Bibles 4 ZIM
Shona Bible
In 2006 the International Bible Society released its translation in Harare. Over 3,000 church and community leaders welcomed this contemporary translation. Since then it has become the translation of choice for the Shona speaking people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Unfortunately the economies of both countries have severely impacted its distribution. Zimbabwe has not been able to reprint – leaving a severe shortage, and Bibles in Mozambique can cost up to a year’s income –making them impossibly expensive. An estimated 4 million Zimbabweans find themselves in South Africa – many of them Shona speakers. Very few Shona Bibles have been available for resale in South Africa and there is a huge demand for Shona Bibles.
In 2009 Bibles for Believers was able to print 20,000 Shona. Most of these have been delivered free of charge to churches in Zimbabwe by B4B and other mission agencies and churches; and some were swapped for other needed translations.
The Bibles4Zim project was launched in 2009. This project is a joint venture between Bibles for Believers (B4B), Harvesters International Ministries (HIM) and the Harvesters Bible School (HBS). The project aims to plant at least 1,600 new churches in Zimbabwe, train a pastor for each (within walking distance from their home village) and provide Bibles for those in discipleship. Phase 1 includes appointing a project leader, having 30,000 Shona Bibles printed and purchasing a suitable vehicle. The cost of phase 1 is about R1.6 million ($210,000). More Bibles will be printed in phase 2, as well as the training material for the pastoral students.
The need is almost overwhelming in Zimbabwe. In a nation experiencing political upheaval and social crisis, the church needs to be strong. Many are coming to Christ, but few are being discipled. Whole churches, villages or even towns do not have a single copy of the Bible. B4B has encountered multiple cases of pastors who have never owned a Bible and even Bible Schools where students don’t have the Word of God. Often while delivering Bibles people come forward and tell how they have been Christians for 5 or 10 or 20 years and have never even held a Bible in their hands. “I have been praying for more than 10 years for this Bible”, a tearful believer said at one church.
Bibles for Believers needs your help so that Zimbabwe can be helped….
Sept 2009. Zimbabwe is often in the news. Usually for all the wrong reasons. Most of us are aware of the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans, of their struggle to survive and their collapse of the economic system in that country.
Few are aware of how severely Christians have been affected. In many cases freedom of worship has been impaired and many believers are suffering.
One of the outcomes of the economic difficulties that the nation faces is the lack of hard currency to print Bibles. The result is that there are no Shona Bibles available in Zimbabwe at present. Even if there were, most Christians would not be able to afford them. So, the church struggles.
In God’s providence, B4B (Bibles for Believers) printed Shona Bibles at the end of 2008. We did this because we could not get the right to print the Bemba and Chewa Bibles that a large gift was intended to print. We did the print run in the hope that we could swop Shona for Bemba and Chewa and so fulfil our obligation to our donor. What we did not know was that we would have the only available Shona Bibles in the world.
Over the past months God has placed a deep passion into the hearts of several people for the Shona speaking Zimbabwean church. One such person is Piet Cloete. The Lord then brought Piet and myself into contact and the Bibles 4 Zim Project was born.
Every sponsored Shona Bible releases not only the Shona Bible, but also a Chewa or Bemba Bible, enabling us to fulfil our promise to our donor. Bibles can be sponsored at R50 each. So far (15 Sept 2009) we have about 2,500 Shona Bibles sponsored and these have been delivered to Zimbabwe as part of the 6,000 transported to Masvingo in August 2009. In late September another 3,000 will be transported for storage in Zimbabwe. The 2,500 will be distributed at that time. We still need to find sponsors for another 5,200 Shona Bibles.
(We are already looking at printing another 30 000 towards the end of the year as Phase 2 of the project. This phase will include the launch of the church planting and discipleship project in partnership with Harvesters International Ministries using the Hub Church Planting Model. The cost of printing, transport, delivery and distribution - along with discipleship training of phase 2 will be about R1.6 Mil ($210 000 at current exchange rates))
Piet, along with Eldoraigne Family Church where he is a member, are full partners in this project. He can be contacted on +27 83 263 5092.
Gifts for this project can be deposited directly into B4B bank account with the reference: “Zim” and your surname. Please contact us with your details so that we can receipt you and keep you up to date on the project. You can fill in a response form with your contact details and send it to us.
We are hoping to release 10,000 Shona Bibles this year and your help is needed.
You can also help by setting up a Bible Day, breakfast or other event to promote the Bibles 4 Zim Project. Contact Piet or e-mail me at easy2rem@mweb.co.za
Fanie (Steven) Loots.
