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Bible Translation

Charitable Giving

For obvious reasons, I love this post from Christian Bookshop Talk:

While most of us have an awareness of the financial needs of various churches and organizations in our cities or towns that would rival anyone else’s awareness; I want to focus on one this time that I think should be close to the heart of any Christian bookstore owner:  Bible translation.

Maybe you see the work of the International Bible Society or the American Bible Society (or Canadian Bible Society) as “competition” when they send out direct mailing pieces to your local churches; but I think we should remember that there should be no true competition in Christian ministry.

Let me offer another possibility:  Wycliffe Bible Translators.   I think this is an organization that any bookseller should support in principle and in prayer, if not financially.   The Bible section is the core of our stores, and while we enjoy a glut of translations, formats and editions; in other parts of the world over 2,000 language groups still wait for a complete New Testament.

In many ways, the dearth of available scripture portions in those parts of the world is the complete antithesis of the stock in our stores.   Supporting organizations like Wycliffe helps us do something to balance the scales.

Furthermore, we have the historical record where Bible translation has been the forerunner in bringing general literacy to a tribe or nation, with all the benefits that involves.    It’s a win-win situation for which people who sell books — of any type — should have the highest appreciation.

The whole post is well worth reading. If you would like to make a donation to Wycliffe you can do so by clicking here. (The original post was written in the US and linked to Wycliffe US).

Thanks to Phil Groom for pointing me to this article.

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