The magazine of the Scottish Bible Society

ISSUE 72 : SPRING 2015

Life cycle ofthe BiblePart 1: translation, production, distribution

Enabling the front lineFinance and administration

Standing togetherSupporting Christians in Iraq

Land of a thousand hillsA visit to Rwanda

Hope and peaceProject update from Honduras

WORKINGTOGETHER

Ordering for your church?If your church is planning to purchase large quantities of Bibles or Gospel portions to distribute in your community, you can do this with SBS. Discounts are available if you are buying in bulk.

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Please note delivery charges apply

SPRING 2015

I sometimes wonder if we take it for

granted that we worship a God who

speaks. We often describe the Bible as

God’s written word and the Lord Jesus

as the Living Word (see Hebrews 1: 1-2).

The concept of God speaking is very

reassuring. Without communication

from the living God, how would we ever

know who he is and what he thinks of

us humans. Left to our own devices we

would dream up all sorts of weird and

wonderful things about God.

So, God has taken the initiative and

revealed himself to us. He has not left

us guessing about his existence or his

character. To be sure he has left many

elements of mystery in this revelation,

but he has given us enough to know

that he is not indifferent to us.

In our role of making the Bible available

and accessible we take courage in

these words from Isaiah. God keeps his

promises and so his Word will bear fruit and be nourishing. In this edition of our magazine you will read stories that illustrate how God is working through his Word in the world today. I hope you are encouraged by what you read. But also inspired – to listen to what God is saying more deliberately and regularly. What a privilege and honour it is to know the God who speaks.

Elaine DuncanChief Executive

Welcome

7 Hampton TerraceEdinburgh EH12 5XU

Tel: 0131 337 9701Fax: 0131 337 0641

www.scottishbiblesociety.org

email: info@scottishbiblesociety.org

Scottish Charity No: SC010767Published in March and OctoberChief Executive: Elaine M DuncanCirculation: 40,000

The Scottish Bible Society – a company limited by guarantee

registered in Scotland no. 238687 – registered office as above.

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The magazine of the Scottish Bible Society

Contents4 Life cycle of the Bible Part 1: translation, production, distribution

8 the Bible changes lives Impact of the life cycle of the Bible

10 Enabling the front line Finance and administration

11 Standing together Supporting Christians in Iraq

12 Land of a thousand hills A visit to Rwanda

14 Hope and peace Project update from Honduras

Isaiah 55: 10-11 (NLT)

The views expressed in the features and update articles are not necessarily those of the Society. Reprinting in whole or in part is forbidden, except by permission.

‘The rain and snow come down from the

heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want

it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

2 : 3

The vision of the Scottish Bible

Society is to see communities

and cultures transformed as

people encounter God in the

Bible. Our mission, under God,

is to put the Bible into people’s

hands and hearts, so that all

people can have a Bible in a

language they can understand,

a form they can access and

at an affordable price, to aid

genuine encounters with God.

To achieve our mission, the

life cycle of the Bible is a

framework that helps us focus

on Bible availability, accessibility

and credibility in Scotland and

around the world. The Scottish

Bible Society is a founding

member of the United Bible

Societies – 146 Bible Societies

at work in over 200 countries

and territories. Together, we are

the biggest translator, publisher

and distributor of the Bible

in the world. Around three-

quarters of the world’s Bibles

have been provided by Bible

Societies.

Translation

There are approximately 7,000 languages in use throughout the world but around 4,500 languages have no Scripture in their language at all. That means hundreds of millions of people still don’t have the Bible in their own language. Imagine the opportunities for mission, teaching and discipleship if the Bible was made available to all those still waiting. Imagine what it must be like to finally be able to see the Word of God in a language you understand, and to be able to share his Word with others.

The Bible translation process starts when a local church community identifies the need. A team of translators and partnering agencies come together to develop a plan. Translation work is always done in teams, with local native speakers, as well as experienced translators who know how to work from the Greek and Hebrew source texts. Community consultation is also very important to Bible translation – discussion with, and feedback from, the various local Christian communities is vital to the development of a successful and culturally contextualised translation.

The life cycle

The life cycle of the Bible is a way to describe the transformative work of the Bible Society. In the first of a two-part series exploring the six different parts of the life cycle, we focus on translation, productionand distribution.

Translation

Publication

Distribution

Literacy

Engagement

Advocacy

SPRING 2015

Translation projects can take years to complete and the length of the project can depend on whether it’s the full Bible or just the New Testament being translated, for example. None of this is possible, of course, without the involvement of a lot of other people as well – fundraisers, supporters and

partners around the world.

In a recent report (about

to be published at time of

writing) on global Scripture

access, the United Bible

Societies reports that 47

Bibles, New Testaments and

portions in new translations

were published by Bible

Societies and their partners

across the world in 2014. The new translations have the potential to reach over 80 million people. The majority of these were full Bibles – including 10 first-time translations, giving millions of people the potential to access Scripture (or more Scripture) in their heart language for the first time.

It is so encouraging to see the great strides being made in translating Scripture into more languages and in making it increasingly accessible. Bible Societies, in partnership with other Bible agencies, are currently working hard to complete over 500 translation projects to give more people the opportunity to encounter the life-changing power of God’s Word. We pray for the hundreds of dedicated translation teams working around the world that God will give them wisdom and strength for their vital work.

of the Bible

Translation project in Scotland Our team of translators is making great progress with the modern Gaelic translation of the New Testament and we are hoping to complete the project by the end of this year. Since the Gospel of John was published in 2010, we have had positive feedback and growing interest in the translation project.

Bibles Testaments Portions

No

Scrip

ture

s

526 1,305 845

4,45

5

Number of languages with Scripture, source: United Bible Societies 2014

Alexander Schweitzer, Head of United Bible Societies Global Bible Translation

4 : 5

The life cycleContinued

Digital Bible Library

The United Bible Societies is one of the world’s leading providers of digital Bibles, making hundreds of Bible translations and versions freely accessible to millions of people around the world. The library, which hosts Bible texts owned by Bible Societies and other Bible agencies, can be accessed on the free YouVersion Bible app on mobile phones and tablet devices. The languages represented are spoken by more than 4 billion people!

Thousands of Gospels

distributed in Scotland

Last year, the Scottish Bible Society was at the forefront

of one of the largest Scripture distribution projects in

Scotland for decades. Over three quarters of a million Penny

Gospels were distributed and an estimated 2,000 copies

of this sports-themed Gospel of Luke were given out each

day in Glasgow during the

Commonwealth Games period.

Production

Once a Bible has been translated, printing physical copies of the Bible or producing Braille, audio and digital formats of the Scriptures takes place. Bibles are printed across the world with South Korea, Brazil and China being the largest providers of Scriptures for Bible Society work.

In South Korea, the Korean Bible Society prints Scriptures for more than 100 countries in 162 languages. Their printing press is located in the city of Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Around 5 million Bibles are printed each year. The largest numbers of Scriptures are printed in Spanish, Swahili and English.

The Bible Society of Brazil

prints Scriptures for more than 100 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Their printing press is located in the city of Barueri, São Paulo. Around 8.5 million Bibles are printed each year and around twenty percent of the Bibles are exported to other countries. The languages printed include Spanish, English, French, Arabic and Yoruba.

In China, more than 100 million Bibles have been printed at the Amity Printing Company in Nanjing since 1988. Over 60 million copies have been produced for China alone. The United Bible Societies has enjoyed a long relationship with the Amity Printing Company. In 1985, the China Christian Council approached the leaders of United Bible Societies

SPRING 2015

6 : 76 : 7

In the next edition of

our magazine, we will

focus on the other

three activities of the

life cycle of the Bible:

literacy, engagement

and advocacy.

Buying a Bible in Scotland may

be relatively straightforward,

but getting the Bible into

people’s hands in some

places around the world

can be challenging. Brazil is

famous for its highly populous

cities of Rio de Janeiro and

São Paolo. However, in the

north of the country lies the

Amazon rainforest. It spans

nine countries and three time

zones. It accounts for 40%

of the entire South American

continent and the majority

of the rainforest is contained

in Brazil. For the past 50

years, the Bible Society of

Brazil and its partners have

travelled thousands of miles

in the Society’s ‘Light of the

Amazon’ boats to reach people living in isolated and deprived communities along the Amazon river. As well as distributing Scripture, they bring medical, educational, social and spiritual support to thousands of people each year.

Distribution

Bible Societies work with churches and other agencies to put the Bible into people’s hands. We are committed to making it available and affordable to all people. Each year, millions of Bibles and Scripture portions are distributed around the world in different formats that suit people’s needs.

of the Bible

Global Scripture distribution, source United Bible Societies 2012

and expressed the idea of

working together to build a

Bible printing press in China.

In the same year, a printing

company was established and

Bible Societies shipped 100

MT (metric ton) of Bible paper

to the printing press because

such quality thin paper was

not produced in China in those

days. China now produces the

high quality and light weight

Bible paper and importing Bible

paper at a higher cost from

abroad is no longer necessary.

This helps to control cost and

allows the Bibles to be sold at

an affordable price. Amity prints

Scriptures in more than 90

different languages including

English, German, Spanish,

French and many African

languages.

6 : 7

the BIBLE changes lives

Thanks to the prayers

and generosity of our

supporters, here are

some of the people

whose lives have

been transformed

through translation,

production and

distribution projects

around the world.

UruguayDistribution

The Bible Society of Uruguay supports churches in bringing God’s Word to deprived districts in the capital city, Montevideo, and

to rural communities 400 miles away. For ten years, distribution manager Samuel Duarte

criss-crossed Uruguay in a small van with 250,000 miles on the clock in order to reach

churches, schools and bookshops. The van needed regular expensive repairs and was at

risk of breaking down in a remote area.

You helped support the Bible Society with the purchase of a new vehicle that covers the

whole country reliably and is stocked with Scripture materials able to meet the needs of

Uruguay’s people.

IndiaTranslation

India is an incredibly diverse nation – 13 times larger than the UK and with a population of over 1.2 billion. It is estimated that there are over three thousand languages in use throughout the

country. The Bible Society of India is already providing God’s Word in 135 different languages and you helped support teams of translators who are currently working on translating the Bible into

a further 25 languages.

“I was the first Christian in our family. When I told them that I was going to be baptized, my family disapproved. In addition, I refused to join in with my family’s sacrificial rituals. My parents

told me that I was doing something stupid. But the Bible had touched my heart, so I didn’t give up. Now my husband is helping with a translation into the Apatani language, so very soon we will

have our own Bible – it will help more people to understand the Word of God.” – Tallo, India

EthiopiaDistribution

In Ethiopia, around 70% of the population cannot read. You helped the

Bible Society of Ethiopia to produce audio Bibles, known as ‘Proclaimers’,

that have given thousands of people the opportunity to hear the Gospel.

“For the first time I felt joy and peace in my life. I repented of my sin and

accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour … Jesus has set me free and

made me a new creation.” – Bedilu, Ethiopia

SPRING 2015

8 : 9

PapuaNew Guinea

Translation

There are 840 indigenous languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. Local groups have approached the Bible

Society for assistance and guidance to carry out translation work. Often

the groups are in remote areas, working in isolation. With your help, we are funding translation projects

for eight of these languages.

Nelson (right) worked on the translation of the Kirivili Bible, which

was launched in 2012. After a day’s work, he had spent every night for

the past few decades translating the Scriptures by hand under the dim light of a kerosene lamp until the

early hours of the morning. Nelson and his collaborators carried out their rough work on a blackboard and then

handwrote the text, carbon copies of which were eventually sent to

Canberra for inputting to a computer. Like the other local translators,

Nelson made enormous sacrifices to ensure that the Kiriwina people now

have access to God’s Word.

IndiaTranslation

India is an incredibly diverse nation – 13 times larger than the UK and with a population of over 1.2 billion. It is estimated that there are over three thousand languages in use throughout the

country. The Bible Society of India is already providing God’s Word in 135 different languages and you helped support teams of translators who are currently working on translating the Bible into

a further 25 languages.

“I was the first Christian in our family. When I told them that I was going to be baptized, my family disapproved. In addition, I refused to join in with my family’s sacrificial rituals. My parents

told me that I was doing something stupid. But the Bible had touched my heart, so I didn’t give up. Now my husband is helping with a translation into the Apatani language, so very soon we will

have our own Bible – it will help more people to understand the Word of God.” – Tallo, India

ChinaProduction

In five years, the Amity Printing Company in China doubled the number of Bibles printed. You helped millions of people to receive the Bible in China and across the world in different formats.

For example, the first Mandarin Braille Bible published in China after the Cultural Revolution, was produced in 1996 by Amity. Ma Wei, a visually impaired staff worker, was there in 1995

helping to typeset and proof-read the Braille Bible. Through his work, he became a Christian.

“God guided me to the place where Scriptures for the blind are printed so that I could encounter his Word. This has opened my heart to receive Christ Jesus as my Savior and to

become a child of God.”

8 : 9

What is the primary role of your department?In simple terms, the department ensures that our organisation complies with all charity and corporate governance legislation, our staff have a good and healthy environment to work in, and of course that we correctly record and monitor our finances, while utilising our assets to allow us to carry out our mission work. We want to be able to demonstrate our transparency and integrity with our supporters about how, where and when we distribute their financial support.

You work in a team of four

people. How do your roles

differ?

Caroline is our Financial

Controller who is responsible for

maintaining our financial books

and records. Jacqualine is our

Business Administrator who

looks after all legacies, insurance,

contracts and our IT equipment,

and gives me secretarial support.

Keith, the Office Services

Administrator, is primarily

responsible for maintaining our

building. We’re a small team and

as a result there are many strings

to everyone’s bow.

You’ve recently taken up this

post. What attracted you to

working for SBS?

The answer to this comes in two

parts. Previously I worked in the

corporate world of business and

after what can be described as

a successful period, I was left

feeling that I was only making

a positive impact on client’s

pockets and not much of a ‘God

impact’. Climbing the career

ladder was becoming less

fulfilling. Secondly, in the past

few years I’ve become involved

in a small charity project in Haiti,

working with a local church to

build a school. This led me to

seek God’s guidance on whether

or not I should be using my skill

set to work with an organisation

with God at the centre. We are all

God’s workers and ambassadors,

whether we work for a secular or

Christian employer, but I felt the

call to come and work specifically

for a Christian organisation.

What does a typical day for the Director of Finance and Administration consist of?

I’m delighted to say that in my short time here, I’ve not yet experienced a typical day. It can vary from meeting with financial advisors, preparing financial figures or reading reports about the building’s lightening rods! All different but each task focused on making sure we’re serving God and being responsible to our supporters.

front lineEnabling the

In most organisations,

you’ll find a finance and

administration team

to ensure it operates

smoothly. We meet the

newly appointed director,

Ross McFarlane.

Ross took up his role at the end of 2014 when Ian Lawson retired from the post. Ian spent 11 years working for the Scottish Bible Society. We thank Ian for his hard work, commitment to SBS and for his colourful characteristics that made him enjoyable to work with.

SPRING 2015

The Bible Society has been helping the persecuted Christian community in Iraq for a number of years, providing struggling families with aid packages containing food, medicine, hygiene items and Scriptures. The onslaught of Islamic State (IS), which now controls vast areas of Iraq, has created an unprecedented crisis for the already suffering Christian population.

Christians have been expelled from their homes by IS with little more than the clothes on their backs and have been robbed of their possessions. Along with other Iraqi people displaced by IS, thousands are moving to refugee camps like Erbil where the conditions are basic. They desperately need to receive the Bible Society’s aid packages, as well as blankets to keep warm and toys for children to play with.

“So many Christians are arriving

here in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, that the government is saying that it won’t be able to meet all their needs,” says Nabil. “We are trying our best to provide practical aid, including food packages and medicine, as well as Scriptures to give them spiritual support, but there isn’t enough for everyone. There is a huge and urgent need for aid to support these desperate Christian refugees. Their lives depend on it.”

During his visit to Scotland, Nabil travelled the country to bring this news to over six hundred people through church meetings, conferences and a visit to the Scottish Parliament. In addition to asking for prayer and financial support for the refugee camps, he highlighted the trauma that many people have suffered and the need for doctors and trained councillors to help with the psychological as well as physical healing.

During his most recent visit to Scotland, Nabil

from the Bible Society in Iraq shared an eyewitness account of the desperate

situation in Iraq and asked us to stand

together in prayer.

Together

Nabil (centre) in the Garden Lobby of the Scottish Parliament after a meeting with MSPs

Standing

The Scottish Bible Society has committed to supporting our colleagues working in Iraq to provide practical aid, Scriptures and resources to help with trauma healing. Through prayer and generous financial gifts, we ask that God will bring an end to their suffering and heal this nation.

10 : 11

Last year, a team of eight consisting of staff and volunteers visited the Bible Society of Rwanda. Norman Liddle, Community Partnership Manager reports on some of the experiences he and the group encountered.

A landlocked country in

central Africa with mountains

dominating the landscape in

the west, they call Rwanda the

‘land of a thousand hills’. Sadly

however, Rwanda is probably

best known for the terrible

genocide that took place as

recently as twenty years ago.

In 100 days from 6 April to 16

July 1994, an estimated one

million Tutsis and Hutus were

slaughtered. During this period,

more than 6 men, women and

children were murdered every

minute of every hour of every

day. This was one of the darkest

moments of human history.

I was so humbled when I met

Marcellin, a man who suffered

terribly during the genocide. He

was hunted down and his name

was on a death list. His wife and

one of his three children were

killed along with 98 members

of his wider family. Despite this,

Marcellin works tirelessly as

a volunteer promoting peace

and reconciliation. He goes

into prisons visiting men who

are serving time for crimes

committed during the genocide

sharing stories of forgiveness

and hope from the Bible.

The theme of reconciliation

is the focus of one of the

projects we visited. The Bible

Society brings together groups

of widows, drawn from both

sides of the conflict, to study

the Bible. This group work

leads to deeper discussions

as they do practical work

together such as making

baskets or planting vegetables.

Through talking and sharing

with each other the healing

process starts. A community

has now been established that

understands that both sides

have painful memories. The

tears still flow freely but so

does the compassion and care

for each other as the impact

of Bible teaching is seen in the

new lives being lived in these

communities. Now they no

longer call themselves Tutsi or

Hutu, but Rwandan.

As I watched these women

sitting, chatting and laughing

together as they wove baskets,

I wondered to myself if I could

have done the same? Would I

be able to reach this level of

forgiveness and reconciliation?

The emotion I experienced

here was not one of hatred but

of joy. Using Bibles provided

by the Bible Society, a biblical

framework for forgiveness and

reconciliation is being taught.

I could see that the Gospel

message is clearly helping the

women in this difficult and

challenging process. They feel

enabled to move forward.

Our group, consisting of Pete

Chirnside, Moira McCarrell,

Andrew McGurk, Kiki Macrae,

Alex Mitchell, Martin Thomson

and Andy Wallace, was involved

in a variety of tasks during

the visit. We helped local

people with some gardening,

painting buildings and

constructing houses. At the

Remera Presbyterian hospital

in Rukoma, we prepared

food for patients who were

Land of aTHOUSAND HILLS

SPRING 2015

in hospital because of AIDS. Here the volunteers from the Bible Society’s Good Samaritan Project cook food and give Bibles and spiritual support to patients. As I worked alongside some of the volunteers from local churches, they talked about how they were looking beyond the stigma of the disease and taking inspiration from the parable of the Good Samaritan, showing practical love and care in spite of their own poverty.

Poverty is a big challenge for Rwandans. It’s one of the poorest countries in the world. The average income is £2 per week. The major religion in the country is Christianity but with the cost of a Bible at £4, not everyone who wants a Bible can afford one. During our visit, we were able to distribute Bibles through projects like the Good Samaritan. It was such an amazing privilege when I gave someone their first-ever Bible. Just to see the look of joy on their face and watch them immediately start to read it, lost in the Word and oblivious to anyone around them was delightful.

There’s so much more I could share about this visit. It has deeply moved me and will be an experience I will never forget. I know my colleagues from the group feel the same way which is why we would like the opportunity to tell you more

about the transformative work of the Bible Society in Rwanda.

Throughout this year, we are asking our supporters to pray, give generously and hold events to raise the awareness of Bible-based projects in Rwanda. The funds raised can help to buy and distribute Bibles, teach people to read, train people to run Bible Studies and assist people in a variety of different groups such as trauma healing and AIDS support groups.

Land of aTHOUSAND HILLS

To find out more, pray or give to the projects in Rwanda and to request Norman or one of the volunteers from the visit to speak at your church or at a meeting in your community, call us on 0131 347 9812 or email norman.liddle@scottishbiblesociety.org

Thank you for supporting Bible Society projects in Honduras – one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Your gifts are giving many people the opportunity to engage with the Bible, helping to bring hope and peace to this country.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world. Poverty, gangs and crime are part of daily life, driven by a culture of widespread corruption and violence.

In November 2012 Angel López, the Bible Society’s Project Co-ordinator, was shot and killed on his way to work, shortly after dropping his young daughter off at school. The crime was not punished and was classified as a ‘fluke’. Sadly, attacks such as this are not unusual. In fact all of the Bible Society staff have been personally affected by violent crime in some way.

With the support of the government the Bible Society is taking action, working to bring peace to Honduras by sharing the Gospel with children and young people as an alternative path to becoming a gang member, and also with those involved in bringing criminals to justice, including members of the police force, the military, judges and prosecutors. Over the next three years 35,700 Bibles and New Testaments will be distributed.

At the project launch in October, Minister of Defence Samuel Reyes explained that the government is looking to the Bible as the source of hope for Honduras’ future and is prayerfully trusting God in

their efforts to bring about

change. “On behalf of myself

and President Juan Orlando

Hernández, I thank the Bible

Society for the gift of these

Bibles for our Armed Forces,”

said Mr Reyes, “Honduras is

changing weapons, from guns

and knives to Bibles.”

As well as distributing

Scriptures, the Bible Society is

working alongside churches and

other Christian organisations

to help people to actively

engage with the Word of God.

The Roman Catholic Church

is running a prison ministry in

every jail in the country. At the

national training college for the

Police Force, which is known

to be one of the most corrupt

institutions in the country

and at times responsible

for violence, the National

Evangelical Association has

been given permission to teach

‘Biblical Ethics’, encouraging

police officers to adopt biblical

principles in relation to justice.

HopePeaceand

SPRING 2015

The Bible Society’s project

is still in its early days and it

will take time to bring about

a significant level of change

in the country. However, God

is changing people’s hearts,

and already there has been a

noticeable reduction in violence.

“Juticalpa [in central-eastern

Honduras] has changed

because of God’s Word,” says

Pastor Samuel Cárdenas, “It

was a land of drug trafficking.

Now we are reaching more than

170 police – 30 of them have

accepted Jesus.”

“I was in prison for thirteen

and a half years,” says Pastor

Tercero, “I found Jesus in that

place thanks to reading the

Bible. Now I am free and every

week I go back to prison in San

Pedro Sula [‘The Murder Capital

of the World’], Yoro, Olanchito

and Tela to preach and to reach

prisoners for Jesus.”

Thank you for supporting the

Bible Society’s work and helping

to bring peace to people’s lives.

Please continue to pray for

Honduras that God may quickly

bring about peace and greater

justice.

Please pray:• Thank God for opening the doors to distribute Bibles to so many people; for the support of government

agencies and President Juan Orlando Hernández.

• Pray that God will bring healing to Honduras – that people will be able to live without fear and that violence will cease to be ‘normal’.

• Remember the Bible Society’s work reaching out to young people, and Bible teaching in the National Police School and prison ministries. As people read and explore the Bible may they know God’s love and choose to take on board biblical values in relation to peace and justice.

14 : 15

SPRING 2015

Bible MeditationThe rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Isaiah 55: 10-11 (NLT)

These questions may help you as you explore the text:

• Verse 10 conjures up an image of abundant

fruitfulness. Why do you think Isaiah chose that

picture to describe God’s Word?

• In what ways is God’s Word nourishing?

• What sort of fruit do you think God’s Word produces?

• Identify the nourishment and fruitfulness of God’s

Word in your life.

• What are the evidences of this fruitfulness in your

church?

Take some time to read and meditate on these verses.

It will be helpful if you also read the whole of Isaiah 55.