After a 5,000 km, 18-hour journey, the travelling Bible arrived in Kirkenes, Norway, the country's northernmost region with a Seventh-day Adventist presence. The city of Kirkenes is located within the Arctic Circle, 2,500 km from both the nation's capital, Oslo, and the North Pole. Norwegian Union Conference President Tor Tjeransen met Janos Kovacs-Biro, representative of the church's Trans-European region, at the Kirkenes Airport on August 16 to pick up the Bible. Norway is the 79th country Follow the Bible has visited.
The Norwegian Union prepared environmentally-friendly bags with the Follow the Bible logo for locals who visited the Bible, displayed in the local library the next day, an event covered by the local media. Each bag contained a copy of the Gospel of John, ads for the Norwegian Bible Correspondence School and a guide to some of the most important and interesting messages in the Bible. Regional church leaders estimate about 10 percent of the city's population received a bag.
One local who received a bag later came back to tell distributors that her grandparents were Adventist Church members in Kirkenes. "This brings back memories of my childhood. My grandparents always had 'Signs of the Times' on the living room table and would bring us to Sabbath School," she said, adding that she would read the copy of the Gospel of John in her bag.
When two teenagers stopped by, they accepted the bags, but then realized they contained Christian initiatives and became sceptical. "Well that changes everything," one teen told the distributors as he handed back the bag. However, after the distributor explained the Follow the Bible program, both young men decided they wanted to visit the multilingual Bible on display in the library. Afterward, the young man "gladly received" the giveaway bag, distributors said.
That evening, church members donned national costumes and met with representatives from other local Christian communities, including the Lutheran Church and the Salvation Army. Adventist scholar Roger Robertson, who directs the Bible Correspondence School in Norway, presented on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the importance of the Bible.
"It is so good to see our meeting hall filled to capacity," a Salvation Army representative said. "The Bible unites all Christians."
The travelling Bible left Kirkenes on August 18 to stop in Oslo, where the Adventist Student Association at the University of Oslo, led by Kenneth Bergland, organized an outreach event the next day. Students distributed their take on the environmentally-friendly giveaway bag, containing the Gospel of John, a Bible reading plan and an apple. Distributors handed out some 200 bags and report that their fellow students were grateful to receive them. "This bag conveys three important messages - Christianity, environmental awareness and health," one recipient said.
Later that day, the travelling Bible visited Tyrifjord Junior College, where students enjoyed seeing the Bible and were able to ask questions about the Follow the Bible initiative.
