Children's Bibles for international mission

They’re the young, the innocent and the vulnerable.

From the moment they’re born children in developing countries often know little else apart from poverty, illness and disease, abandonment or exploitation.

Encouraging kids, through access to children’s Scriptures, to put the Lord Jesus first in their lives, is one of the Bible Society of the South Pacific’s key aims this year.

The enthusiasm on these boys’ faces shows how much they are enjoying reading the Scripture books they received from Bible Society.

“Through hearing the Word of God I’ve come to realise the difference between living with God and living without Him,” says Manuel, a young prisoner in Angola. He received a Bible during a Bible Society visit earlier this year.

A young girl at a centre for abandoned children in Luanda, Angola, looks overjoyed with the Bible portion given to her by Bible Society.

In Chile, Bible Society is visiting children’s homes for at risk children, as part of its ongoing ministry to orphaned and needy children. Many of these children come from broken homes where the parents are involved in either drug or alcohol abuse or are in prison.

A young boy and a teacher at The Ark children's home with the Scripture materials he received from Bible Society.

Two Bible Societies in two very different parts of the world are reaching out to sick children with children’s Bibles.

The Bible helps to ease Francella's distress during her treatments.

In the Palestinian Territories, Bible Society is bringing the message of the Gospel to children through fun-filled biblical camps, trips and activity days.

Smiling faces show how much the children of the West Bank are enjoying the fun days and activities put together by Bible Society, which are designed to bring them the Bible message.

Twenty five years after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine, the effects continue to be felt throughout the region. In neighbouring Belarus, children, who were not even born at the time, are among some of the worst affected.

Vika, with the children’s Bible she received.

“Life in Israel is very intense. This has a profound impact particularly on young people,” says Victor Kalisher, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Israel.

Bible Society hopes that young Israelis, such as this man, will encounter the message of the Gospel at festivals.

In Cambodia, Bible-based literacy classes, run in conjunction with local churches, are benefiting many people, such as Mr & Mrs Ptum and their three children, who live in Kampot province.

Eark Kong, centre, with her grandmother and brother, and some of the materials she is using in the literacy classes.

In China, a Scripture portion entitled The Lord Protects You, is bringing comfort to workers. Many people are forced to leave the rural areas, often moving long distances away from home, in order to find work in the cities.

The Scripture portion, The Lord Protects You, which is bringing comfort to Chinese migrant workers.

A significant milestone has been reached for the 550,000 speakers of the Ossetic language, who live in the North Caucasus, in Russia. They recently received the Book of Genesis in their own language.

Christian communities, such as the Epiphany Convent in the town of Alan, received copies of the Book of Genesis. Representatives from the St Petersburg branch of the Bible Society of Russia are pictured here with its leader, Mother Nonna, (centre).

In the Soviet Union during the communist era one group of workers who had secure employment were artists. They were given a clear brief: to make the communist ideology visible in open spaces. This they did, by building statues of Lenin for town and village squares.

Eugenij Degterenko, an artist, who found God through the New Testament during the communist era.

On 9 October 2011, Christians taking part in a peaceful protest march against attacks on Christian-owned businesses and a church in Upper Egypt, were gunned down and run over by tanks leaving 26 dead and hundreds wounded.

Scripture-based newspaper campaigns are helping to bring a message of peace to people during these tumultuous times in Egypt.

In the village of Nebytov in southern Belarus, Bibles are bringing healing and comfort to recovering drug addicts and local villagers.

Oleg Lojko with Bibles he received for recovering drug addicts and villagers.

The Uduk people live in eastern Sudan. In recent years, as a result of the war, many have been forced to emigrate to neighbouring countries. But now some are returning home, including the translators of the long delayed Uduk Bible translation.

Some of the Sudanese Bible translators, who work under dangerous and difficult conditions.

Read brief news updates about Bible Society work happening in Norway, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

These young Norwegian theology students dressed up as biblical characters and queued overnight to obtain copies of the new Bible translations.

The specially designed children’s Bibles for Christian Religious Education (CRE) classes are here. We want to take this opportunity to say thank you. So many of you have captured our vision and supported this project so generously, and for this we’re very grateful.

The cover of the new CEV Bible for CRE classes.

On 16 November 2011, a service was held at Westminster Abbey, London, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version of the Bible. The event was attended by Her Majesty the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales.

A young contributor to The People’s Bible writes out his verses.

Isolation and faith. They’re two things that go hand in hand on many of the islands of the South Pacific. Take the case of Kabara Island, one of the islands of the Lau Group, in Fiji, for example.

Crew members and islanders head out to the Seahawk, anchored here at Vanua Balavu Island.

Emmanuel’s mother died giving birth to him, and soon afterwards his stepmother persuaded his father to abandon him.

All alone in the world, he’s loved by no one except God. Your gift can help a child like Emmanuel know His love through the Bible.