The Bible and Mission
Last week I spent a few days as a guest of the Forum of Bible Agencies at a major consultation in Malaysia. The Forum is a collection of many agencies involved in Bible translation, publishing and distribution. The various agencies have become very skilled at getting the Bible into the hands of ordinary people in their own language. But the question arises, “What do people do with those millions of Bibles? Do they use them, are they engaged with the text and does the Bible make a difference to the way they live their lives?”
That was the major issue that the consultation was designed to address. I was fascinated to see the vast spread of nationalities present at the event. 60% were different Asian peoples, westerners were a minority. I am certain that 20 years ago, leaders from the west would have been the dominant group. That was not the case at this major event. It was a fascinating glimpse of the amazing world church that has come into being in recent years. I was able to capture a number of interviews with participants which another participant took and made into a short presentation.