Bibles for Africa Update
11 October 2019
As well as food hunger for the body many places are hungry for food for the soul. The Bible is still the worlds most published book with food for the soul.
In East Congo, in many areas there are constant attacks by oppressive groups of rebels from the genocide era when whole villages were burnt down. People had lost everything and life is a great struggle. There is no Bible Society in East Congo – only recently has the Burundi Bible Society had Congo Swahili Bibles. At one seminar only 3 of the 17 pastors / leaders owned a Bible. With many churches being planted we are dedicated to ensure that every house church has at least one Congo Swahili Bible. House churches, like our home groups, are established by the main Sunday Congregation but with responsibilities for local evangelism, “doing good” and discipleship leading to planting of more churches in their neighbourhood and beyond.
In God’s goodness we will reach the level where every Christian can have a Bible! Every hungry Christian needs one. 1000 to 5000 Congo Swahili Bibles become available from time to time. When churches call for Bibles then we need to obtain them. They cost around NZ$15 each. Our waiting list is for more than 4000!
The Bible Society usually prints local language Bibles in Asia. We need to buy them from them in each country including Burundi and Rwanda. In Kenya and Uganda a Bible is a required secondary school text book – but in English. The old folks at home need a local language one – one out of at least 20 languages is required!