Eritrean Tigrigna, the language is vastly different to EthiopianTigrigna, making the text impossible to understand. Gabe begancampaigning for a Tigrai Bible. To emphasise the need he askedTigrayans living in Addis Ababa to read some passages of the Bibleand underline difficult wording. They found an average of 9 wordsper chapter. Yilma Getahun, General Secretary of the Bible Societyin Ethiopia, accepted the case so work began in 2003 with Gabe co-ordinating the team of 3 Orthodox translators, who completed theTigrignan New Testament in 2007. During the first 2 years, they re-ceived no funding from the United Bible Societies due to the timingof its start, but God provided their needs and work progressed.

The translation has the crucial support and authorisation of the Or-thodox Patriarch as, unlike the Orthodox preference for the Septu-agint, (as was used for the Ge’ez and Amaharic translations) thisproject used United Bible Societies’ universally recognised Greekmanuscript sources.

Yilma Getahun, General Secretary of theBible Society in Ethiopia

An Ethiopian Story...

Connie, Gabe, Sandra and Billy with BSNI staff

Wonderful Opportunities

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With 95% of Tigrayan people being Orthodox, there are 4,500 Orthodoxchurches and 120,000 clergy. (There are only 3% Muslim, 1% ProtestantEvangelical and 1% Catholic.) Gabe spoke of his concern that even theclergy own no Scripture that they can understand. While Scripture isread in every service, every day in the Orthodox Church, the text ismainly unintelligible, even to the reader! Gabe’s passion to get God’sWord into the hands of clergy, that they themselves might discover a liv-ing relationship with Christ, was very moving. The only way that theywill understand God’s Word is if they can read it in Tigrignan.

Making the New Testament AccessibleSince the completion of the New Testament translation, Gabe has foundsupport in America and Ireland for several projects.

The New Testament was recorded by Faith Comes By Hearing in theorphanage in Mekele over a period of 1 month, with indigenous backing music to make it culturally accept-able. The new recording was dedicated by the Patriarch in one of 3 theological colleges in the country, whereJohn 1 and Romans 1 were read and heard in total silence. 100 solar powered Proclaimer units containing therecording have been distributed.

Printing 5,000 hardback large print New Testaments for public reading in the churches and 5,000copies of a ‘popular’ edition for individuals. One large print New Testament is being placed in eachchurch, each costing a little over £4.00 to print.

Broadcast of New Testament readings on the FEBA short-wave radio station in Ethiopia. This is a priorityfor Gabe as it will enable the greatest spread of the text as adult literacy levels are as low as 30%. Funds havebeen attracted for 140 30-minute Scripture readings so far, costing $150 (£95) per daily programme. Again,this has the Patriarch’s support, meaning that people will listen! Gabe is seeking to have funding in place for afull year before the broadcasting starts.

Gabe Beyene with Tigrignan New Testamentduring visit to Bible House, Belfast

What a privilege to meet such passionate Christians who firmly believe thatGod’s Word can change a Church, a people and a nation. We thank the Lordfor the encouragement and challengethat Gabe, Connie, Sandra and Billy’svisit brought us, we are blessed to part-ner with them and would dearly loveto help fund the reading of God’s Wordon the Ethiopian radio.

We offer you the opportunity to be partof this incredible project to make God’sWord heard! Perhaps you, or yourchurch, are in the position to fund aday, two days, or even a full week ofScripture Broadcasts? If you are, youcan contact us in Bible House in Belfastand we will ensure that your support is conveyed to Gabe and the team inEthiopia.

Bible Ministry in Peru

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A Short profileThe Bible Society Board encourages their GeneralSecretary to make a visit every few years to projectsbeing funded by Northern Ireland supporters. Thecoincidence of a series of meetings for Grant MakingBible Societies in Lima in July and the chance tovisit four projects being managed by the Bible Society of Peru (BSP) was too good an opportunity tomiss.

BSP partners with various inter-national organisations: Samari-

tan’s Purse to place Scriptureand other gifts in schools, andwith Scripture Union to providemedical staff and pastors ontwo Amazon Hope boats for vil-lagers living on the edge of theAmazon.

These projects complement their:

Literacy work among speakers of the Quecha lan-guage which is second in significance to Spanishamong the country’s almost 30 million residents;

Revised Quecha Bible translation and other proj-ects.

Distribution of over 420,000 Bibles per year through60 local Bible outlets.

Peru has a diverse cul-ture: over 100 lan-guages of which 42have a New Testa-ment, but only 3 com-plete Bibles. The BSPFacebook site has13,000 followers ofwhom 1,005 havebeen attracted into

Bible reading groups. It was to one of these Read

the Bible groups that I was taken on the Saturdaymorning. 200 people had gathered in a church sem-inar to be introduced to one of the Old Testamentbooks. It was conventional teaching, using Power-Point slides to illustrate key points, but it includedtestimonies from both Evangelical and Catholicmembers of the audience. Everyone was fully en-gaged and Leticia, the co-ordinator, explained thatso many people were being drawn to these seminarsthat three separate groups had been established atthis particular church. Around 3,000 people have

joined seminars in the first 18 months. Would suchan approach have application here at home as afirst step towards Alpha and Christianity Exploredcourses?

Later on I met Elizabeth Alanya (pictured with herchildren) in her very humble home. She had be-come a media focus after her partner scalded herwith boiling rice as she slept on her birthday. Herneglect by the hospital and legal system all changedwhen the media and Bible Society became involved.Proper care and legal advice for her, and a prisonsentence for her partner, resulted. The Presidentgave her a sewing machine on which she now man-ufactures shopping bags and rucksacks to providean income for her family and we heard her speakconfidently to over 100 teenagers at a church meet-ing about the issue of domestic violence. Shespreads the message that this scourge in Peru, af-fecting as many as 1 in 4 women, is wrong. The End

the Violence project is also addressing the issue ofchild abuse through schools.

On the Sunday evening I witnessed somethingequally remarkable: the Christian actor HérnanRomero was presenting his dramatic monologue ofMark’s Gospel. With a minimum of props, but lots ofhand movements, he communicates the entire textof Mark from memory. It made for an awesome per-formance. Around 20,000 people have benefittedfrom his performances, presenting Scripture in a re-freshing and thought provoking way.

Outside, people bought their groceries from a cor-ner shop. However, the iron grill through which thegoods and money were exchanged was a reminderof the stark circumstances in which so many peoplelive, not just in Lima but throughout the country – a tough environment for the Bible Society.

Let us celebrate what BSP is accomplishing for theGospel through these and other projects. I trust thatBSNI will be able to continue supporting their workduring 2012.

Roberto Miranda, General Secretary,Bible Society in Peru

Christian actorHernan Romeropresenting his dramatic monologue ofMark’s Gospel

Living in Peru

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Bread and the Gospelfor Hungry children

The Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) project in Lima del Norte isone of several being provided by the Bible Society of Peru(BSP), but this one just started earlier this year. Peru is acountry where 30% of the population live in extremepoverty, surviving on little more than one dollar (65 pence)per day. Lima has six routes snaking out from the centreand one of these takes us to Lima del Norte, changing fromtarmac to dirt tracks that extend in a grid fashion across ableak landscape. The parallel tracks separate rows of shackhouses on a steeply sloping hillside – surely impassable inthe wet summer months. It is land that people have beenclinging to for years, hoping that, as is the custom, in time they will become legal occupiers.Some miles downhill, the edge of Lima meets the Pacific Ocean, but this is no beauty spot –it is living at its most primitive and it is home to some 40,000 of the city’s almost nine mil-

lion people. We tried to fathom how local sanitation and water could be provided in such a place, but theboring of wells and complex systems of plastic pipes seems to give many people access to running water atleast. For others, water is brought in.

In the middle of this maze of tracks is one of the Evangelical churches. The pastor, Samuel, (pictured) lives ina small house next door and his dining space is being used for Bible teaching classes. Normally, these take

place on Fridays in the nearby school. The church is decorated with yellow balloons togreet us, the children are being given brightly coloured Scripture books appropriate totheir age and they listen attentively. Afterwards, a mug of warm soup and a bag of freshrolls are given to each child. They eat carefully, watching us, and they giggle in excite-ment when I show each one the photo I have taken of them. We wonder what, if any-thing, they will eat later today. The leaders tell us that it is always noticeable that a childwill put on weight within weeks of joining theprogramme.

While other churches have been established inthe wider area, they seemed to offer opportu-nities for worship only and little sign of otherpractical engagement with the community.Through Pan de Vida, however, BSP is present-ing the Gospel in a holistic and loving way thatis both relevant and practical for the children.

BSNI is supporting the Pan de Vida project this year with a grant of£7,000. Some of that help has been provided by a Newtownardswoman who has chosen to celebrate her 40th birthday with a spon-sored parachute jump (see page 11). The smiles of the children, theVolunteers and the BSP Co-ordinator, Julia (photo), speak volumesof the gratitude, not just of the children, but of all the people liv-ing in this impoverished community. While the government hadprovided a concrete play area as a gesture to this huge population,it is through the Bible Society of Peru and Pan de Vida that God’slove is being fully lived out. The care being given to these 60 chil-dren in Lima del Norte may be just a small candle that has been litto brighten a dark place but, later, when we met some of them re-turning home, their smiles still sparkled - brightening an otherwisevery grey winter’s day. Their smiles will remain with me for a verylong time.

Children leaving Pan de Vida for their shantyhomes visible in the background

Julia-Cordinator of Pan de Vida,Lima,Peru

Bible in 10 more languages, New Testament in 27!Bibles have become available in ten more languages andNew Testaments in 27 more languages than this time lastyear. These figures are published by the Scripture Lan-guage Report (SLR), the authoritative guide to the annualprogress of worldwide Bible translation. This is publishedannually by United Bible Societies, measuring the progressmade by UBS and other Bible translation agencies in thepast 12 months.

The latest figures, covering 2010, show that the completeBible has now been translated into 469 languages and theNew Testament into 1,231.

There are estimated to be 6,600 spoken languages in theworld and most people would assume that the Bible isavailable in the vast majority. The fact that fewer than 500languages actually have a full Bible shows how little ofthe real story of Bible translation most of us are actuallyaware of.

Japan in ShockOver 5 months have passed since the earth-quake/tsunami in Japan. Aftershocks continuein various parts of the nation. The debris scat-tered by the devastating tsunami in the coastalcities have been cleaned up and the death tollis almost unchanged for the past few weeks butthe newspapers still report 4,647 people asmissing (as of August 17, 2011).

82,643 people still live in evacuation camps.Poor hygienic conditions, lack of privacy andlack of air-conditioning in the unbearable sum-mer heat and humidity, push even the most patient to their limit.

The nuclear power plant in Fukushima gets more media coverage than the affected areas. Residentswithin 30km are forced to evacuate and recent radiation tests among children found more than halfabove normal dose. High radiation level is reported in areas as far away as 60km from the plant. Manyfarms have had to kill their cattle and destroy their crops for fear of contamination. The economic im-plication is immeasurable, not to mention the anger and the stress of those affected.

So far, the Japanese Bible Society (JBS) sent delegates on 5 occasions to Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushimadistricts. They visited over 50 churches, schools, kindergartens, and support centers, bringing Biblesand relief supplies. As of August 1, they had distributed 5,500 Bibles. The Manga and picture bookBibles for children are especially well received by children who lost their family members and experi-enced tremendous fear. We are once again reminded the healing and comforting power of God’s lovingWord.

‘The recovery effort still continues and because of the long process, many people are suffering fromphysical and mental stress. Even the volunteers are reporting fatigue and psychological burn-out. Pleasecontinue to keep us in your prayers. Thank you very much.’ Rev. Makoto Watabe, General Secretary, JBS.

International News

Scene of joy as the first copies of the KimyalNew Testament arrive in Korupun village, West

Papua, Indonesia, in March 2010.8

Rev. Makoto Watabe (left) distributesScripture at an evacuation camp

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Prayer Counts

SEPTEMBER: PERUGiving the Quechua speakers a Bible theywill understand

Interesting Facts:Peru is one of the richest countries in the worldin terms of natural resources, although jobs canbe very hard to find and it remains one of theworld’s poorest countries.

Project Focus:The Peruvian Bible Society (PBS) is continuallyseeking to make God’s Word understood by allpeople. The Quechua Bible was translated overtwenty years ago and has changed the lives ofmany who have read it; however, the languagehas become dated and many seek a translationthat is more easily understood.

BSNI have supported projects in Peru over thelast number of years and have recently had theopportunity of visiting the country and the proj-ects being run there. See pages 6 and 7 to readmore about the work being done in Peru.

Prayer FocusPray for those who seek to understand God’s Wordmore clearly, that the Quechua speaking populationwill receive an edition of the Bible that will have animpact on personal, family and community life.

Pray for the ‘Pan de Vida’ project that brings physi-cal and spiritual food to children living in poor con-ditions. Ask that as children gather together toshare food and learn from God’s Word they will bestrengthened by the message of Christ.

Pray for the PBS staff, pastors and volunteers whorun the various projects in Peru, that they will con-tinue to seek guidance from God and be filled withthe Holy Spirit as they travel the country spreadingthe love of God’s Word.

“This same Good News that came to you is goingout all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhereby changing lives, just as it changed your lives fromthe day you first heard and understood the truthabout God’s wonderful grace.” (Colossians 1:6)

Peru

Roque Fermandez Castro with a Quechua Bible

Sri Lanka PeruOCTOBER: SRI LANKAEnsuring God’s Word is available to all bysubsidizing the price of Bibles

Interesting Facts:It was in 1972 that Sri Lanka’s name waschanged from Ceylon.

Project Focus:For so many people across the world povertyacts as a barrier to receiving God’s Word. In SriLanka, which is classified as a low income coun-try, this problem is recognised by the Bible Soci-ety so they subsidise the price of Bibles to makethem affordable. In this way, God’s Word be-comes available to so many – individuals,churches, visually and hearing impaired, and SriLankans living in other countries.

Not only does the Bible Society in Sri Lankawork to make Scriptures available, but they seekto make them understood. This means transla-tion work; and this year BSNI are supporting thetranslation and production of Bibles and studymaterial in Sinhala and Tamil.

Prayer FocusPray for the fundraising that is needed to subsidisethe price of Bibles in Sri Lanka. Ask that in thesedifficult financial times money will not be a barrierto people receiving God’s Word.

Thank God for the different versions of the Biblethat have been launched recently – for the Old Ver-sion Large Print and the Revised Sinhala Study BibleSet. Pray that these will give people a better under-standing of the Scriptures.

Pray for those working on the translation teams inSri Lanka, that they would know God’s wisdom intheir work and be filled with a renewed passion forthe spread of His Word.

“… to teach you that people do not live by breadalone; rather, we live by every word that comesfrom the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3b)

Sri Lanka

Scripture distribution in Sri Lanka

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Egypt RwandaNOVEMBER: EGYPTAnswering children’s questions throughthe ‘Bible World’ exhibition

Interesting Facts:A predominantly Muslim country, only 1% of thepopulation is Christian.

Project Focus:Children and young people have so many ques-tions. In Egypt when a child asks a questionabout the Bible it often goes unanswered. TheBible Society in Egypt have set up the interactive‘Bible World’ exhibition in order that theseyoung people will get answers to their ques-tions. Over three years, since it’s opening in2008, 16,000 children have visited this contem-porary and creative attraction. As children en-gage in the quizzes, interactive displays andcomputer games they begin to gain an under-standing of what the Bible is, how it came to usand what meaning it has to their lives today.

Prayer FocusPray that as the young people visit ‘Bible World’they would begin to see the Scriptures in a freshway and that it would influence their lives and thelives of their families.

Earlier in the year Egypt featured very heavily in thenews. Even though the pictures have disappearedfrom our screens, the situation there is still difficultand the Bible Society is working hard to reach thoseaffected by the troubles with God’s message of love.Pray that their mobile phone texting, billboard anddistribution campaigns would prove beneficial inmaking God known to the people of Egypt.

Although the Christian population is small in Egypt,there are many people who want the Bible. Praythat the Bible Society there would find ways ofmaking the Bible increasingly more available to thepeople.

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them yourword, which is truth.” (John 17:17)

Egypt

Children participating in a quiz at the ‘Bible World’ attraction in Cairo

DECEMBER: RWANDAHelping to change the lives of orphans ofthe genocide

Interesting Facts:Rwanda is the most densely populated countryin Africa.

Project Focus:Seventeen years on and Rwanda is still trying tocope with the sadness and destruction caused bythe genocide. There are high numbers of or-phans and many of these young people live onthe streets. In an aim to bring God’s fatherlycomfort to these children the Bible Society is in-vesting in a project to distribute Scriptures atnewly-created centres.

This project is supported by the churches inRwanda as they seek to make God’s Word impor-tant in individual lives. Alongside this effort thechurches, in partnership with the Bible Society,are running literacy classes and ‘Faith Comes byHearing’ groups. Working with all ages theseprojects aim to help people engage more withGod’s Word and teach them important life skills.

Prayer FocusPray that as the children receive Bibles they willfeel a sense of belonging and be guided to a newlifestyle.

Ask that God would strengthen the Church through-out Rwanda, giving them a deep desire to reach outto those in need and to provide a welcome basedon the promises of God’s Word.

Pray for the staff members and board of the BibleSociety in Rwanda. Thank God for their commit-ment and enthusiasm as they strive to carry out hiswork.

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, hegave the right to become children of God.” (John1:12)

Rwanda

A small refugee child

News at HomeA Big Jump for Bread!Newtownards woman Loraine Hutton took part in a sponsored para-chute jump during August and organised a church barbecue to raisemoney for the Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) project in Peru. BSNI isgrateful for the enthusiastic way she involved her family and herchurch in supporting this children’s ministry.Other people have been working on ideas to raise support for BibleSociety projects also. One lady has produced a fantastic crosswordpuzzle competition that she is selling to raise funds for Scripture Dis-tribution. Please do let us know what you are up to, it is always agreat encouragement. Remember too if you are on the internet, you can use the JustGivingsponsorship website to channel your fundraising directly to us. Have alook at "http://www.justgiving.com/bsni"

‘Capture’ Sets a High StandardThe standards were high again this year, as Key Stage Three pupilsfrom across Northern Ireland captured images to show how the Bibleremains relevant to today’s society. Allowing pupils to delve furtherinto the stories of Abraham, Moses and Ruth, this competition gavepupils the opportunity to explore what the Bible means to them.

Corey Gallagher from Strabane Grammar School tooksecond place with his photograph “No Other God”based on the Ten Commandments.The winners of the Groups Category were EimearLavery and Hannah McIvor from Oakgrove IntegratedCollege, Londonderry with their photograph "Trust,Faith and Hope" based on the story of Abraham. Run-ners up in this category were Hannah Jones and EmmaCrozier from Omagh Academy with their photograph"No hiding from God" based on the story of Moses.Congratulations to the winners, and to everyone whosent their entries in! All the photographs were of veryhigh standards.

Emily Frazer from Enniskillen Collegiate Gram-mar School came first with her photograph“To-do or not To-do” based on the Ten Com-mandments. “My photo illustrates the 1st and2nd commandments, by hopefully showing thatother things are often put before God and wecan sometimes forget about God in everydaylife. Everything else had been completed on theto-do list except to read the Bible. Instead weshould focus on God and then fill in the gapswith things like watching Eastenders or playingour new game. Reading the Bible should havebeen positioned on the top of the list and shouldhave been ticked off first before everythingelse.”

11One of our supporters has a recording of the King James Bible being read on 15 audio

cassettes. If you know of someone who could use this gift, please ring us at 9032 6577.

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Based on Nehemiah 8:1-12 this year’sBible Sunday is a celebration of God’sWord. This is a powerful passage wherethe walls of Jerusalem have been re-built and the people ask for God’s Wordto be read to them. We pray that theseresources will help renew a passion forScripture in our churches.

Now on our Website:

Bible Sunday 2011

- Sermon Outline

- Prayers

- Project information

- Youth Resources

- Children’s Resources

- Sketch

- World Bible Statistics

www.bsni.co.uk/articles/58-bible-sunday-

2011-2012

Going Further: Possible Ideas forYour ChurchBible Reading Survey Download our Bible Reading Survey to anonymously gain aflavour of the Bible reading habits of your congregation.http://www.bsni.co.uk/download/78

Bible Reading PlanWe have 2 Bible Reading plans available:

- Daily Bible Reading Guide- Through the Bible in a Year

Both are useful tools to assist people in daily Scripturereading. http://www.bsni.co.uk/articles/34-daily-bible-reading-guide

Bible Reading GroupIf you don’t already, consider meeting insmaller groups for accountability in readingBible passages together. Bible Reading planscould be used, or books of the Bible could beworked through together.

Public Scripture ReadingCould your church arrange or host a con-tinuous reading of the New Testament,Psalms or even the entire Bible. Do this ina prominent place for your community tomirror the actions of Ezra.

Copy Scripture by HandFollowing on from our HandwrittenBible Project in 2006/2007, a numberof churches have created their ownHandwritten portion of Scripture.This is a great way to invite the local

community to engage with the Bible. Informationis available from our website at:

http://www.bsni.co.uk/articles/33-your-handwritten-bible-passage

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