The "follow the Bible" project Bible arrived in Lebanon early morning at 3:10am, on Friday, September 25, 2009. It spent a few hours at the Middle East Union Headquarters before it was taken to the Middle East University Seventh-day Adventist Church for Friday night worship, which is the opening of the Sabbath. Youth from the Middle East University led out in the program by singing, as they happily received the Bible.
Sabbath morning brought members of all churches in Lebanon to one location to celebrate the occasion, which reminds them of the Adventists tradition as "people of the Book." The Adventist Church was founded on the Bible only, and nothing is believed, which is not found in the Scriptures. A fact that makes many proud, as this traveling Bible symbolizes the need for Adventists worldwide to study their Scriptures more. Church members in Lebanon read from the traveling Bible in fifteen languages.
Furthermore, Lebanon, the headquarters of the Middle East Union, became the 100th stop for this traveling Bible after it has visited four other locations in this union namely Cyprus, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. That prompted some thoughts regarding the completeness of the number 100. Dr. Rajah Farah, who preached on the significance of Bible reading, said, "Bible is the only Book translated into many languages, and it retains its authenticity and life" "Our civilization comes from the Bible," he added. That reaffirmed that the Bible is indeed the Holy Word of God. Church members in Lebanon divided the Scriptural texts among themselves in an attempt to read the Scripture entirely on this weekend, as part of the marathon reading the Middle East Union encourages.
Finally, the seat of the Middle East Union received the Bible with great joy and excitement, and people believe that this symbolic traveling Bible will remain as a reminder for them to always find time to read the WORD of God to nourish their soul. The Bible has now been given up to South American Division.
Reported compiled by Bern Yuot, MEU Evangelism Director
The "follow the Bible" project Bible has arrived in Kuwait City, Kuwait, its 99th nation. It attracted a crowd of more than fifty Adventists, who wanted to rededicate themselves to the study of the Word. Pastor Papu, a visiting speaker from South African Indian Ocean Division, preached about the "follow the Bible" project and explained the meaning of this project to the congregation. He said, "the Bible is the Word of God. It does not contain the Word of God. It is the Word of God, and this project is all about studying the Word of God."
Members of Kuwait Seventh-day Adventist Church read from the traveling Bible in eleven languages drawing rounds of applause from the congregation. Various individuals expressed their joy and excitement because they feel that the church needs reminders in the last day. Reminders such as the "follow the Bible" project and many people have specifically rededicated themselves to the study of the Word of God.
Kuwait Seventh-day Adventist Church members also plan to organize a marathon reading of the Scripture to be completed by the end of September 2009. Church members will form groups and divide the whole Scriptures among themselves. They will get together and read portions of the Scriptures assigned to them, and they believe that they will have the whole Scripture read by the end of the month.
Finally, the Bible made its way to the headquarters of the Middle East Union in Beirut, which will be its 100th stop in its journey around the world.
Report compiled by Bern Yuot, MEU Evangelism Director.
It was a scene that many Adventist Christians in Dubai described as "awesome, exciting..etc." One member in particular told me how happy he was and how wonderful he thinks this project really is. He said, "this project is so exciting because it is all about what we are. We are the people of the Book," referring to the Adventist Church's long tradition of being a church founded solely on the Holy Scriptures. The Bible, as you might have heard, reached the Middle East Union on September 21, 2009 and touched down in Cyprus. It spent one day in Cyprus and headed on to Cairo, Egypt. It spent the whole day of September 22, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt.
On September 23, 2009 at 3:45am, the Bible arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It spent one day in Dubai and church members held meetings, as they shared the meaning behind this exciting Adventist Worldwide Project with their friends and coworkers. Members of Dubai Seventh-day Adventist Church have done this in hopes of resurrecting interest in creation of new Bible studies with people from other denominations. Only time will tell if this project will truly produce results in the area of outreach and friendship evangelism.
This reporter, however, believes that "follow the Bible" project has achieved its goal among Adventist Christians in Dubai, as the level of enthusiasm shown may translate into more bible study and personal reading of the Scriptures. These multi-national Dubai Seventh-Day Adventist Church members proudly read passages from the Bible in Tagalog, Hindi, Tamil, and Arabic, as they made plans to form groups to read the Scriptures together in an attempt to read the Bible entirely. It was not easy to get the Bible to Dubai, but the interest for this "follow the Bible Project shown by members made it worth it to take the risk and by God grace the Book made it in and out safely without any major risk of confiscation. It is the desire of the "follow the Bible" project organizers at the Middle East Union to see that this initiative makes a different in the lives of ordinary Adventists and those living with them in their communities. Dr. Kjell Aune, President of the Middle East Union, prays for this project continually as the Bible travels around the Middle East Union's vast territory, and here is a prayer he sent to the organizers of this project by electronic mail. "I pray that this "Follow the Bible" initiative will prove to be a blessing to our churches. May it inspire the members, friends of the church and other Christians who will hear and read about it!"
Finally, the Middle East Union team appreciates your prayers on this worldwide project making its way through our region.
Report filed by: Bern Yuot, Evangelism Director, MEU
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 travelling 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.
The special Bible landed in Cairo International airport at 8.30 pm on 21 September. It was received joyfully by Pastor Llewellyn Edwards the president of Egypt Field. On the 22nd morning members, church leaders and children gathered in the SDA Heliopolis Church to view the Bible and to read from it. Portions from the Bible was read in three languages; Arabic, Swedish and English. The first verse read was from Malachi 3:1 "I, the Lord All-Powerful, will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will appear in his temple. The messenger you desire is coming with my promise, and he is on his way."
Later that morning pastors from across Egypt Field came together to discuss how they can encourage their members to read the Bible daily (using the Bible Reading Guide). They also decided to set aside 10 - 15 minutes during each Sabbath where chosen Bible passages can be read publicly. They were convinced that "God will bless everyone who reads ... who hears ... and obeys it." Rev. 1:3
During the week, the Bible was read across the nation in Churches and in homes.
Report compiled by Maywald Jesudass, MEU Ministerial Secretary
After an hour or so of questions and verification by the Israel Defense Force in the airport of Athens, Greece, Janos Kovacs-Biro and the Bible arrived in Ben Gurion International Airport in 18 September 2009. This Bible that started its journey from Manila, Philippines arrived in Israel with a tremendous opportunity to witness for the theme of the Bible - Jesus.
At the start of the Sabbath (18th of September 2009), the Bible traveled to Ashdod where 60 people waited to see the Bible. Adventists and non-Adventists gathered with joy and anticipation to witness the traveling Bible. It was inspiring to know that the 66 books of the Bible were written in 66 different languages. The book of Esther was written in Hebrew. According to Janos, Israel is the 95th country that this Bible has visited. After his remarkable presentation, one man came to the church pastor and asked when he could be baptized and join the Adventist church.
Sabbath morning the Bible traveled to Jerusalem where the three English congregations of Israel Field came together for Christian Fellowship. At noon the Bible was in Tel Aviv where they have a Bible Correspondence Course graduation. Sabbath afternoon the Bible traveled to Yardenit (Baptismal Site in Jordan River). Six precious souls were baptized. Janos encouraged the newly baptized members together with the regular members and friends to follow God's word.
Three buses, 2 mini buses and several cars drove from Yardenit to the Sea of Galilee. About 200 people and children rode on two boats where they filled the air with songs of praises in Hebrew, Romanian and Russian. A twelve-year old girl who was baptized few hours earlier read from the book of Ester. Many of the guests and friends of the Adventists were impressed with the messages and songs they heard, and the fellowship they had experienced. When all the people had left the boat, the Jewish owners of the boat requested to take a picture with the Bible. It turned out not only a picture taking but a wonderful privilege to share the power of the word of God.
Sunday the Bible traveled to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, then to the Garden of Gethsemane, to Jericho and finally to Qumran. Many of the Jews were shy to take pictures with the Christian Bible but they stood around to listen to the stories from the Bible and the testimonies of changed lives of different types of people.
Truly the Word of God is living and powerful. Having the traveling Bible in Israel was an extraordinary event. It gave us a chance to make our Adventist Church known among the people of Israel. It unites us as a people. It transcends all cultures. Let us follow the Bible.
Julio Mendez, Secretary-Treasurer of Israel Field
