Garrett Caldwell: July 2009 Archives

When the traveling Bible arrived in Belarus July 5, the local church's administrative office held a special meeting before taking it to the National Library where it was put on display for the public alongside ancient manuscripts of Holy Scripture. Later that evening, a special program was held to commemorate Follow the Bible in one of the Adventist churches in Minsk, the capital of Belorussia. After the program, the traveling Bible was passed on to church leadership in the Caucasus.

-- Valery Ivanov, Euro-Asia communication department

The traveling Bible arrived at the largest Adventist church in Kiev July 3, where Adventist leaders and members gathered for message from Ted Wilson, a vice president for the General Conference. That afternoon, church members took the traveling Bible to a park near the church where so locals could touch the Bible, which is printed in 66 languages and is traveling around the world. Special programs -- including a health expo and drama presentations -- were also presented for members of the community. The next day, the Bible was taken to the Adventist Humanitarian Institute in a suburb of Kiev, which was hosting a congress of pastors-veterans. Nearly 200 veterans were able to see the traveling Bible. For most of them, the Bible is a particularly special book, since many of them were jailed for reading it 35 years ago. In a ceremony, the veterans passed the Bible to the younger generations.

-- Valery Ivanov, Euro-Asia communication department

Four books of the traveling Bible are written in languages spoken in the church's Euro-Asian region: Ezekiel is written in Russian, 2 Peter in Ukrainian, 1 Thessalonians in Armenian and Philemon in Romanian. When the traveling Bible arrived at church headquarters in Moscow, church members watched a video presentation about the different regions of the world where the Bible had already traveled, as well as a video about translating the Bible into Russian. Four representatives read from each of the four languages from the traveling Bible.

On July 2, the traveling Bible arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. A church delegation met the Bible at the airport with flags and traditional "bread and salt." During a press conference at the airport, local Adventist President Artur Stele answered questions about Follow the Bible from Hope Channel reporters. The delegation then brought the traveling Bible to the central church office for Euro-Asia.

-- Valery Ivanov, Euro-Asia communication department