Australia - The new lying BibleMan, David Curtis, began work on February 21. Please pray for David and his family and also for the outgoing Flying BibleMan, Rev Phillip Zamagias.
Brazil – This
year brings a very special achievement for the Bible Society of Brazil.
By June its Bible Printing Press will have produced 100 million Bibles.
Since its founding in 1995, the press, at the Society's headquarters
in Barueri has represented a turning point in the production, binding
and distribution of biblical literature in Brazil. Today it is the
largest Bible production site in the world.
International Mother Language Day (IMLD) (February 21)
Kenya
- Held for the first time in 2000, the particular emphasis
of this year's IMLD on February 21 was the role of information and
communication technologies in safeguarding and promoting languages
and linguistic diversity.
Staff from the Bible of Society of Kenya
and the United Bible Societies' (UBS) Africa Area Office in Nairobi
were involved in a number of initiatives to mark IMLD. With more
than 500 translation projects under way around the world, Bible Societies
are at the forefront of putting into practice the goals of IMLD.
In Kenya alone, the Bible Society has provided full Bibles to no
fewer than 19 languages communities, while the New Testament is available
in a further 10 languages. However, there is still a long way to
go: more than half of Kenya's language communities still do not have
any part of Scriptures in their heart language.
Peru
- Deputy Minister of Culture, Jose Carlos Vilcapoma Ignacio
was the main guest speaker at an event held at the Congress building
in Lima. He spoke about the importance of preserving the nation's
cultural heritage, including identifying and valuing its many language
communities (according to Ethnologue, 92 languages are
spoken in Peru). Translating the Bible into local language has
a key role to play in this process.
The event also saw the launch of a significant initiative to encourage
translation and literacy work in local languages.
Scripture Language Report (United Bible Societies) 2009 - Information on languages receiving new Scriptures in 2009. Follow link for full report.
