We
cannot but give God the praise for the enabling grace as we earnestly strive
to achieve a worthy mark in our translation projects. We have translated and
published 18 complete Bibles, (Itsekiri Bible being the latest in our
stable), 60 languages in New Testament and one book or another in 97 languages and 24 translation
projects are now going on in various Nigerian languages for both the Protestants
and Roman Catholics. Revisions of and working on Study Bible for some language
projects are other major tasks that are being embarked on.
As a follow up from the Mississauga goals for translation, that is to make Scriptures available to everyone in the language that he/she understands by the year 2010:
(a) Every language with more than 500,000 speakers will have the entire Bible.
(b) Every language with more than 250,000 speakers will have the New Testament.
(c) Every language with more than 100,000 speakers will have a Bible portion.
Scripture Formats
BSN
produces Scriptures in the form of a whole Bible, New Testament, Portion (single
biblical books and selections of scripture passages in different languages.
Each format serves a specific purpose. Our distribution staff will be pleased
to tell you more about the different Scriptures, sizes, shapes and colours that
are available.
BSN seeks to assist you in your work by providing Scriptures designed for a specific use: Church worship, family Bible study, personal reading and reflection as well as for your evangelistic outreach.
You can help the Society by letting us know what you need. Describe in detail what language and format, what version and presentation you need in order to reach specific audiences with God’s word. BSN is ready to advise you and, wherever possible to supply what you need for your ministry. There are three other groups for whom the Bible Society has a particular concern. The groups are: those who cannot read and write, the Visually Impaired people and the poor.
Millions of people cannot read the Bible because their reading ability is too limited. In order to help you reach these people, the Bible Societies are publishing Scripture passages in different formats. These special translations are not only for children. They have proved to be very useful for adults who are learning to read. These special Scriptures are called New Reader Scriptures. Our Youth and New Reader Portion Units would be of assistance to you as you are interested in knowing the effectiveness of the portions among the users in Nigeria.
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Faith Comes By Hearing
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 Visually
Impaired Person (VIP) The Bible Society wants everyone
to have easy access to the Holy Scriptures, this includes people who cannot
see. In some languages, Scriptures have been provided in Braille, the
special print that the blind can read with their fingerprints. BSN can
always be of assistance in providing books or passages of Scripture that
are available in Braille for such people. On May 23, 2007 we commenced on nationwide free Visually Braille Bible distribution programme. Through this programme, we are giving out over 6,500 copies of Braille Bible free to 16 schools for the Blind accross the country. |
Availability Of Scriptures
To sell the Scriptures even at cost price would put them beyond the reach of many people, and so the Bible Societies have been willing to sell the Scriptures at prices below cost to all. This means that every year millions of Naira have to be raised from the voluntary gifts of the people of God around the world for this purpose.
A list of Scriptures available and prices are available on our catalogue page
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for the Home Page
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For
those who need or prefer the spoken word, Scriptures are available on
cassettes in English and over ten Nigerian languages – Hausa,
Igbo, Yoruba, Efik, Edo, Igala, Nupe, Jju, Fulfude and Kanuri. These cassettes have been well received, especially in
rural areas. In some states, churches and missions make simple hand-wound
cassette machines available that require no electricity or batteries.
The testimonies of lives changed through the use of the cassettes are
quite exciting and glorifying to the Lord. If you feel that such Scripture
cassettes would help you in your ministry, please contact our Faith Comes
By Hearing (FCBH) Unit and they will look into the ways and means of making
them available to you.