West Indies Union: Church starts countdown to the arrival of large multi-language Bible
November 1, 2009 – Mandeville, Jamaica….[Nigel Coke/WIU]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Indies Union territory will, on November 1, 2009, start a ‘Forty-day Countdown' to the arrival of the huge multi-language Bible which is presently on a two-year journey, covering six continents, around the world. This is part of an Adventist Global initiative known as “Follow the Bible”, which seeks to call back Seventh-day Adventist members and the world at large to the study and benefits of following the Word of God.
The Bible, which started its journey in October 2008 from Manila, Philippines, has each of its sixty-six books written in a different language of the world, is measured 18 inches long by 12 inches wide, weighs 16 pounds and has approximately 1,500 pages.
The Bible is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica at the Donald Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, on Dec. 11, and departs on Dec. 13, 2009.
“In preparation for the coming of the Bible we believe that our churches need to impact the communities in which we serve in the teachings of the Bible,” said Pastor Derek Bignall, president of the church in the West Indies region. “During these forty days the church, through its various regions, will focus on the themes of generosity, forgiveness and reconciliation, peace and unity, health and wellness and family life.”
These, Pastor Bignall continued, will take the form of workshops, seminars, free health clinics, panel discussions, feeding of street people, visits to the prisons, infirmaries, children homes, and the Women's Crisis Centre.
The countdown will also include messages from the pulpit and panel discussions, which will be aired on radio and television through the church's various sponsored programmes and facilities.
“Apart from these outreach projects, we want to call the nation's attention to the importance of God's word in our everyday life regardless of one's profession, class, race or religion,” Pastor Bignall emphasized. “God created everyone and we are all in need of His help especially with the level of crime and violence, immorality and corruption in our schools, homes, communities and government. We need to study His words and live by them.”
“This will possibly be the most traveled Bible in the history of the world as it makes its journey and momentum builds within the Adventist community,” said Pastor Mark Finley, vice president for Global Evangelism and Witnessing at the Adventist World Church headquarters. “This Bible will be preached from and read in more languages than any other book in the history of mankind. This initiative will surely restore the image of the Church, that Seventh-day Adventists really are people of the Book. We are truly people who ‘Follow the Bible'.”
“Follow the Bible,” an initiative of the Adventist World Church started with the journey of a huge multi-language Bible on October 11, 2008 in the Philippines. It will end its journey in Atlanta, Georgia on June 23, 2010 at the 59th Session of the Adventist World Church.
Countries covered so far by the traveling Bible include: The Philippines, The Netherlands, Denmark, India, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Romania, Russia, Norway, and the Middle Eastern nations. The Bible, which is presently in South America, will enter the United States of America via Miami on November 2, when it will be received by Pastor Israel Leito, president of the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
