Follow the Bible visited Denmark on August 23-24 for a fast-paced trip around the country in an attempt to visit each and every local church within the given time frame.
Replicating the global journey in which the Bible visits each division and union, the Danish Union of Churches decided to take the journey to a local level and visit each of the country's 40 churches, plus 5 church schools, in 48 hours. In order to make this work, a church member sponsored the use of his private aircraft for the longer stretches, and a team of up to three cars with drivers taking shifts brought the Bible through the country. Some visits had to be scheduled for odd times, even in the middle of the night, but in spite of this a surprising number of members and visitors showed up to see the Bible and pray together.
The venture gave a unique sense of national unity among Adventists in Denmark, with every church participating in a common project to promote the Bible. Throughout the two days, a blog was updated live with pictures and impressions from the trip, and a GPS tracker constantly posted the Bible's position to the internet. Many people came to one of the churches, and several thousand followed the Bible online.
To support the call to focus on the Bible, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark decided to publish the gospel of Luke in magazine format. We are commissioned to preach the gospel to all peoples, and while Denmark may share one language, bridging the cultural gaps can be quite difficult. So in an attempt to reach a postmodern and secular target group, this magazine of 80 illustrated pages presents the story of Jesus in a new and refreshing way, while leaving the Bible text unaltered. The launch of Luke coincided with Follow the Bible, and the magazine was presented in all the churches visited. It will be used for outreach work in public spaces, and the church is also offering it to schools and other churches for use in Bible education.
Follow the Bible and the Luke project garnered a lot of media attention, which is unusual in a country where Christianity is seldom mentioned publicly, and then usually not positively. Many local newspapers and radio stations had a mention of the travelling Bible and its journey around the country. And on the morning of August 25, two representatives from the church were invited to the main morning talk show on national television to present the special version of the gospel of Luke. Since then, there have been many more orders for the magazine, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church has become a little bit better know in the Danish public.
The traveling Bible continues its trip around the world. But in Denmark, the impact will linger for quite some time. The national unity, the sense of pride in a church-sponsored project, the focus on sharing the gospel with other people, are all outcomes that will stay with the church as it continues its mission to tell Denmark about Jesus and the Bible.
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Replicating the global journey in which the Bible visits each division and union, the Danish Union of Churches decided to take the journey to a local level and visit each of the country's 40 churches, plus 5 church schools, in 48 hours. In order to make this work, a church member sponsored the use of his private aircraft for the longer stretches, and a team of up to three cars with drivers taking shifts brought the Bible through the country. Some visits had to be scheduled for odd times, even in the middle of the night, but in spite of this a surprising number of members and visitors showed up to see the Bible and pray together.
The venture gave a unique sense of national unity among Adventists in Denmark, with every church participating in a common project to promote the Bible. Throughout the two days, a blog was updated live with pictures and impressions from the trip, and a GPS tracker constantly posted the Bible's position to the internet. Many people came to one of the churches, and several thousand followed the Bible online.
To support the call to focus on the Bible, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denmark decided to publish the gospel of Luke in magazine format. We are commissioned to preach the gospel to all peoples, and while Denmark may share one language, bridging the cultural gaps can be quite difficult. So in an attempt to reach a postmodern and secular target group, this magazine of 80 illustrated pages presents the story of Jesus in a new and refreshing way, while leaving the Bible text unaltered. The launch of Luke coincided with Follow the Bible, and the magazine was presented in all the churches visited. It will be used for outreach work in public spaces, and the church is also offering it to schools and other churches for use in Bible education.
Follow the Bible and the Luke project garnered a lot of media attention, which is unusual in a country where Christianity is seldom mentioned publicly, and then usually not positively. Many local newspapers and radio stations had a mention of the travelling Bible and its journey around the country. And on the morning of August 25, two representatives from the church were invited to the main morning talk show on national television to present the special version of the gospel of Luke. Since then, there have been many more orders for the magazine, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church has become a little bit better know in the Danish public.
The traveling Bible continues its trip around the world. But in Denmark, the impact will linger for quite some time. The national unity, the sense of pride in a church-sponsored project, the focus on sharing the gospel with other people, are all outcomes that will stay with the church as it continues its mission to tell Denmark about Jesus and the Bible.
