BSN’s quest for a Bible House gets a major leap
The quest of The Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) to build a Bible House received a major boost with the acquisition of a property measuring 2,610.402 square metres in land space on 202/204 Ikorodu Road, Palmgrove, Lagos.
Challenged by the lack of a conducive operational office, the BSN in 2019 embarked on a campaign to build a Bible House professionally estimated to cost ₦2.2b out of which the organisation has realised ₦170m from some kind Nigerians. God in His graciousness has now provided BSN with a property worth ₦500m, for which the organisation has deposited ₦300m, comprising of the ₦170m donated by Nigerians and a soft loan of ₦130m. The owners of the property in their magnanimity allowed the BSN to complete the outstanding payment of ₦200m in two equal instalments by April 2023 and have handed over all the documents of the property to the organisation.
The General Secretary/CEO of The Bible Society of Nigeria, Pastor Samuel Sanusi, on behalf of the Board and Management expressed his profound gratitude to all Nigerians who have donated towards the Bible House project and the owners of the property for such a lavish concern for the project, in not just allowing part payment for the property, but also, handing over all the duly signed documents related to the property and granting the organisation a partial occupancy of the property.
Pastor Sanusi also reinforced the need for Churches and all Christians to, in the spirit of true ecumenism, rally round the BSN to build a befitting Bible House for God, which will enable the not-for-profit Christian organisation to continue to fulfil her mandate of making the Bible available and affordable to Nigerians, as well as engage people with the Word of God through programmes to transform their lives. The proposed Bible House is expected to have a corporate office space, Bible Museum, Bible library, Warehouse, Bible shop, and a Translation Centre, amongst others.
The Proposed Bible House
According to the CEO, building a befitting Bible House should not be as difficult as it seems if each Christian in Nigeria assists the BSN by donating a minimum of ₦1,000 for the project. He made a clarion call to Christians to be part of this laudable project dedicated to God’s heartbeat for mankind by sending their donations to the Society’s GTBank account number, 0003723644, or online via www.biblesociety-nigeria.org.
A Bible House project became necessary when because the former corporate headquarters of BSN in Apapa, Lagos, could no longer accommodate the increasing number of staff and operations of the organisation. It also became inaccessible to the members of the public who the organisation serves. The former office was a gift by The Canadian Bible Society in 1919 on behalf of The British and Foreign Bible Society. The building was renovated after 83 years with the addition of another floor.
The need for a Bible House and the relevance of Bible translation cannot be over-emphasised. 3,964 languages spoken by 255 million people globally do not have any Scriptures, whether a full Bible, New Testament, or Portions. Out of over 500 languages in Nigeria, only 26 have a full Bible, while translation/review is ongoing in 10 languages at the minimum cost of ₦120m if completed in eight years. The Bible Society of Nigeria is committed to breaking any known barriers that make the word of God inaccessible to people through Bible translation, publishing, distribution, and engagement with God’s Word through programmes to transform lives. This commitment is, however, being hampered by lack of a suitable office accommodation.