Vickie and Lamar Vest giving out
God is Our Shelter and Strength at Ground Zero. (Photo by Andrew Hood.)

California

Inner-City Families ‘Wowed' by God's Word

Many of America's families in inner-city neighborhoods struggle with poverty, drug-related violence and broken homes. They need encouragement and physical, emotional and spiritual support. American Bible Society and Winning Our World International (WOW) are bringing just that to 11 cities across the United States, reaching nearly 40,000 people.

Kassey Buckey recently attended the event in Pasadena where her whole family received specially designed Bibles provided by ABS. Each one took the first step of faith through professing belief in Christ.

New York

Nida and NYTS Create New Concentration in Bible Engagement

American Bible Society's Nida Institute, collaborating with New York Theological Seminary (NYTS), launched a new Doctor of Ministry degree in Bible Engagement this academic year.

The Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship seeks to provide the best in translation and translation training services, as well as innovative and relevant academic opportunities in the fields of biblical and translation studies.

Learn more at NidaInstitute.org

Driving for Bibles

American Bible Society's fifth annual Golf Benefit at the Rockaway Hunting Club in Lawrence, N.Y., in September, raised more funds than last year to benefit ABS's Global Ministries. At the benefit dinner, ABS presented the annual ABS Christian Leadership Award to Whitney T. Kuniholm for his leadership in Bible engagement. Whitney is the president of Scripture Union/USA and the author of The Essential Bible (WaterBrook Multnomah.)

9-11: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago, American Bible Society staff joined with the team of first responders to help bring comfort in the midst of the 9-11 tragedy. God is Our Shelter and Strength (GIOSS), a Scripture booklet, was an effective ministry tool to help first responders at Ground Zero and others in the New York City area understand God's provision even in disaster. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9-11, ABS staff visited the areas around Ground Zero and distributed a special edition of GIOSS, updated to include testimonies of 9-11 survivors. A commemorative service, open to the public, was held at Bible House accompanied by The New York Staff Band of The Salvation Army. The service concluded on the sidewalk on Broadway where attendees joined in singing, “Great is thy Faithfulness.”

Pennsylvania

Operation Stand Down

American Bible Society's Armed Services Ministry (ASM) participated for the first time in the annual Operation Stand Down in Philadelphia on September 10. Stand Down events are coordinated throughout the United States by Veteran volunteers in an effort to help Veterans and their families. The Philadelphia event was coordinated by Veteran chaplains from the Vietnam War or Vietnam War era.

Stand Downs serve participants by bringing together agencies that provide services to homeless Veterans. These include medical, dental and VA benefits information, drug and alcohol treatment information, legal advice, employment and housing opportunities and counseling services. In addition, Veteran and civilian volunteers are on hand to assist with providing meals, clothing and hygiene needs.

ASM made available Scripture-based resources created to meet the unique spiritual needs of Veterans and those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, including the God Understands series; E100 Bibles for Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army; Military New Testaments; Spanish Military Bibles; and a few resources for children.

Church of the Nazarene Engages the Word

As part of the efforts for the Uncover the Word™ national Scripture engagement campaign, ABS and Church of the Nazarene have jointly developed a three-year plan for the denomination. The Church adapted ABS's “Least of These” toolkit to jumpstart Scripture engagement from the pulpit to the pew to the family. The Nazarenes also adapted 100 Journeys, based on the Essential 100 Bible passages, naming their Bible reading journey “The Red Thread of Redemption.”
The North American Church of the Nazarene numbers 800,000 people in its membership. The Church is a pioneer in modeling how adopting existing Scripture resources can benefit a denomination.

State of the Bible in America

Fifty-three percent of Americans strongly agree that the Bible contains everything they need to know to live a meaningful life. Barna Group was commissioned in 2011 by American Bible Society to study Americans' perceptions of the Bible and other sacred writings. Findings indicate that American Bible owners have an average of three Bibles in their home, and the King James Version is the predominant translation owned: nearly six out of 10 adults say they own this version. The next most popular is the New King James Version, followed by the New International Version and then the English Standard Version. One in five adult Bible owners are unable to identify the version of the Bible they own. About half of U.S. adults do not read the Bible on their own, but 11 percent say they read their Bible daily.

‘The Book of Life: Family Bibles in America'

“The Book of Life: Family Bibles in America,” an exhibition at the Museum of Biblical Art, shows that the King James Bible graced many households in the English-speaking world long before the phrase Family Bible was coined by a London publisher in 1735. An essential part of the Protestant home, the family's Bible was the center of its spiritual life.

The exhibition explores the development of Family Bibles in America from their first appearance in the 1790s to the end of the 19th century, demonstrating how they were a sacred text and the receptacles of family lineage
and history.

On view through January 14.
Mobia.org