Real Stories

'I wish I had learned this earlier!’ says student aged 75

Mrs Bala, a member of Chourkhuli (Anglican) Church of Bangladesh at Kotalipara, in Gopalgonj District, in South West Bangladesh, is now 75.

As a little girl, she was keen on learning to read and write, but owing to her family’s poverty and some other problems she never got opportunity.

And once she had married her husband, she dedicated herself to domestic chores, taking care of the animals and, in due course, of their children.

Decided to teach
But that routine is now in the distant past. Her three sons and three daughters have long grown up and all now have families of their own.

And as Mrs Bala entered her seventies, she realised she had more free time. When she learned that her church was going to host a class to help people who could not read or write, and that would it also help them to understand Bible stories, she decided to attend.

The classes, which included Bible-listening sessions and a sharing-and-discussion session, were held on five days a week. The Bengali Bibles and learning materials were all published and supplied by the Bangladesh Bible Society. Mrs Bala found it all so helpful that she never missed a class. Little by little she learned to read and write – and that included reading the Bible.

And so impressed was she by what she learned from the Bible stories that she thought they would be helpful for others in her family, too, so she decided to teach them herself – specifically her daughter-in-law, her grandsons and her granddaughters.

Mrs Nirmala recently finished the two-year literacy course and on completing it she was awarded a graduation certificate and her own copy of the Bible. Nowadays she reads that Bible regularly. But she still remembers the difficulty she once had in reading and writing – and in understanding the stories of the Bible.

Nevertheless she is delighted to have gained such knowledge herself and to be able pass on the good teaching to others.

“I wish I had learned this earlier,” she says, “then I could have told more people!”

(Source: United Bible Societies)

The burden of the prophet’s condemnation

by Dr Edesio Sánchez, Translation Consultant for the UBS Americas Area

Dr Edesio Sánchez, Translation Consultant for the UBS Americas AreaThe astonished and exultant cry ‘God speaks my language!’ is familiar from countless launches of a Scripture in a ‘new’ language. But for the man in the following story, the realisation went significantly further: not only did God speak his language, he wanted to say something to him straightaway.

In all my many years as a Translation Consultant, one of the most rewarding and touching experiences I have had occurred when I was holding a checking session with the translation team working on the Tzotzil: Chenaloa translation project in Chiapas, Mexico.

Experiences and testimonies of this kind have been witnessed by me and, I am sure, by many of my colleagues. In almost every instance, they happen when men and women are confronted by the Word of God in their own language, the language of their heart, the one they learned at their mother’s bosom.

The team were engaged on translating the whole Bible, and this particular stage involved checking some of the history books of the Old Testament. On Tuesday morning, just before our coffee break, a member of the team who had not translated nor revised 2 Samuel was reading aloud the story of David's sins told in chapters 11 and 12.

Uncomfortable

I noticed that as he came to the end of chapter 11, he seemed to become really uncomfortable with what he was reading. But when he reached the end of the parable that Nathan tells in order to condemn David (2 Sam 12:1-7), and heard his own voice saying: “You are the man!”, he could not bear it any more and started to cry.

For several minutes he was unable to say a word. Finally, through tears and sobs, he managed to say, “I am just like David! A sinner – unworthy of the job I'm doing as a translator and reviser!”

Then he added, “For years I have read and heard this story many times… but this time, reading it and hearing it in my own language, the story has struck deep to my heart, and challenged me to acknowledge my sins and ask God for forgiveness.”

At that moment, we stopped being a checking translation team and became a “church” (Mt 18: 20); we prayed for this man, for his family, for his ministry and, above all, for his forgiveness and restoration.

(Source: United Bible Societies)

Update from Haiti - June 25

Thousands flock to receive replacement Bibles in Haiti

About 1000 people in the roofless Tabernacle de Gloire church in Port-au-Prince lined up to receive Creole Bibles to replace those they lost in the earthquake.While billions of US dollars of international aid are pouring in to help restore essential services to Haitians, the Haitian Bible Society (HBS), with help from Bible Societies across the world, is distributing tens of thousands of Bibles to replace those lost in the earthquake.

Having already distributed 200,000 Scripture Selections and Portions since February, the HBS is now hard at work giving out 28,000 Creole Bibles, which arrived in the country in early May. More than 11,000 copies have been distributed so far.

The Bibles are deeply appreciated by Haitian Christians, as Gerd Persson, UBS Americas Program Consultant, found during a recent visit to the country.

“I went with the HBS to distribute more than 1,000 Bibles in some of the many tented camps that have been set up,” she says. “People were so eager to get a copy that they started fighting and when there were no more Bibles to give out, a riot broke out!

My people don't have anything
“‘My people don’t have anything,’ HBS Program Coordinator Marie Carme Derivois told me, ‘and when you don’t have anything, only God’s Word can bring you comfort - that’s why they are fighting for a Bible.’”

Ms Persson also visited several churches in the Port-au-Prince area and witnessed a great eagerness for Bibles there too.

“People had walked for miles in the early dawn to attend the 6.00am service at the Tabernacle de Gloire church, many carrying their own chairs,” she recalls. “There were about 4,000 people there. The church does not have a roof but nobody seemed to mind – they were there to worship God, and they did it with feeling.

“When the announcement was made that Bibles were to be given to those who had lost their copies during the earthquake, at least 1,000 people lined up to receive one. I saw many kissing their new Bibles. It was very moving to be there.”

Prayers still needed

Ms Persson, who first visited Haiti shortly after the earthquake struck, says that although there is some evidence that the rebuilding and clean up efforts are making a difference, there is still much work to be done.

“The rubble that was lying across all the streets during my last visit has now been cleared in many places but most of the destroyed buildings look just the same,” she notes. “People are very disappointed because they feel that little has been done to ease their pain and discomfort. Many thousands are still living in tents. Haiti is still a country in great distress and they need our prayers.”

(Source: United Bible Societies)

Bibles improve attitudes and behaviour in US jails

In the minds of many, prisons are one of the last places people go to find hope. Television news reports often show the poor living conditions, the overcrowding and general lack of humanity the incarcerated must endure every day.

In the midst of such despair, prisoners often seek the Word of God for comfort and help. Unfortunately, Bibles are a rarity in prisons. In fact, only about one per cent of correctional facilities in the US have the budget to purchase Scriptures or Bibles. Often, inmates do not even have access to a Bible unless its costs are personally covered by chaplains or prison volunteers.

The American Bible Society (ABS) launched God Sets You Free, a Bible and Scripture Portion distribution program, to address this problem. With its partner American Rehabilitation Ministries, ABS has helped thousands of prisoners find redemption, hope and peace in God's Word.

Beneficial attitudes and behavioursThe impact is truly remarkable. A sample survey of 100 inmates showed that approximately 96 had adopted more beneficial attitudes and behaviours such as speaking respectfully, forgiving others, praying and showing kindness — which they attributed to having their own Bibles.

Lataysha S., an inmate at Collier County Jail in Naples, Florida, says, “When I first got here, I thought it was a punishment. Now I see it was God's way of getting my attention and focus back on him and his Word. My incarceration has become a blessing to me.”

(Source: ABS Record Online, May 2010)

Ukrainian prisoners tell of God's Word at work
There are some 200,000 prisoners in Ukraine. Ukrainian Bible Society is among the organisations seeking to change prisoners’ lives and prepare them for a fresh start once they are released. The following testimonies show how God’s Word – in formats including the Scripture-based booklets supplied by the Society – is at work among prisoners.

I was born and grew up in Lviv. My parents allowed me a lot of freedom from an early age. I grew up on the street and started to drink, smoke and steal. By 25 I had three convictions for various crimes, including once in which the victim died. Alone in my prison cell, I cried to God, “Where are you? Why is there so much evil in my life?” But when I started to attend Christian meetings I began to understand the reason for my troubles. I started reading the Bible and at last I discovered that God was always close to me, but I was simply blind. It was a wonderful day when my eyes opened and I accepted the Lord. I know that God will lead me out of here and I will not disgrace myself. - Yuri

In prison I met a Christian who also was a drug addict. I wondered why he was always smiling and did not use foul language, so I asked him. He told me about Jesus Christ and his death and said that he can change me. I started to attend Christian meetings. In time I was baptized and now I live a wonderful life. I don’t want to return to my previous life, as my life today is Jesus. This strengthens me and gives me confidence. I am thankful to the Lord for my wonderful salvation. - Anatoliy

>> More stories

STORIES FROM THE GROUND - Hope for Haiti

Update - February 26

Report from Gerd Persson, UBS Program Consultant

The three days spent in Port-au-Prince has marked my life forever. To see the devastation from the earthquake with my own eyes was more than I could ever imagine. All those buildings, the cars, the collapsed houses - just gone!

Port-au-Prince Cathedral (the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) stands in ruins after the earthquake of January 2010.An earthquake of this magnitude hitting a country already lacking in decent housing, roads or public utilities like water and electricity make the challenges of reconstruction almost unimaginable. Key buildings, including the presidential palace, Parliament, the Justice Ministry and the main prison have collapsed. I saw desperate people picking through the masses of rubble to find something they could use. I drove by tented cities where several thousands of people are living as they have nowhere else to go. Many people have made temporary shelters on the walkways as those who still have homes are too scared to stay inside. The frequent aftershocks are leaving people in a state of constant stress and anxiety. 

Yesterday, we were shaken by two aftershocks with a magnitude on the Richter scale of 4.7. The first one happened in the early morning.  I was woken up by my bed shaking. The second one happened when we were at the Bible House. We ran outside as fast as we could. People are so traumatised and every time they fear the worst again.  We didn’t go back inside. Instead Magda invited the staff to her house and we had a beautiful time of sharing and praying outside in the yard at the back of her house. I delivered greetings from Melvin and the Service Organizaton staff in Miami.  It was such a beautiful time in God’s presence. I asked everyone to share their experience from the earthquake and each one said that God had had his hand over them and all considered it a miracle that they were still alive.

In spite of the trauma that everyone has gone through the staff were in good spirits.  However, I did get a sense that were worried.  One of the translators, Ambreu Jean Berniste, said, “The earthquake is supposed to be over, but it’s not over in our minds. We feel sick”.

Pasteur Paurice, the Translation Coordinator, said, “We can’t concentrate on our work right now. We need to be part of the distribution of the Selections and Portions and engage ourselves with people.” I told him that they need to take time to heal and recover and not to feel pressure.

The staff are devoted to fulfilling the Haitian Bible Society mission of giving the Word to all and, I am sure, will overcome this difficult time. They know that God’s Word is critical for spiritual strength in the midst of tragedy.

Magda Victor (left), General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society, stands with Gerd Persson, UBS Program Consultant in the Americas region, in Port-au-Prince nearly six weeks after the earthquake which struck on January 12, 2010The 200,000 Portions arrived without problems on Monday night by truck from the Dominican Republic as well as the 100,000 Selections. These publications have been funded by donations to the Bible Societies Haiti Earthquake project. Magda has developed a distribution plan engaging every staff member and church volunteers, concentrating in first place on the enormous tented cities among those who have literally lost everything. Magda said, “I want to grasp every opportunity”.

At 1am this morning an even stronger aftershock woke me up, magnitude 4.8. Scary! I slept the rest of the night in a tent that Magda has erected in her backyard.

Magda is so thankful to whole UBS Fellowship who have stepped in to help and pray. She kept repeating it over and over. She is overwhelmed by the love and compassion that has been shown by everybody.
 
I’m happy that I finally could make my visit. I am blessed.

> Canadian Bible Society and partners respond through Hope for Haiti

Update – February 1

E-mail from Magda Victor, Haitian Bible Society General Secretary

The old Bible House in Port au PrinceAfter the disaster we were in shock. Now that we have settled down, somehow we are beginning to see the extent to which the Haitian Bible Society has been affected. More important than anything else, we¹ve lost many great friends, people who supported us over the years with their encouragement, their hard-earned income and their prayers. We¹ve lost many of our old neighbours - those young ladies, who became our friends over the years, settling under the supposed protection of our old headquarters in the downtown area to sell their trinkets. They all died when the building gave way and collapsed.

Many members of our staff had their houses destroyed when the earthquake struck; the luckier ones had their houses only damaged; yet others have seen family members perish.

The portion, God is Our Strength" in CreoleBut one overriding fact is that God was with us and with our staff on that day, for on that day not one of them died.

We are the lucky ones. We are the faces of testimonies to come, those heart-wrenching stories of men and women, young and old, struggling for two or three days to try and pull their loved ones out from under the rubble.

I¹m sure you have heard many such stories or seen them on TV. Over the last couple of weeks, these have been our stories.

In a week or so we will send you more detailed information, with an evaluation of some of the losses endured by members of our staff.

Our response to the catastrophe is continuing. So far we have successfully distributed some Bibles along with the Proclaimers that Hosanna had supplied us with.

We want to thank you for all your help to our staff. It is much appreciated and, on behalf of all our employees and their families, we want to express our sincere gratitude.

Magda

First Humanitarian supplies arrive in Haiti

Update - January 22, 2009 

Letter from Melvin Rivera Velazquez, UBS Americas Area Secretary

Dear colleagues,

Supplies from the Dominican Republic arrive at the Bible Society building in HaitiYesterday morning, the first shipment of humanitarian aid from the United Bible Societies arrived in Haiti. Thanks to all the Bible Societies in the Americas region that made this effort a reality.

Dominican Bible Society (DBS) staff loaded the truck, and, despite the difficulties in crossing the border, they arrived in Port-au-Prince, where they were met by Bible Society of Haiti (BSH) staff. Their eyes brightened with joy and emotion when they saw what their brothers and sisters had sent.

Rice bags, canned food and medicines were unloaded at the damaged building of BSH. Magda Victor, BSH Executive Director, upon receiving the donation said, "I would like to thank you for all the wonderful ways of help we have received. Today...were at the Bible Society of Haiti when our Dominican brothers brought us the gifts that the Regional Center sent (on behalf of the United Bible Societies). While unloading the truck we had another earthquake. Our Dominican friends were amazed. It was then that I realized how much trouble they went through to get here. They are amazing."

HBS General Secretary Magda Victor gratefully receives humanitarian aid from Bible Societies."The Bible Society of Brazil has promised to provide 4,000 Bibles (SEO34), which we are very thankful for. Considering the situation, we are going to distribute for free 4,000 Bibles that we already have in stock.

"We thank you all for joining in prayer. We thank Carmen Checo, DRBS General Secretary, for making her staff available to buy and pack food and medicines. And we thank all the Bible Societies in the Americas who, through their spontaneous donations, made this shipment possible.

We are very grateful for all these contributions. However, the need is still great. The Haitian Bible Society will not be able to generate the income needed to pay staff, who will be responsible for delivering the Word of God to the suffering people."

Please continue to pray and to seek ways for people to donate to this project, which will be a blessing to people who are desperate and distressed.

Donate to Hope for Haiti

 Haitian Bible Society Building Left Standing

Update - January 18, 2009

Magda Victor, General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society, summarized the situation on the ground today.

Haitian Bible Society BuildingShe reports that the old Bible Society building, in the downtown area, has collapsed into a pile of rubble. But, the new building, built in 2008, still stands. Magda believes that the structure could be fine, since the building is located west of the center of where the earthquake hit. One person was in the building at the time, and they were not injured. The Bible Society building will provide a center for ongoing ministry and the hope of God’s Word to men, women and children who have been left with nothing.

The new Bible Society building was opened at the end of May 2008. The new location was a welcome addition, as the previous downtown building had become a site for violence, kidnappings and murders, since it opened in 1983. Most of the local businesses had closed down or left, and it became hard to bring people to the Haitian Bible Society. American Bible Society, along with the United Bible Societies fellowship, helped to bring dreams of a new Bible Society location to light in Haiti.

Despite hardships, Magda and the Haitian Bible Society have been able to help change lives by making the Bible accessible and affordable to impoverished Haitians. And she is certainly not unfamiliar with providing hope and much-needed critical care in the face of disasters. Following floods in the mid-1990s, the Bible Society responded by providing 30,000 Scriptures and food baskets to afflicted families.

Donate to Hope for Haiti

St. Catherines Mayor receives Poverty and Justice Bible

Vice-President of the CBS St. Catharines/Thorold Branch, Dr. Kevin McCabe, presented a  Poverty & Justice Bible to Mayor Brian McMullen of St. Catharines.   The Mayor was very pleased to receive it and commented that he would include the presentation in his report to City Council.

The Poverty and Justice Bible highlights more than 2,000 verses that reveal what God has to say about poverty and injustice and you can purchase a copy by visiting www.biblescanada.com
This is a Bible to surprise a watching world and to enrich our lives as they we learn just how much God cares for the poor!

Christmas Hope and literacy in Haiti
By Kent Annan
Haiti Partners

It was Christmas Eve in Haiti a few years ago. My wife and I had gathered on our porch under the tall palm trees and starry sky with a dozen friends and neighbors. We’d shared a meal—rice and beans and all the fixings. The plates had been cleared away.

Someone said let’s read the Christmas story. We got out our Creole Bible, lit the kerosene lamps, and one of our neighbors, a young man with a strong clear voice, read aloud the narrative of Jesus’ birth from the gospel of Luke. In the style of the Bible study materials developed and promoted by Haiti Partners, the story was read several times and then each person present including the children shared their thoughts on the story.

There were comments about Christ entering the world as a child, comments about Joseph and Mary’s faithfulness, and then the discussion began to focus on the phrase: “There was no room for Mary at the inn.” Except in the Creole version this read, “There was no place for Mary at the inn,” a slight variation in translation that seems inconsequential. At least it did to me, when I heard the verse read that night and understood it as I always have that literally the inn had no rooms—a full house, a flashing “No Vacancy” sign.

But our friends on the porch understood it a little differently. To them, “no place for her in the inn,” didn’t mean so much that there wasn’t a vacancy, but that there was no place for someone like Mary in the inn. There was no place for someone who had just ridden in on a donkey. There was no place for someone dressed in peasant clothes. No place for someone who came from the no-wheres-ville of Nazareth.

One neighbor who is a farmer said, “If Mary and Joseph would have been wearing nice clothes and had lots of money, there would have been a place for them. They would never have made her give birth with the animals.”

“Yes,” someone else said, “they would have treated them differently if they had money.”

Then the farmer spoke again, “And that is just how it is for us too. If we tried to go to one of the good hospitals in Port-au-Prince, there would be no place for us. If we tried to go to one of the hotels in the city, they would see our clothes and shoes, and they would know we’re peasants. There wouldn’t be a place for us either.”

The conversation paused—a silence that acknowledged the truth of his words. Then another friend spoke up, “But isn’t it amazing that our Lord chose to come to this earth through a woman who had no place, who was given no place. And even more amazing, God came to Earth with good news to tell us: that we do have a place! He came to tell us, ‘You have a place here as a child of God. And you have a place after this. In fact, right now my Father is preparing another place for you too.’”

There was another pause, but this time it was a silence of peace and of hope.

It’s a holy moment that I think I’ll remember every Christmas for the rest of my life. But maybe even more amazing, is the opportunity to be part of facilitating moments like this all over Haiti—and not just at Christmas time.

Haiti Partners’ Disciples program has developed Bible study and Christian education materials that are being used in many places around Haiti. And now in partnership with the Canadian Bible Society we’re able to distribute Bibles to people who are eager to have God’s Word but can’t afford to buy a Bible.

When more than 80% of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day, when many people struggle to eat enough calories or can’t afford to send their children to school, it’s not hard to understand why the $10 for a good Creole Bible is out of reach for many. On top of the cost, the adult literacy rate is only somewhere around 50%.

With this partnership between the Canadian Bible Society and Haiti Partners, we’re responding to these needs in three ways:

1. We’re providing 10,000 Haitian Creole Bibles a year.

2. At the same time, we are providing training and Bible study materials that provide an excellent way to study the Bible in small groups—in a way that is based on reading a short passage aloud several times, so that those who are illiterate can fully participate.

3. We are distributing Bibles through literacy centers, churches, and schools that encourage better education to address some of these core problems that ripple out through society.

The innkeepers may have turned away Mary or, if they went down to the city to a nice hotel, might have turned away our neighbors. But we know that God has a special heart for those facing poverty.

Just as my wife and I felt privileged to be part of that Christmas evening remembering God’s love for us in Christ, we invite you into—yes, the privilege—of partnering with people in Haiti whose faith is strong and whose courage is remarkable, but whose resources aren’t enough.

We can share with people in Haiti the gift of Scripture, of good Bible study materials, and of better education. All in all, I’d say that’s not a bad way to celebrate the gift of grace shown to us in Christ’s birth. Thank you for your partnership in this work.

Desperate hunger for God's Word inside a Rwandan prison 

Chloe Morland of the British and Foreign Bible Society visited Rwanda in 2009 

It was a warm day when a group of staff members and supporters of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) arrived in Nyanza, a town two hours drive away from Kigali, the capital city. We had come to visit and distribute Bibles at the Mpanga prison with a team from the Rwandan Bible Society.

Many of the 7,500 prisoners are perpetrators of the genocide of 1994, which left about one million Rwandans dead. We had no idea what we would find inside the prison walls.