Did you know illiteracy rates in Pakistan and the African country of Togo are some of the highest in the world?

Can you imagine not being able to read your Bible – the very thing that is foundational to our faith?

In the little West African country of Togo (highlighted above), Christians like Nfoula (pictured right) are eagerly waiting to read the Bible but can’t because of illiteracy.

“Sometimes I am ashamed of my situation (illiteracy), but today I give thanks to God because soon everything will change by the grace of God,” shares Nfoula Gbati, a 46 year-old farmer.

“I am a member of the Assemblies of God Church. I live in Bikotiba, a village about ten kilometres west of Bassar (North Togo). When I was old enough to go to school my parents said rural work was more important than any other activity and that no one had the right to let us go to school. That is why I am illiterate.

“Today I regret it sincerely because I cannot read important documents the authorities send to promote our rural activities. I cannot even read or write my own name. At meetings, other people take notes for me. I do not want this situation to happen to my children and I struggle so they can have a good education.

“Previously, we did literacy classes at the church for a few weeks. Many of us had registered to take these courses, but unfortunately they were suspended due to lack of resources. Our pastor has told us what the Bible Society of Togo wants to do for the illiterates of our village. I lack words to express my gratitude to God to all those who want to help change the condition of the illiterates that we are. We will continue our prayers.

“May God grant you a hundred fold for what you do for us. I hope this literacy initiative will open a new page in my life. My Christian life will be improved because I will be able to read Bible stories myself and comment on them. And I will be able to participate in church services, which will strengthen my faith in Christ.”

Nfoula knows the life-changing impact literacy will have in his life but he is just one of many.

The Bassar of Togo is an unreached people group of 190,000 and its two key languages are Mina and Bassar. The Bible Society of Togo is especially keen to reach these people as the Bible was translated into these languages just a few years ago.

They want to help churches and communities in this region gain literacy skills in their native languages to be able to engage with the Bible. Illiteracy affects 46% of the Bassar region.

“Once translated, the Bible must be read and understood,” said Togo Bible Society CEO Estelle Akouegnon. She told us their mission is that every Togolese would have access to the Word of God in their own language, the language they understand best.

“The challenge is truly big and we are waiting to see great transformations in the lives of our church members who are mostly illiterate and who have come to register in large numbers for literacy classes,” said Emmanuel Ayi Ajavon (pictured right). He is Pastor of the Togo Methodist Church (Bethany Parish of Agouégan) near the lakes in Aného.

“The Bible in Mina was published by Bible Society in 2014. Many of our members have this Bible but they are still unable to read it because they have not been to school. As soon as the literacy classes were opened, the elderly people of our church and a few young people from the village who were not even attending our church came to express their joy and their enthusiasm for these classes.

“I myself have been particularly touched by the content of the literacy programme which helps in a very short time, the illiterate to read and write. It particularly helps me with Bible study and meditation with the elderly.

“I want to express my gratitude to Bible Society and its partners who supported us and allowed us to really understand, the meaning of this biblical verse, ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; On those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death a light shines.’ (Isaiah 9:2) We have truly come out of the darkness of Scripture ignorance and see the light whenever those who did not read yesterday read it today,” said Pastor Emmanuel.

The light literacy shines is happening in Pakistan where women are particularly affected, with three out of five unable to read or write.

That’s why the Pakistan Bible Society has been working hard over the past 15 years to give thousands of women like Shahida the chance to gain life-changing literacy skills through the biblical Beacon of Light programme.

 “I am Shahida Manzoor (pictured left) and my husband Manzoor Masih works in the fields. Nowadays we have harvesting season and it was very difficult for me to come to join in the programme but due to my desire my husband allowed me to come. Now I can collect the graduation certificate. I am so glad that now I can read the Bible. When I read the Bible with family, my children listen very carefully because I read slowly. When I make a mistake or get stuck, my children laugh and enjoy it. I am thankful to God that I can now read the Bible.”

Parveen Akhtar (pictured below centre) is a literacy teacher, she has been teaching in adult education for two years. “When you go to the home and teach the women to read, this also exposes their men to the Bible stories. I feel very good, that I am doing something for them. It’s very necessary to provide these people education. Very few people go to school, they are very poor. There is a lot less fighting in the families, they have good friendship and fellowship between them now they are following Christian ways,“ commented Parveen.

“Culturally and historically in Pakistan, the woman is the key to the family,” said Pakistan Bible Society CEO Anthony Lamuel (far right in picture). For every Pakistani woman who learns to read and receives Scripture, an average of six additional people will be reached with God’s Word. In addition to sharing the Bible with their family, women tell us their self-esteem is boosted through learning a new skill. They can demand a fair wage for their work as they can read numbers. They can help children with homework and access healthcare by reading things like medicine bottles.

Will you help teach more people to read the Bible today, so they can bring God’s Word into their homes and communities?

You’ll join others in helping more than 7,500 Togolese and 7,000 Pakistan women start the journey to literacy through the Bible in 2017.

“We have a simple mission: the Bible for everyone. Our vision is for people to have the Bible in their chosen language and in their chosen medium and their chosen time. Digital plays a part of that. That’s kind of the simple, common mandate that binds us together.”

Successful global business founder Micheal Perreau, (62), gave it all up for the Bible because it made a difference in peoples’ lives.  After making his fortune and leaving the financial world behind, he and wife Deborah turned their lives over to giving it all back, 90 per cent of it, to helping the poor.

But despite creating jobs for the struggling, about 60,000 jobs in 10 years, Mike said there was a missing component in creating turn-around positions for these people. “As people who are committed to the Bible, we found that the fullness of transformation can best be ascribed to rooting in some of the values that the Bible had to offer,” said Mike.

It was this conviction that led Mike to partner with Bible Society. He has now been Director General of the United Bible Societies for six years.

Bible heroes

During this time he describes many highlights – particularly meeting Bible beneficiaries. “That is my joy, to see individuals’ lives that are being touched as God is narrating his story into their lives.

“Only a few months ago I met an 82-year-old grandmother who was receiving her first Bible. When she heard that the Bible was being made available for the first time in her language, she walked through the bush for six hours just to receive her Bible.”

Mike also talked about his ‘Bible heroes’, people laying down their lives for God’s Word. “I have a Bible hero whose whole family was poisoned for just reading the Bible (after becoming Christians) and he managed to survive and committed his life to make the Bible available to others.

“I have a Bible hero whose father was executed and as a consequence he fled his country on that same day, not know whether the rest of his family was alive, only to find when he ended up as a refugee in France that (some members of his family had made it to Canada),” described Mike.

The Bible is relevant today

Mike says the Bible is still relevant today.  “If we take just some factual evidence, then what we are seeing is that we are now distributing more Bibles than at any time in our history. There is evidence of a hungry spirituality. The question is, how do we make the Bible accessible to a hungry spiritual nation or individual?”

The Bible is Mike’s personal compass

“The Bible is my due north, it’s my daily encounter with the God of grace, it’s the blessing I receive, it’s sustenance when I go through hard times, it’s my operations manual.  The Bible is my companion in life – it would be my wife on one side and my Bible on the other side.”

Original story written by David Adams, Editor of Sight magazine (edited with permission).  View the full story here.

Last year one seaside church in Wellington decided to put into action the principals of Bible Society’s Pass it on campaign with great success.

Church members at St Albans in Eastbourne purchased 70 Bibles which were passed on to children and youth in the wider church family and community at a special Bible Month service. Some Bibles even went to students at Wellesley College.

Here, the then Rev. Dr Eleanor Sanderson, Vicar at St Albans and now newly ordained Anglican Assistant Bishop of Wellington shares about the experience…

“As well as supporting the work of the Bible Society through Bible Month, we wanted to take up your challenge and literally Pass It On. One of the great things about the work of those translating the Bible today is the multi-generational forms that the Bible is now shaped for. The pass it on message of Bible Month felt like a great invitation for our church to really make practical the passing of the gift of the Bible a reality right now amongst our own families and communities.”

“People were really supportive. I specifically sent a message to our prayer e-mail list with the request to purchase more Bibles for particular young people in our community and I had a fantastic response.”

A Bible enthusiast herself, Bishop Eleanor told us how important God’s Word had been to her.

“For me, the Bible has been such an important part of growing and understanding the love of God; both the love that God has for each of us, and this world, and also the love that we can have for God.

“I don’t think I would have found that love for God had it not been for finding the Bible first. Part of my faith story is that as a young teenager I woke one day with a huge urge to go and buy a Bible so that I could find out about God.

“I wasn’t part of a church or a church-going family and so this desire didn’t come from that influence. I got a bus into the nearby city and found a Christian bookshop and bought a little white Bible.

“Lots of the passages in the Bible confused me (and still do!), but through wrestling with them and reading more and more, I definitely found a strong chord of understanding that was a huge part of being drawn closer to making the decision to follow Jesus.

“During the church service I shared how later on in life God asked me to give this Bible away to another young person who was exploring spirituality.

“I shared that in my internal resistance to giving away something so precious, I remembered that God loved this person far more than I loved my precious Bible and so it is always an easy thing to say yes to passing on the gift of the Bible to others.”

Bible Society in India (BSI) is bringing the hope of Jesus to homeless and orphaned children in India.

Through this work, many young lives will be impacted with a first-time introduction to Jesus through the Bible. Taking an holistic approach to mission, Bible Society not only provides children with Bibles, but also notebooks, a quality pair of shoes and a school bag.

Rahul and Rebekah (below right) are just two orphans of an estimated 8 million in India (official figures put the number of orphanages at 850,000).

“These orphanages rely heavily on Church and para-Church organisations to clothe, feed and educate the children. Bible Society is helping support this work through its 16 district offices. The children are always very happy to receive our practical gifts and spiritual support through gifts of Bibles, New Testaments and children’s Scriptures,” says Dr Varghese, BSI Marketing Director.

Christian orphanages can be found in every city and in all rural areas of every state of India. They vary in size, from housing 10 children to as many as 1,500 children or more.

*numbers are difficult to estimate accurately as many births go unregistered and many orphans live on the street.

 

“We have seen that the Word of God sown as a seed in a child’s heart bears much fruit and is a tool in touching and transforming the lives of young children. We expect the Scriptures distributed to orphanages will have a multiplying effect, as children share it with friends at school.”

Dr Varghese, Bible Society of India

This July – New Zealand Bible Month – you can partner with us to help bring the hope of the Bible to orphans and disadvantaged children like Ruth, Rebekah, David, Lalhriatpuii, Anuja and Karishna.

Your gift will go towards helping 50,000 orphans like them receive children’s Bibles, notebooks, shoes and school bags.

Will you prayerfully consider giving the gift of a Bible to a children like these, so bringing the love of God into the life of an orphan?

To make a donation, fill in the form below.  Thank you and God bless you.