TRANS-EUROPEAN: September 2009 Archives

    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 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.

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

Monday evening, the 14th of September, the moment had finally come. The now famous and record breaking bible arrived at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Pastor Jonathan Barrett from the United Kingdom hand delivered the Bible. He was met by the country's youth director Jeroen Tuinstra and one of the church's youth members.
The following day the bible made its appearance at The Hague church, where an open seminar had been organised to think about the influence of language and culture upon the way we read the bible and how the bible and following traditions have influenced our lives today. The Netherlands Union Conference felt that it was important to make this an all-inclusive event. Other churches, religious institutions and other organisations were invited. Among the visitors were representatives of the national council of churches and the bible society.
Speakers were two professors, experts in their own field, Patrick Chatelion Counet and Rudy Van Moere, who held interesting lectures on culture and language. Afterwards attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions and were invited to share their thoughts. Even though it was 'Prinsjesdag', the day that the queen holds her annual speech and the budget is announced, about forty people attended the evening. Shortly a little booklet will be published, with in it the book of Jude (the book in the travelling bible in Dutch), commentaries from the two speakers at the seminar and possibly their lectures.
The next morning the Union office employees had their picture taken with the bible and were very much intrigued with all the languages that represented a diverse and worldwide church. Of course Dutch was looked up but Afrikaans and Pigeon English were also favourites. The gracious writings of some oriental languages harvested admiration. Later that day the bible travelled onward to Greece, where more people would be added to the list of those inspired to read a little more of that precious word of God.
Pastor Wim Altink (Netherlands Union President): "The Follow The Bible project has reached its goal in the Netherlands:  at the day that the Dutch Queen read "the State of the Union" at the opening of the Parliamentary Year, one of the professors from the University of Brussels - who himself is an Adventist - clearly and eloquently stated that most issues in the area of different faith opinions can be addressed by "reading, re-reading and reading anew" of large portions of Scripture. God's State of Union was spoken of with love, expertise and dedication. The torch of FTB has rekindled the love of reading Gods Word, certainly for those who attended the seminar."  

A unique 1,500-page "traveling Bible" written in 66 languages, one language for each book of the Old and New Testament, toured the Island of Cyprus on September 21.

This colossal 7-kg leather-bound Holy Bible, measuring 46 cm x 30 cm, is likely to be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most widely traveled Bible in the world, visiting some 170 countries during its 2-year global itinerary until 29 June 2010. Cyprus was its 96th stop.

Pastor David Cox, leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cyprus, said he hoped the world church's Follow the Bible initiative would help people to "recognize the importance of the Bible and to make its wisdom and values a greater part of their lives."

The Bible's first destination in Cyprus was the American Academy in Nicosia, where staff and students leafed through its pages and attempted to read the different languages. "Pidgin English was the most popular and amusing language for the students," said Pastor Janos Kovacs-Biro, evangelism director for the Adventist Church in the Trans-European region, who hand-carried the Bible for 31 days across Europe where public events were organized to showcase the Bible.

With the formal consent of the Mayor of Nicosia, Eleni Mavrou, the next stop was the centre of Nicosia, Europe's last divided city, where a special display stand, in partnership with the Bible Society, was set up in the square leading to the main shopping area of Ledra Street.

There, organizers invited passers-by to read the Bible and free Bible-reading guides for those interesting in reading the Bible in a year. The Bible was read in twenty languages by people of all faiths who happened to walk by.

"We even had a Norwegian tour group pause for a moment and serenade us with the hymn, 'Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine' on their way around the town with their tour guide!" said Moses Elmadjian, one of the organizers of the Nicosia event and also the grandson of Moses Boursalian, the first Adventist to arrive in Cyprus in 1912.

The final destination for the Bible was Paphos, where it attracted some curiosity among tourists at the site of St Paul's Pillar, where tradition says that the Apostle Paul was taken captive during his missionary journey to the island.

The Bible is now on a tour of the Middle East, proceeding through Egypt, UAE, Kuwait and finally Lebanon this weekend.

-- Alex Elmadjian

While you'll usually find Clive de Silva busy preparing or preaching sermons, on Sabbath, September 12, the keen biker and Seventh-day Adventist minister used his motorcycle to avoid clogged London streets and transport the traveling Bible to church members in Brixton, Chiswick, Holloway and Clapton.

The British Union Conference (BUC) has been 'following the Bible' all year with special articles in church magazines and a Web site dedicated to the initiative. Newbold College church has been compiling its own Bible with members' comments and annotations. Church leaders said local members were delighted that the church was the first stop on the BUC section of the Bible's world tour. Crowds packed the venue for an opportunity to see the Bible and look through the different languages, they reported. Pigeon English quickly became a favorite with many, while others looked to find their own language represented, church leaders said.

Local church services featured children reading from the traveling Bible in their own languages. One member, Sasha Becejac, dressed up as a storytelling Bible.

Newbold College library added to the day by sharing a display of historic Bibles, including the 1560 Geneva Bible, which was printed in Switzerland to avoid persecution. During BUC president Don McFarlane's messages at various venues throughout the region, he spoke about the sacrifice of William Tyndale, John Wycliffe and others who were determined to bring the Bible's message to the common man.

"When we think of the risk these men took to make the Bible available to us, it should make us stand in awe and want to study it and value it more," McFarlane told audience members.

While almost all Adventist churches in the U.K. participated in 'Follow the Bible Sabbath,' some moved away from traditional preaching during their services to feature responsive readings, musical selections, poetry readings and testimonies about the impact of the Bible.

On Monday morning, students at church-run Stanborough School were surprised to learn that millions more copies of the Bible have been sold than copies of books by popular children's author J.K. Rowling. Later, they worked themes from the Bible into artwork and other school projects.

Dressed in national costumes, students read from the traveling Bible in their own languages. With over forty nationalities represented by the student body, 18 read passages in Chinese, Persian, Portuguese, Swahili and even Pigeon English.

-- BUC Staff

"Sweet Molly Malone" of Irish folk song fame is known for plying the streets selling "cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh!" A statue of Molly on Grafton Street in central Dublin speaks to her popularity in the country. Last week, instead of mussels, her basket displayed the traveling Bible, drawing the interest of camera-toting tourists, many of whom accepted brochures and Bible cards distributed by local Seventh-day Adventists.

Later, BUC communication director Victor Hulbert joined a walk organized by local Adventist pastor, Stephen Wilson. Church leaders and members walked past government, education and media centers to raise awareness of Scripture.

Joy Pontanar, who was among members participating in the walk, commended the many young people who helped distribute fliers during the event. Another participant, Busi Msipha, said the traveling Bible was a great reason "to stop and talk to people."

Church leaders report that the event has helped raise the profile of the Bible in Ireland, adding that perhaps one day the hymn "Give me the Bible" will be more popular than "Sweet Molly Malone."

-- BUC

Seventh-day Adventists in Poland learned of the historical and political significance of the Bible when the world church's Follow the Bible initiative visited their country this month.

The Bible, which first arrived in Podkowa Lesna at the headquarters of the Polish College of Theology and Humanities, was greeted with a message from the national president and a letter of recognition from Poland's prime minister. During the ceremony that followed, presenters reviewed the role of the Bible in local government and Janoš Kovacs-Biro spoke on the historical legacy of the Bible and events connected to its current trip around the world. The former president for the church in Poland spoke on the influence of the Bible on Polish culture, and mission director for the church in Poland, Krzysztof Roszkowski, led a panel discussion.

Current president of the church in Poland, Pawel Lazar, attended the event, along with other local church leaders. Rev. Roman Indrzejczyk, chaplain to Poland's president and representative of the Evangelical Methodist Church in the country, and Rev. Jacek Olejniczak, the secretary of the Council of the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites, were among religious leaders who also attended the celebration.

Designed to reignite interest in Bible study, Follow the Bible will continue its trek around the world, leading up to the world church's business session next summer. Poland is the 90th country visited by the traveling Bible, which features the book of Hosea written in Polish.

To help celebrate the traveling Bible's September 6 to 11 visit to Poland, local government and community members approved an exhibition of Bible-themed postage stamps and special editions of the Bible, which were visited by numerous school groups. "It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know the history of the Word of God," local church leaders said.

Local church members participated in a Bible-reading marathon, the first such event held in Poland, broadcast live on local television for 21 hours. Church members also distributed copies of 'What Do You Know About the Bible?' a Bible-readings calendar, an illustrated New Testament, the Gospel of John and electronic versions of the Bible.

Later that week, the traveling Bible stopped in Gdansk, drawing the attention of passersby, many of whom stopped to see the Bible and listened as Alfred Palla, a Polish Adventist Bible scholar, spoke on "Secrets of the Bible."

One the Bible's final day in Poland, activities surrounding Follow the Bible were widely covered by local media, church leaders said. Local newspapers ran features on the initiative, a Polish film crew recorded church services and several church leaders were interviewed on local radio stations.

-- By Arkadiusz Pietka, with contributions by Krzysztof Roszkowski and Iwona Maikowska

Seventh-day Adventist congregations across the church's southeast European region dedicated Sabbath, September 5 to Bible study as the traveling Bible made its way through Serbia and Macedonia.

In Belgrade, Serbia's Philippine ambassador, Verica Milakovi?, said she was grateful for Follow the Bible's emphasis on uplifting values. Šandor Doci, leader of Serbia's Calvinist Reformed Church, said the initiative is not only bringing people back to God, but also closer to each other through shared hope. In Novi Sad, the country's second largest city, Adventists led a public reading of the Bible in locally represented languages to demonstrate the universality of the Gospel message, church leaders said. Radio Novi Sad interviewed regional Follow the Bible organizers, giving the church another opportunity to present an Adventist interpretation of Scripture to a broad audience.

Adventists in Macedonia gathered in their country's capital, Skopje, on September 7 to welcome the travelling Bible to the only Baltic country mentioned in the New Testament.

Marija Trajkovska, director of Woman's Ministries for the church in southeast Europe, said postmoderns are finding the initiative's emphasis on Scripture particularly relevant. "The return to the basic Biblical values and principles is the missing link in the relationship between God and humanity," she said.

After services in Skopje, Laszlo Gallusz, principal of the Belgrade Adventist Theological Seminary, challenged audience members to devote time to studying the Bible regularly and following its principles. "I want this to be true for me, my family, my church and my community every day," Trajkovska said.

-- Laszlo Gallusz/South-East European Union Conference

Some 200 Hungarian Seventh-day Adventists welcomed the traveling Bible to their country's capital Friday evening, September 4. Speaking to the group gathered at the Central Church, Budapest, Otto Pecsuk, executive secretary of the Hungarian Bible Society, spoke on the lasting impact of Follow the Bible on Hungarian society.

During Sabbath services the next day, more than 700 Adventists from the church's Duna Conference vowed to 'Follow the Bible' in their daily lives. The group heard traveling Bible stories from around the world and listened as the message of Amos was presented. Amos is the book of the traveling Bible written in Hungarian.

The program, which took place in a rented hall in Budapest, was covered by the local Adventist Media Center and is expected to appear on a national religious news television channel as well, church officials said.

That afternoon, children from local churches presented plays and musical selections based on the Bible.

Children also joined some 400 church members to welcome the traveling Bible to the church's Tisza Conference in Hungary. While adult members learned about the origin and survival of the Bible throughout the centuries and the importance of not rushing when reading the Bible, children received coloring books based on the Bible.

That afternoon, church members donated to an offering for a book to familiarize more people with the Bible. When the traveling Bible arrived at the Adventist church in Bekescsaba, church leaders surrounded it and asked congregation members to pledge to 'Follow the Bible' in their own lives. After the program, members gave away free copies of the New Testament on the street.

-- Erno Osz-Farkas, Duna Conference president, and Arpad Szollosi, Tisza Conference secretary

On September 1, Croatian Adventists organized a public Bible exhibition at the main square in Zagreb, Croatia, catching the interest of the media and people in the city.

Eighty Bibles were sold during the event and volunteers passed out hundreds of tracts and books to visitors.

The main event in Croatia included a presentation of the Bible at the European House in Zagreb, with representatives of the state, various Christian denominations and Jewish leaders in attendance. Adventist theologian Zeljko Porobija gave a short presentation about the relevance of the Bible in modern society.

National television and radio broadcasters and other media outlets were present. The representative of the president of Croatia pointed out the importance of the Bible and its role in the history of Croatian people.

On Wednesday, September 2, about 100 church members and visitors gathered at Maribor Adventist Church to welcome the world traveling Bible on its one day visit to Slovenia.

The program presented the Bible as the living word of God and invited the people to read it daily. Short presentations about the role and the power of the Bible were given by individual church members.

The representative of Slovenian Bible Society also invited the audience to support and participate spreading the Word of God in their personal life and through the programs of the society. The program opened and closed with songs from singing group Maran-atha.

After the program, the audience had the opportunity to look at the traveling Bible and engage in discussion.

About 150 people, members and guests from all the churches throughout Albania met in the Tirana Central Church August 29 for a wonderful and unforgettable event. The Bible was read in over 15 different languages. We also had guests from around the globe that participated in the program.

One highlight was the daughter of Meropi Gjika, whose story became world-famous in the 1995 GC Session in Utrecht, Netherlands. The daughter displayed a 90-year-old Bible that her mother read completely through more than 60 times.

Following the solemn arrival of the Bible, passed on by members of all churches and groups in Albania, Pastor Julian Kastrati, Secretary of the Albanian Mission gave an inspiring message, challenging everyone to daily Bible reading.

Following the sermon, Pastor Leo Espana, President of the Albanian Mission called upon those present make a firm commitment to "Follow the Bible" with the General Conference reading guide. Over 100 people came forward signifying their decision to spend time daily in the Word.

Afterward, many participated in a parade of decorated vehicles and messages about the Bible  through the capital city of Tirana. In imitation of a typical Albanian wedding ceremony, with incessant honking of the horns, the convoy raised attention of the public, promoting the Word of God in an atheist-influenced country.

After arriving at Keflavik International Airport, the traveling Bible set out on a lightning tour of Iceland. The initial plan was to fly the Bible to seven locations from the Reykjavik airport in a small four-seater airplane, and local news media were alerted in each city. On the day before the arrival the weather conditions worsened, preventing the use of a small plane. We decided to use the commercial airline and then shortened the visit to three places.

In order to be able to visit the locations using scheduled flights, the Bible had to use the same plane to return to Reykjavik. We had only 15 to 20 minutes in the airport buildings. The first trip was to Akureyri, the capital of Northern Iceland. There, the majority of the Adventist community welcomed the Bible.

At first, the passengers waiting in the building were a bit surprised about the event announced, where they were given the opportunity to see, touch and read from this remarkable Bible. But after a few minutes, numerous interesting discussions started. We handed out pamphlets with information about the Traveling Bible and the Adventist church in Iceland

The second visit was to the Westman Islands in the south of Iceland. There the reception was similar -- a large group of church members and about 40 to 50 passengers were waiting for the plane. The Bible created interest  amongst the waiting passengers, including the pastor of the local Pentecostal church and a former missionary in Romania.

Local and national media were present. In Akureyri, a radio interview was taken with Manfred Lemke and in the Westman Islands, Janos Kovacs-Biro was interviewed for a local newspaper.

In the Reykjavik airport, a multinational group of church members read form the Traveling Bible each in Romanian, German, Danish, Lithuanian, Serbian, and Hungarian.

The Bible left Iceland August 21 from Keflavik International Airport.