Winnipeg-based Ministry Having World-wide Impact through Bible Stories Over the Internet
It all started a few years ago when 30 illustrated Bible stories in English were uploaded to the web for children to freely enjoy. A short time later, an email was received with an offer to translate the stories into Dutch, German, French and Portuguese. This was soon completed, along with the addition of another 30 Bible stories for a total of 60.
“There is nothing for children in Bulgaria,” a Bulgarian pastor emailed. “Can I translate your Bible stories into our language?” Soon similar requests came from Indonesia and other countries. Since its inception in 2004, Bible for Children (BFC) stories have been translated into 153 languages and over 40 million stories have been read on the BFC website. All BFC Bible stories, along with printout colouring book pages, are offered freely.
The Bible stories were written by a Winnipeg pastor and writer, and local Christian artists illustrated the stories. Volunteer translators around the world provided crucial support to reaching children in more languages with the knowledge of Jesus.
BFC is accessible through the Internet and all social media devices which expands outreach. For example, the internet is available to 53% of Iranians; and about 22% of Pakistanis have cell phones. This is the way of the future, and BFC Bible stories give virtually the whole world access to God’s Good News. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me.” BFC wants the world’s children to hear the Saviour’s voice in their own language. This cost-effective approach provides a way to communicate with vast numbers of children in different countries and environments. Closed national borders are breached and sharing God’s Word in a people-group’s mother-tongue enhances the truth the stories convey.
Opportunity to Accelerate Access to More Languages
Adding new languages can be accelerated by the hiring of Christian translation ministries who can complete Bible story translations in a short time. The choice of languages is prioritized according to the number of speakers. Presently, BFC offers 92 of the top 100 languages of the world. There are nearly 300 languages with at least one million speakers.
Six particular Bible stories which cover Creation to Heaven are the first to be translated into each language. The children, who are thrilled to discover the stories in their language, receive an overview of true world history and a challenge to receive Jesus as their Saviour.
BFC also uploads Bible stories to be available freely on Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Google and more. And, for the children who don’t have electronics, millions of printed color copies of the Bible stories have been mailed all over the world. Some have even been carried up the Amazon River to tribal peoples.
Will you help make Bible stories available in more languages?
BFC invites others who have a heart for children to join forces together. Translation fees for the six key Bible stories amount to $500 per language. BFC encourages individuals to adopt and sponsor a language and bless the children who speak it. As a Canadian registered charity, BFC offers tax-deductible receipts for all donations. Checks can be made out to Bible for Children and sent to: Bible for Children, PO Box 3, Winnipeg MB R3C 2G1.
“Bible for Children, a set of 60 illustrated Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation, exists to make Jesus Christ known to children throughout the world by distributing the stories via the Internet in virtually every language a child may speak.”
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