InDepthTransforming lives through God’s Word

Issue 14 • 2012 Biblica.com

TMJesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” John 11:25-26 , NIV

LifeChoosing

in AfRiCA

Keith Danby International CEO, BiblicaDoug Lockhart CEO, Biblica

Evelyn Lemly President Global Resource Development and Communication

President Biblica FoundationScott Bolinder President Global Publishing

Bob Dinolfo Global CFOBenedict Omollo Area Executive Director Africa

Somporn Sirikolkarn Area Executive Director East Asia Pacific

Stephen Cave Area Executive Director EuropeEsteban Fernandez Area Executive Director Latin America

Middle East kept confidential for security purposes

MISSIONTransforming lives through God’s Word

VISIONThe work of Biblica will be complete when

every person in the world is given the opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ

through God’s Word and be transformed.

CORE STRATEGIESBible Translation • Bible Publishing

Bible Engagement

WORLDWIDE MINISTRYAfrica

East Asia Pacific Europe

Latin America Middle East/North Africa

North AmericaSouth Asia

MINISTRY FOCUSBible and Church Engagement

Children and Youth Ministry Scripture Outreach

Specialized Ministry Outreach Translation

The world’s leading contemporary English translation. The New International Version® Bible is easier

to understand, engaging you with the rich meaning of the original text. Most read. Most trusted.

Celebrating more than 200 years in ministry, Biblica provides God’s Word to people through Bible translation, Bible publishing, and Bible engagement so lives are transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Biblica1820 Jet Stream Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80921-3696719.488.9200

Biblica.com BiblicaDirect.com facebook.com/Biblica • twitter.com/BiblicaMinistry

BRINGING THE BIBLE TO PEOPLE SINCE 1809

CELEBRATING

200YEARS200CELEBRATING

YEARS

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Dear friends,

The global Church is at its most vibrant in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet because the African Church is so dynamic, it’s easy to lose sight of its struggles. Africa is burdened with crushing poverty. Many churches cannot afford to train their pastors and Sunday school teachers or provide children’s ministry. Cults and syncretism are growing throughout Africa.

Poverty also fuels the AIDS pandemic. Young people without Bible-based sexual abstinence training are ripe for HIV infection. A lack of Bible knowledge also makes youth more vulnerable to accepting Islam, which is increasing its reach throughout the continent.

Biblica seeks to strengthen the Church’s biblical foundations by providing Equipping Leaders Bible training and study resources for church leaders. We also partner with African churches to reach children and teens through our Children for Christ and Reach 4 Life Scripture-based programs.

Please join us in helping to strengthen the Church in Africa. Thank you very much for your prayers and faithful support.

Sincerely in Christ,

Doug LockhartCEO, Biblica

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Africa is the second-largest and poorest continent in the world. The population has grown so

quickly that in some African states, more than half of the population is now under the age of 25.

While home to over 14% of the world's men, women, and children, Africa is also home to 67% of the world's 22 million HIV-positive people. A devastating 1.8 million of the world's 2 million HIV-infected children are African.

Of the billion people in Africa, most are either Christian or Muslim. However, many Christians also practice animistic beliefs, keeping charms and amulets for spiritual protection and visiting traditional healers when troubled with serious illness or other problems.

Even pastors blend traditional tribal beliefs with Christianity, as most lack even a basic grounding in biblical Christian theology. Few seminaries or Bible schools exist in remote and impoverished African nations, and few church leaders can afford to attend them. And of the 2,100-plus African languages, many still lack an accurate, contemporary Bible translation.

Millions of people in Africa still do not have access to the Bible.

Consider Lydia, a mother of three who recently became a believer. She now is hungry to know how God intends for her to live; however, several hurdles stand in her way. The Bible is not available in her native language, which speaks to her heart. And the pastor of her small, yet vibrant fellowship has not been trained in the Christian faith at all. He is simply following the Holy Spirit’s call as faithfully as he can.

Without a Bible in her language, how will Lydia discern God’s truth and walk in His ways? How will she teach her children Bible truths? How will she share the gospel with her friends and neighbors?

It is new believers like Lydia, struggling churches, and people needing God's Word that Biblica seeks to help.

Biblica appreciates your support to reachpeople in Africa with the gospel. Pleaseprayerfully read the following stories andlisten to the Spirit’s voice. How can youhelp people like Lydia learn about God’slove for them?

w i t h o u t a B i B l e i n h e r l a n g u a g e,

God's TruTh?

How LydiaDiscernWiLL

Af ter this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count,

from ever y nation, t ribe, pe ople and language , s tanding before the throne and

before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in

their hands. And they cr ied out in a loud voice:

“Salvat ion be longs to our G od, who sits on t he t hrone, and to t he L amb.”

Revelat ion 7:8-10, NIV

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belongs to such as these.”

Jesus said,

“Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them,for the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 19:14, NIV

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Simba

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the little children

Matthew 19:14, NIV

Simba is a Reach 4 Life program director in Zimbabwe. InDepth caught up with him at the Reach 4 Life summit in South Africa.

InDepth Describe the situation with AIDS in Zimbabwe.Simba People in my country have been in denial about AIDS. But it’s gotten to the point where the government has acknowledged AIDS is a national disaster.

InDepth How does poverty contribute to the AIDS pandemic?Simba If people don’t have enough, they will do anything to ensure survival.

InDepth For instance, how would AIDS affect an impoverished 12-year-old girl?Simba That is a disastrous situation. We have many homes headed by children. Many are a result of parents passing away from HIV/AIDS, leaving children with a grandparent or to take care of themselves. To ask a 12-year-old girl to fend for her siblings and herself, she may have to go well out of her way, even to the point of selling her body. In so doing, her risk of contracting HIV is 101 percent.

InDepth Why is Reach 4 Life needed?Simba Reach 4 Life provides a comprehensive way of dealing with HIV/AIDS. It is very clear on the subject and is a Bible-based solution to the pandemic. It is a simple-to-use program attractive to young people.

InDepth Why is it important that it’s a Bible-based tool?Simba All sorts of methodologies have been tried, but abstinence is the most effective. The Bible emphasizes purity and that sexual activity before marriage is a sin. Complying with this requirement saves you from AIDS.

InDepth What is your story?Simba I am who I am today because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was the second-born of five children. I am married and have three children. My oldest is 20, and she has two children. She had her first child when she was 16. Perhaps if I had gotten this program prior to that, it would have made a difference. I also have two boys, 10 and 8, and I was thinking as we were talking today that this material is not just for other people, but it can help in my home.

InDepth What’s the biggest challenge for Reach 4 Life in your country?Simba First and foremost is the availability of the Reach 4 Life New Testaments. The other challenge is enough teachers. Once we meet those challenges, we have an army of volunteers who will help support the program.

InDepth What does it mean to you that Reach 4 Life is an African program?Simba It means that it fits into our context. It makes us feel the program addresses the issues we face.

InDepth What would you say to American Christians?Simba Here is an opportunity for you to partner in one of the greatest initiatives for alleviating a disaster. You are giving greatly to the Great Commission.

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Terran was a teenager when his father died. His family lost everything they owned. In addition

to this tragedy, the cause of death was unnerving—a mysterious disease that no one had even named yet. Terran’s father was one of the first 100 people to die of AIDS in South Africa.

But God works in miraculous ways! Terran became a believer and is a pastor committed to reaching youth for Christ. He wrote many of the notes in Reach 4 Life (R4L), Biblica’s New Testament that teaches teens to make positive, healthy choices. In Africa today, people who work in AIDS prevention say the Reach 4 Life New Testament and program is the single most effective means of changing and saving lives.

In the last eight years, over 1.2 million young people have participated in the R4L program. To remain current with changing youth culture, Biblica is updating the R4L program to best meet their needs.

R E A C H 4 L I F E S u M M I T

choosingWith this in mind, Biblica convened a Reach 4 Life summit in South Africa in November 2011. We gathered experiences and insights from youth culture experts and health and ministry practitioners from Africa, South America, Europe, and North America. “It was a picture of heaven,” said one participant. “People from all over the globe and speaking many different languages came together to glorify God and change lives.”

At the summit, we learned that ministry and church organizations in 22 countries on five continents would love for Biblica to provide at least 1 million R4L New Testaments every year. Compared to medical interventions, Reach 4 Life is not only very cost-effective, it also transforms the lives of young people into the image of Christ.

Will you partner with us to touch more than 1 million lives in the next year? See the enclosed response card for information on making a contribution to this awesome global effort.

miraculousGod works in

ways!

Need Today a child will contract hiV/AiDs

acTioN give to save a child from hiV/AiDs

impacT You can change a child's life forever

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the day Anna met Jesus Transformation

Mark 10:16, niV

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Anna is an example of God’s amazing work of transformation. At 12 years old she was drinking

and engaging in casual sex. She had run away from home and was living with a man. She was completely against the idea of church.

One day a church leader invited Anna to Biblica’s Children for Christ (C4C) program and was pleasantly surprised when she came. God ministered to her and for the next few days she was faithful in attending from morning till evening. At the end of the week, she accepted Christ, giving her life and heart to Him—to the joy of all who witnessed the miracle!

Anna has since returned home, stopped drinking, and faithfully attends church every Sunday. The radical transformation that occurred since her encounter with Jesus continues—a testimony to the power of God to transform children’s lives.

C4C trains children to read and understand God’s Word. Biblica uganda Director Christopher Yikii says many ugandan churches lack trained teachers and children's Scripture resources. Children for Christ is all the more valuable in this environment. Consider the goals of this dynamic program:

Familiarizing children with the Bible at a young age

Grounding them in the Word of God

Reaching children from nominalChristian homes

Bringing the children to salvation

Evangelizing families throughthe children

Transforming communities by reaching families

Thirteen-year-old Jaymo was a

problem child with no respect for authority. One day, he showed up

at Children for Christ, where he quietly observed but would not participate. He refused to help the other kids clean the classroom. upset by this unfair behavior, they also refused to clean the classroom one Thursday. Yet on Friday morning, the classroom was found swept, cleaned, and arranged.

It soon became clear that, following a lesson on virtues, Jaymo had come in very early and done all the cleaning alone. The following day, James carried cleaning materials from his home and cleaned the church hall and compound—again by himself. The Word of God planted in him at C4C was bearing fruit.

Jaymo is in high school now and continues to be active in helping out at church. On his own initiative, he and his friends from the neighborhood planted flowers in the church compound. Everyone is amazed and encouraged by his transformation.

Transformation

Childrenare a strategic focus ofBiblica’s work in Africa.They open the door to

reaching whole communities. Please join us in the work of

transforming Africa through God’s Word.

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Equipping Leaders programs train pastors and provide much-needed study Bibles and other materials. Ethiopia, South Sudan, Senegal, uganda, and Kenya benefit from these seminars. The new nation South Sudan is in a volatile region and suffers from extreme poverty and lack of health care. People are hungry for something to give them meaning. It is at this critical point that we can make a difference in South Sudan by training solid leaders to biblically guide their country according to God’s ways.

You can make a difference in the lives of African leaders today. Please pray that they will courageously present the truth of God’s Word in the face of opposition and false teaching. And please help strengthen the Church in Africa by giving today to equip pastors and other church leaders for Bible-based ministry.

Kenyan church worker Makena enrolled at a theological college to study early childhood

development. However, she could not afford the tuition fees. Instead, she attended one of Biblica’s Equipping Leaders training seminars for Sunday school teachers. “God bless Biblica for this,” she said. “I have not regretted coming to this training, and I will go out as a better teacher to children.”

Biblica believes in maximizing resources. We strive to offer great, quality training to leaders at a price they can afford—free! These pastors and teachers return to their churches better-equipped to serve well.

At times it’s not only training that someone needs. One participant in a Sunday school training program says, “I was going to write a resignation letter and call it quits, since my cup was totally dry, but now I go out with so much!” The facilitators gave this teacher encouragement as well as practical knowledge to keep up the good work.

Need Biblical training

acTioN Equip pastors and leaders

impacT Transformed lives and communities

AfricAnLeadersTrAining for QuaLityBiBle

Rose Birenge, director of publishing and outreach for Biblica Africa, says, “When an African gets a Bible

for the very first time, they gain a great sense of freedom. Just being able to read God’s Word, hear it in a language they understand, read it for themselves, and call it theirs, that is amazing for people. They cry. They literally cry.”

That is the spirit behind Biblica’s translation efforts in Africa. We love to share the freedom of faith in Jesus Christ. We celebrate each person who is enabled to engage deeply in God’s Word because they now have it in their own language.

Biblica currently has 13 translation projects in progress in Africa. Teams are nearing completion of the full Bible in Kikuyu and Luganda. We hope to typeset, print, and release the Bibles by March 2013. At that point, our focus can shift to our Bible and church engagement programs among speakers of Kikuyu and Luganda. We pray this work will lead to many transformed lives in East Africa.

Please help Biblica touch the hearts and lives of those who receive the Kikuyu and Luganda Bibles by supporting the completion of these translations.

Cries of the Word of

joy Freedom

Philippians 2:13, NIV

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in orderto fulfill his good purpose.

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Need Millions lack Bibles in their language

acTioN give to print the Kikuyu and Luganda Bibles

impacT More people engage in god's Word

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Biblica Philippines staff partnered with local churches and prison ministries to share the gospel with nearly 8,000 inmates recently. Convicts received Biblica New Testaments in Tagalog, Cebuano, and Hiligaynon languages. Many, including Muslims, accepted Christ and released the hatred they had felt toward their accusers.

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GlobalMinistry

India and neighboring countries are home to over 20 percent of the world’s population, and the opportunity for outreach is staggering. Major regional languages have Bible translations, but many are outdated, culturally inaccurate, and are difficult to understand.

Biblica is creating Hindi and Tamil study Bibles with new, contemporary translations. The updated language and study resources in these Bibles will allow Christians in India to understand God’s Word and reach out effectively to the hundreds of millions of unsaved people around them.

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Biblica’s 48-month Bible Adventures children’s workbook series is giving Russian and Romanian children in orphanages and remote villages the opportunity to understand and engage in God’s Word in fun and memorable ways. This year, over 15,000 children in Russia, Romania, and Moldova are learning God’s Word and biblical truths through Bible Adventures workbooks.

“We firmly believe that if Christ is in the heart of these children, they will be transformed to become the spiritual, healthy persons our society needs,” says Pastor Carlos, who is passionate about reaching Ecuador’s children before it is too late.

Many impoverished Latin Americans migrate to find work, abandoning or leaving children with neighbors or relatives. These children are vulnerable to drugs, sex, crime, and violence. Biblica’s Children for Christ program is helping pastors like Carlos give these children the love and security in Christ they lack at home.

UpdatesMinistry

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Soldiers deployed in Muslim countries are responding to the gospel. An American military chaplain says, “Thank you so much for your generous gift of God’s Word to our chapel here in Kyrgyzstan. Already three men have prayed with me to receive Christ, and each of these men received a Bible as their very first!”

When these men return home, they will carry the gospel to family, friends, and many others in their communities.

Midd

leThe Holy Spirit works in the hearts of individuals and cultures in times of upheaval. Despite ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, Biblica provided Children for Christ outreach to over 180,000 children in four countries this year. More than 50,000 children and teens registered for the year-long follow-up Children for Christ Discipleship program. Pray for peace and safety for all involved in ministry in this volatile region.

God is working in Africa through your ministry with Biblica. He is transforming the continent, but there's still much to do!

Perhaps you are a long-term supporter of Biblica. Thank you for being an integral part of our work in Africa and worldwide.

Or maybe you are just getting to know Biblica, and you look forward to a fruitful partnership in transforming lives for the kingdom of God.

Either way, God is using people like you toimpact forever the lives of children andadults around the world. What a privilegeto be part of His work and to partner withyou in this ministry! Your prayers and financial support aretransforming lives. Please prayerfullyconsider a gift to reach people around theworld with God’s Word. We would love to hear how God isworking in your heart. Please shareon the response card what it means toyou to help others know Christ throughyour support of Biblica ministry. If youhave prayer requests, please add them,and we will lift you up in our weeklyprayer groups. Thank you for partnering with Biblica totransform lives through God’s Word.

MinistryPartnersIN

for all of you.

We alwaysthank God

1 Thessalonians 1:2, NIV

Dear friends,

What a year 2011 turned out to be! Who could have anticipated the revolutions that led to regime changes in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia? The “Arab Spring” gave Biblica new opportunities to share the gospel and bring God’s Word into previously closed countries.

While popular uprisings catch the world’s attention, with your support, Biblica staff and our church and ministry partners are working globally to bring a different kind of revolution to people’s lives. The gospel promises radical life change to those who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.

We see glimpses of this revolutionary change in the Philippine inmates who accept Christ and forgive their enemies. We see it in the renewed vigor of African pastors trained in biblical leadership. And we see it in the Latin American children whose actions reflect a new confidence in a God who loves them.

How does it feel to be a part of this “Eternal Spring” of quiet revolution changing people’s lives globally? I hope it gives you joy!

Keith DanbyInternational CEO 15

TranslaTion • Publishing • EngagEmEnTBiBle BiBle BiBle

Romans 1:17, NIV

Therighteous

will livebyfaith.

1820 Jet Stream Dr • Colorado Springs CO 80921 • 1-800-987-3595 • Biblica.com

Biblica brings God’s Word to people around the world through Bible translation, Bible publishing, and Bible engagement so they can come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. Biblica works in Africa, East Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, North America, and South Asia, is the translation sponsor and publisher of the NIV®, and has translated the Bible into over 100 languages.