Praying for our partners – Viva

Posted on May 13, 2012 by James

Viva work with children-at-risk all over the world and are instrumental in the development and delivery of Pavement Project. Sophie Dodds, Fundraising and Community Officer for Viva, asked us to pray with them for vulnerable children in different countries and situations.

  • “As the drought in West Africa continues, over one million children are at risk of severe malnutrition. Please pray for the situation in the Sahel region, that enough aid would reach those who need it and that rain would come to ensure a good harvest.”
  • “Please pray for the children affected by the fighting and unrest in Syria. Ask God to protect them and also give them hope during these times of darkness and uncertainty.”
  • “15-year-old Leli from Cambodia was forced to work in a brothel every night for two years until she was able to escape and find sanctuary with a church. Pray for Leli’s recovery and for the rescue of many other girls like her.”

If you’d like to find out more about these situations or learn how you can support Viva’s upcoming World Weekend of Prayer for children-at-risk, click here to visit their website

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Caring for flood victims in Rio

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Jeremy

Lifewords in Brazil continues to be part of the rehabilitation of the flood-affected region of Rio de Janeiro as people suffer due to more heavy rain and flooding. We’ve been providing Bible resources to use with the victims in flood affected regions since January last year.

A team from Junta de Missões Nacionais (a Lifewords partner) has been helping 350 homeless people who are living in a school in Jamapará, near to Sapucaia in Rio de Janeiro. There are families who have lost everything, so the team are bringing words of comfort using Who Cares About Me and Picking Up the Pieces.

Jonathan Paula Aguiar from JMN says, “The booklets had a visible impact on people’s lives when they read them. We saw clearly the look of avid hope in a time of such great pain.”

Gustavo C Martins, another worker, talks about the effectiveness of the resources: “They allow people to find hope in the holy Scriptures, to renew their dreams, catch their breath and find in God the strength to continue walking … the literature will allow them to
always remember that God is still there”

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Pavement Project in Mexico

Posted on May 6, 2012 by James

The Pavement Project team in Mexico, say: “We continue to train workers and reach out to children-at-risk in Mexico. Recently, seven children out of a group of eight had an improvement in their self-worth and talked to Jesus in prayer. We are very grateful to God for all he is doing through his Word.”

  • “Praise God for the commitment of the Pavement Project workers in Acapulco, who are passionate about their city. They meet for an hour each morning to ask for God’s help with their work, and that he would end the violence in the city. Please join them and ask God to intervene.”
  • “Once a month these workers minister to a group of young people who are recovering from drug addiction. Pray for God’s wisdom as they reach out with words of comfort, truth and love. Pray also for the young people, that they would hear and respond to the Bible’s words that bring life.”
  • “Please pray for 12-year-old Elena* who was separated from her family because of her mother’s drinking problems. Elena told a Pavement Project worker that being apart from her family brought her a lot of sadness and that she saw herself as ‘a bird flying over the immense sky’. Elena heard about God’s love for her and how he wants to be part of her life, to protect and look after her, the same way the shepherd did towards the little sheep that got lost in the story Jesus told. This message of security and belonging changed the way Elena was feeling and brought her happiness. ‘A cheerful and colourful moth’ was what Elena got transformed into as she met Jesus.”
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The Good Shepherd

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jeremy

Serah Thomas, Pavement Project Coordinator for India, shares with us the story of a young boy whose new-found faith is helping him to face life’s challenges.

Vinay* is a ten-year old boy being cared for by an Indian Pavement Project partner ministering to children suffering from HIV. Having lost his father and with his mother extremely unwell, it was felt that he might benefit from Pavement Project’s unique Picture Me process.

During the initial session, Vinay was asked to draw a picture to represent the way he felt about himself. Vinay explained that he was extremely worried about the state of his mother’s health, drawing a picture of a lonely cat to explain his predicament.

The worker then shared with Vinay the parable of the Lost Sheep, explaining that he was precious to Jesus who would be there for him and his family, to which he responded: “When we are in darkness, surrounded by worry, I know that God will be there for us”.
At the end of the session, Vinay chose the ‘Light’ pocket to take away with him – shown here.

When asked to draw himself again, he began by drawing a picture of a small child and then shaded the area around it. …“Do you know what this means?” he asked the worker; “Before I met Jesus, I was in darkness and alone.” explained Vinay. He then proceeded to erase all the shading from the page and draw a larger, happier youth. “Now” said Vinay, “I am living in the light of Christ. Just as a cat may wander away and forget its master, its master will not forget it. Even if we wander away from Christ, he will come and find us.”

A few days after the session was concluded, Vinay’s mother died and he is now fully under the care of our partner organisation. Through the Bible’s life words, Vinay has found the strength to cope with his changing circumstance, safe in the knowledge that Christ is with him …in all that he does.

*children’s names are changed to protect their identities

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Bible resources around the world

Posted on April 29, 2012 by James

Jarek Jankowski, from SGM Lifewords in Europe, reports on a busy time for the office in Poland: “As well as dealing with the usual orders for resources, we are about to start typesetting booklets for a number of Asian languages. We’re also working on extending our range of digital resources. Please pray for us.”

  • “Praise God for the translation and production of Jesus: An Introduction and Day by Day in Chinese Simplified, Japanese and Korean, to name but a few. These languages are always a challenge to prepare for final publication, so please ask God to bless the typesetting and proof-reading processes so that once the booklets are ready, they will be an inspiration and encouragement for their readers.”
  • “Join us in thanking God for the literature requests we receive daily from all over the world through the Global Bible Resources website. We are deeply grateful to God that we are able to deliver Bible resources to people across the globe, even to those living in very remote places.”
  • “We are hoping to extend the number of digital products on offer so that we can reach out to new readers. We plan to start with two titles which will be made available as e-books on smartphones, touchpads, tablets and a range of e-readers. Please pray for us as we embark on these projects.”
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Rising to the challenge: a prayer reflection for May

Posted on April 29, 2012 by James

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

–  Matthew 28:18–20 (NIV)

Once the drama and emotion of the resurrection were over, the disciples could be forgiven for wanting to take a break, process the events, catch up with themselves. They had after all experienced a life-changing and world-changing event. But as Jesus prepares to leave them, he gears them up for the next part of the plan.

Jesus explains to his disciples that, in his name, they have the authority pass on his message and teachings, and encourage people to follow him. His command isn’t to rest and wait around for the next thing. Or worse, let the biggest event to happen in world history just fade into distant memory. Instead he is clear: go, baptise, teach.

The challenge is the same for us. We need to ask ourselves how we are responding to Jesus’ commission to let others know about his love, truth and power. It’s a tall order, but Jesus promises to be with us every step of the way. We need to ask him to help us “make disciples” as we share and demonstrate his love in our everyday lives.

What happened when Jesus died and rose again was a one-off, world-changing event – “It is finished” (John 19:30). But it was also the start of something that would continue to change lives for years and years to come.

Jess Bee

SGM Lifewords in the UK

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Reporting back on Biblefresh

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Danielle

Did you or your church take part in the 2011 Biblefresh campaign? Perhaps you were one of the thousands who used E100, or helped raised money for Bible translation in Burkina Faso – or even used SGM Lifewords’ TWELVE project. A Theos report, reporting back on the campaign, was published yesterday. You can read it here – and find out what users and partners thought. Did more people engage with the Bible? Did the church in the UK grow in confidence about the Bible? What’s next after Biblefresh? Find out more, watch the films, and report the full report on the EA website. And don’t forget … our TWELVE resources are still available on the 12Words website. Other Biblefresh material will be available soon on the BigBible website – which will act as an archive for all the Biblefresh initiatives, providing a legacy of resources from the year.    

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Partnering to share the gospel

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Danielle

We were at the meetings of the Forum of Bible Agencies International last week – kindly hosted by the American Bible Society. The Forum is a really impressive example of partnership – all kinds of agencies gathering together to learn about each other, and think how we can help each other as we share in the task of Bible engagement and Bible translation. There are all kinds of organisations around the table, from big to small – some focused on a specific field (Bible translation in the former Soviet Union for example) to those whose scope and reach is breathtaking! Over the next few days we’ll post some examples of the people we met, and the exciting projects they’re involved in. In the meantime, we’re thanking God for the opportunity to work with others within the worldwide church, and praying for good fruit to come.

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SGM Lifewords in Europe

Posted on April 22, 2012 by James

Day by Day in Romanian

SGM Lifewords in Europe serves a wide area with Bible resources, Zbigniew Szalbot updates us on what’s been happening in eastern Europe: “We receive requests from many different organisations and individuals who want to use our resources in interesting and creative ways.”

  • “The National Bible Reading Campaign in Romania has requested 1,200 copies of Day By Day, Jesus: An Introduction, How’s Life? and Suppose in Romanian for their event, ‘I Read the Bible, Why Not Together?’. Please pray for this event and for all the people being reached by this great campaign.”
  • “We’ve received a request from Poland for 488 booklets in Polish and Russian that will be given to people aged 16–20 at an educational conference. Thank God for this opportunity to reach out to these young people and pray that they would read and respond to God’s Word.”
  • “Operation Mobilization in Hungary requested 2,000 copies of You Matter in Hungarian for their sports outreach to school children in the Erd area of the country. Please pray that all the children receiving this resource will experience the love of God that transforms lives and communities.”
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Commemorating the Diamond Jubilee with Scripture

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Jeremy

This year marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and Biblica have partnered with the Church of England to produce a commemorative edition of the New Testament. It comes in two different designs, and includes an introduction about the Queen and her faith.

The Bibles would be great for giving away at street parties, schools and Jubilee related events. Costing just £25 for 50, and you can order Jubilee New Testaments online here.

 

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