December 10, 2009 – Alajuela, Costa Rica…[Plinio Vergara/IAD Staff]
After making its final stop in Central America, the Seventh-day Adventist Traveling Bible leaves behind thousands of fans in Costa Rica after a six-day journey through the country.
Hundreds church leaders, church members, pathfinders and master guides gathered at San Jose's Juan Santa Maria Airport to witness and celebrate the arrival of the unique Bible, on Dec. 4, 2009, on its 111th stop around the globe.
National television stations and the print media were present to cover the event.
Local authorities escorted the multi-language Bible and were joined by a caravan of cars displaying it through the main streets of the City of Alajuela as a testimony to the importance and value of God's Word.
The Bible made its way to the Adventist University in Alajuela for the official handing over by church leaders from the Mid Central American Union and later made its way to the Bible Society of Costa Rica where leaders praised the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the worldwide initiative to promote the Bible, called “Follow the Bible”.
During a special ceremony at the Garantias Sociales Plaza in San Jose, the president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica, Dr. Luis Paulino Mora Mora read the first two chapters of the Traveling Bible. Pastor Israel Leito, president for the church in Inter-America joined in the celebration and read the Bible in Dutch. Dozens more read the Bible in German, Russina, Czech, and English, among others.
Meanwhile thousands of youth and laypeople read the Bible in dozens of parks and plazas across the country. More than 10,000 free Bibles were distributed during the day's event.
Costa Rica's Adventist Radio station suspended its regular program to air the reading of the entire Bible from Dec. 3-6. Dozens of Adventist schools joined in the months' celebration emphasizing the reading of the Bible to thousands of its students before the end of the school year in November.
The Traveling Bible is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Dec. 11.
To view a photo gallery of the traveling Bible in Costa Rica, visit http://flickr.com/photos/interamerica
