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Audio Bible for American Chaplains and Troops
According to a ministry report from last Thursday, 15,000 audio Bibles were shipped to American chaplains and troops serving in Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The national director of Faith Comes By Hearing, Troy Carl says that "Last year, Faith Comes By Hearing felt burdened to bring the Word of God in audio to our nation's military community. So, we developed a specialized, portable audio player just for their use--camouflaged and loaded with the dramatized New Testament--and sent it to those who are deployed or deploying."
Originally, the audio Bibles come in the form of the BibleStick - a digital audio player with a performed version of the New Testament, just about the size of a pack of gum. However to retain camouflage and efficiency, the military version has the same slim figure, but it also takes on the necessary accommodations needed for the troops. The military version is black instead of white, so as not to stand out at night, and has a red light instead of the usual green.
One Army chaplain said, “My soldiers are on the roads every day hauling supplies. Convoys can last up to 48 hours, and they can't take much with them. These BibleSticks easily fit inside their cargo pockets so when they're on break, they can take a few minutes to hear the Word of God and be spiritually edified." A former military reporter and the now media director of Faith Comes By Hearing, Jon Wilke, reports that some soldiers even have many end-of-life questions. In this sense, the word of God provides much solace to the troops.
Faith Comes By Hearing, the world’s foremost audio Bible ministry, has been distributing these military BibleSticks to chaplains since last June, and as of late August, about15,000 have been given out with another 12,000 requested by chaplains. The BibleSticks are given freely to chaplains` and troops, and are paid for by donations to the Faith Comes By Hearing ministry.
According to Troy Carl, more and more chaplains are requesting to receive the "spiritual resources" for the members of their units. "This is a wonderful way to engage in Scripture for those serving our country in so many trying and troubled spots of the world," Carl said.
Nepalese Evangelism Made Possible by JESUS Film
Nepal, a country that was once the only government-declared Hindu kingdom of the world, became a democratic republic in 2006 under the leadership of a Maoist party. After this change, many Christian ministries began taking advantage of the new opportunities. One among these ministries is the Campus Crusade for Christ’s JESUS Film Project, an endeavor that teams with a number of other churches in Nepal, including the Baptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and Nazarene churches.
According to John Conner, the director of the JESUS Film Partnership of Global Partners, “The JESUS film is the most effective tool that we have ever used for evangelism, lay leadership mobilization and church planting. I really believe that to be true."
Global Partners presented the JESUS film to about 422, 000 viewers last year in Nepal and 13 other countries. Consequently, Global Partners, working as a missionary branch of the Wesleyan Church, has also been able to plant an average of two church every week over the past five years.
The power of the Gospel has been increasingly evident thoughout many of the viewings of the JESUS film. At one showing, a well-known animistic shaman was delivered of a demon that had plagued him for years. He confessed his faith in Jesus for salvation, and film team members laid hands upon him and prayed until the demon surrendered to God's power. At another showing, two-sibling Hindu priest became Christian and began to attend church with fellow Christians after intense discussion about their ritualistic faith.
Connor says that while the first Wesleyan missionaries went out in 1889, the JESUS Film, has been the most effective tool they have ever used in evangelism, lay leadership mobilization, and church planting. It has also been used to revive existing churches. A recent survey shows that 80 percent of Nepal’s church leaders have received discipleship or training from the Campus Crusade staff. In country of about 30 million, the number of believers has grown from 50 in 1983 to a recent estimate of 2 million.
While this growth is wonderful, it is also amidst constant shadows. Hindu strongholds constantly continue to threaten believers and it is in the midst of these surroundings that the JESUS Film Project and Nepal’s Campus Crusade for Christ have made such impacts in the Gospel mission.
The Christian Walk Bible released in Bangalore.
A new Bible that aims to edify Christians reading Scriptures was released by Ven. Babu Upadeshi, the president of Inter-Denominational Christian Fellowship (IDCF), in Bangalore.The 'Christian Walk Bible' – dubbed as India’s first English Study Bible in the King James Version – was drawn up to lead Christians "to a life of holiness through fasting prayer, and to enlighten, encourage and empower our walk with Christ."The director of the Bible Society of India, Dr E Leelavathi Manasseh, inaugurated the launch ceremony of the Bible.A brainchild of Bro. Mathews Vergis, founder of the Word To World Foundation, the Bible was designed following many stumbling in their Christian walk "because they fail to understand and apply the Word of God appropriately.""Millions of Christians plunge into sin because Biblical truths and principles are diluted and distorted by false teachings and heresies thus destroying their holiness," says Vergis. The Christian Walk Bible vies to "lead the children of God in truth, to holiness with more and more expositions of the Word of God."Vergis, who is the executive editor, had previously translated the Gospel of Mark to the Jenu Kurumba language spoken by about 65,000 people. He also translated the New Testament into the Paniya language spoken by the down-trodden Paniya ethnic group, comprising a population of over 90,000.At the release function, former MP and former Police Commissioner, H T Sangliana, described the Christian Walk Bible as a guideline to reach heaven without falling. The Bible, apart from the 'Red Letter Edition' and 'Subtitles', includes distinct features such as 'Think It Over', 'Learning From Their Lives' and 'Milestones To The Gateway'.
Graves of three missionaries restored in India.
The graves of three important missionaries to India have been restored after being neglected for 150 years, after the West Bengal Heritage Commission declared the graves as Category A heritage sites. The cemetery in Serampore has completed excavation and restoration by the Indian Natioanl Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. It took two years to complete the cemetery, which contained the graves of William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward, due to the fact that as excavating was going on, 17 additional graves were found of missionaries who worked with Carey. Poor draining caused waterlogging of all the graves, and additional time was needed as a result to construct a new drainage system and cleaning of the graves. Carey, Marshman, and Ward, also known as the Serampore Trio, founded the Serampore College in 1818, the first college to award a degree in Asia. In addition, Carey and Marshman, together, translated the Bible into many different Indian languages for the common man.
NIV Revisions Underway.
On August 31, 2009, Zondervan, along with the Committee on Bible Translation, and the International Bible Society, announced their plans to revise the 25 year old New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, and to discontinue sales of the TNIV, Today's New International Version. The NIV, first came out in 1978, in an attempt to provide a translation with the everyday language of the 20th century. It was later revised in 1984, and is currently the most popular of all modern translations, with more 300 million copies having been sold worldwide. The TNIV, released in 2002, has drawn lots of controversy in its translation, due to its attempt to be gender neutral, which scholars say diverge from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts of the Bible. The Committee of Bible Translation is expected to finish the translation by late 2010, with publishing to occur in 2011, the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.
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