together with ministries such as the Sal- vation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, Feed the Children, and other strategic partners, ABS is annually impacting some 4 mil- lion people in more than 200 countries and territories.


TRANSLATION: God Speaking to Me


ABS is currently focused on opening the Bible for the 300 million people for whom God’s Word is not yet available in their native language. Anchored by both world-class Bible scholarship and a remarkable collection of ancient Scripture resources, ABS continues to develop new Bible resources and tools, and to prepare Scriptures for the world’s unreached people groups.


As president of the American Bible Society, Lamar Vest is passionate about making the Scriptures available to those who need them most. “Someone in the world goes blind every five seconds,” says the ABS president, “but the Bible in Braille currently exists in only 30 lan- guages.” Research also shows that for 1 billion people, the Bible is a luxury they cannot afford, and more than 2,200 lan- guages still wait for even one book of the Bible in their heart language. The American Bible Society partners with other ministries to enable their mis- sion and extend a Scripture component. For instance, ABS makes available a Bible to each new Habitat for Humanity home- owner, and adds the Bible to “rapid deployment kits” distributed by military chaplains serving around the world. Through partnerships, ABS provides Bibles to correctional facilities and schools. ABS serves the growing U.S. Hispanic community with a variety of Hispanic/ Latino ministry programs, including La Biblia Es Mi Guia (The Bible Is My Guide), which partners with prominent Latino figures to promote Bible literacy. Another publication, Elementz of Life™, targets urban youth who are not engaged in a tra- ditional church experience.


The American Bible Society operates through the ongoing partnership and


support of thousands of generous donors. In order to maximize the impact of each donation, ABS works hard to keep administrative costs low. Over the last 10 years, 74 percent of all dollars spent went to a wide range of Bible-based ministry projects.


Some notable ventures of ABS include the distribution of more than a million copies of Bible literature to those directly affected by the September 11, 2001, ter- rorist attack on New York City. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, ABS partnered with Bible societies in Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka to distrib- ute Bible resources to survivors. After Hur- ricane Katrina in 2005, ABS sent a million Bibles to the Gulf Coast. ABS recently published the Poverty and


Justice Bible, a version of the Contempo- rary English Version that highlights more than 2,000 verses referring to poverty and justice. During 2009, ABS sold 1,728,101 Bibles and 2,378,000 Scripture portions, while giv- ing away 2,311,206 Bibles and 9,718,111 New Testa- ments or Scripture portions, for a total distri-


bution of more than 16.1 million Bibles, Testaments, and portions of Scripture. Best calculations are that, since its incep- tion in 1816, ABS has distributed more than 6 billion Bibles and Scripture portions! According to the 16th edition of


Ethnologue, published by SIL Interna- tional, there are 6,909 known living languages in the world. As of December 31, 2009, 2,508 languages and dialects have some portion of Scripture, and more than 90 percent of the world’s population can understand one of those languages. However, there are 4,401 lan- guages and dialects without a complete


book of the Bible translated and print- ed. Since 1818, ABS has been commit- ted to Bible translation, and is currently supporting translation projects for four Native American language groups (Cherokee, Lakota,


Yupik, and Inupiat), the revision of the Chinese Union Ver- sion, and the devel- opment of the Chinese Union Study Bible. The goal of ABS


is to help provide the Bible in every heart language on earth, equipping scholars to succeed in the advancement of this most important work. In 1966, ABS published a new trans- lation of the New Testament, Today’s English Version, with the completed trans- lation of the entire Bible finished in 1976. This Bible, now called the Good News Translation, saw over 7.7 million copies distributed in the first year.


In 1991, a new easy-to-read and easy- to-understand translation of the New Testament, the Contemporary English Ver- sion (CEV) was released, followed by the entire Bible in 1995. Since then, 4.2 mil- lion New Testaments and 8.9 million CEV Bibles have been distributed. ABS delivers Scripture around the world every day through MP3s, the World Wide Web, email, and other mobile tech- nologies. This writer is a subscriber to, and an enjoyer of, the daily email from ABS which provides a devotional passage, an expanded Scripture reading, questions for contemplation, and a prayer. The American Bible Society is a minis- try partner with the Church of God, and Dr. Vest’s appointment as president is recognized and approved by the Interna- tional Executive Committee. Learn more about the ministries of ABS by logging on to www.americanbible.org.


EVANGEL • AUG 2010 15


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