There are people groups who have never heard or read the life-changing Words of the Giver of Life in their own language. Not even one verse.
This photo is an incomplete representation of how many different copies of the Bible that we own. I have EACH VERSE of the Bible no less than ELEVEN times. There were two Bibles that I wasn’t able to get out of the storage room because it is blocked off because my oldest son is terrified of that part of his room, and we also have the Bible on my husband’s phone, and his ipod.
And I suppose that I should have put my computers in the picture as well, because of sites like Bible Gateway and Blue Letter Bible, I have nearly every translation that I can think of available at the click of a mouse.
From bottom to top:
My NKJV, An NIV prayer Bible, an NIV One Year Bible, An NIV Bible in 90 Days, My HCSB Bible (Apologetics Study), NIV Life Application Bible, and two paperback Amplified Bibles (the cover is ripped off of the larger one), YouVersion Bible apps on the iPad and my cell phone.
I love to dig in to different translations, and roll the subtle differences around in my mind and heart. I love getting a full, bright and vivid picture of the truths that I am studying. But my heart is literally hurt over the picture that you see. How horribly self-indulgent I have been. I proclaim that I love this verse in the New Living Translation above all others. And how I really don’t prefer how “wordy” that passage seems in the New King James.
None of that matters.
The truth in the words?
That’s what matters. No matter whether the language is easy to understand or takes a dictionary and looking up every other word.
The Bible is our love letter from the Creator of the Universe, yet there are more than 2,000 languages that don’t even have one verse of Scripture.
My friends and I have teamed up with OneVerse, a division of The Seed Company, whose goal is to end Bible poverty and bring God’s word to the remaining people groups without it. What can we, a rag tag group bloggers, do to help? We put the spotlight on this issue. I had no idea that there were so many people groups that were without the Bible. The numbers were staggering to me. We hope they will be staggering to you as well.
OneVerse is an excellent ministry to partner with if you are looking for a way to support outreach efforts. For $26 a month, you can sign up to bring one verse a month to a people group still in Bible poverty. The OneVerse Bloggers are supporting the Vidunda people group in Tanzania. You can monitor (or join!) in the progress by clicking here.
My most sincere prayer is that I would remain affected by the reality of Bible poverty, and that I would not ever take the privilege of reading the Word of God in my own language for granted.
I am thrilled to be hosting all of my fellow OneVerse Blogger friends in our link-up today. I hope that you will take the time to visit their sites, and read their stories. And more than that, I hope you join us! Grab all your Bibles, take a picture and post it on The Seed Company’s facebook page - or even write a post about it, and link up with us here! There will be a prize for one of the people who join us in this adventure!
Awesome Meredith. I like this topic.This site has lots of advantage. I found many interesting things from this site. It helps me in many ways. I actually got some problems to understand Bible verses in different languages because I actually compares the word that has been written there. Thanks a lot for hosting this!
Marielle Sayson recently posted..Timber Bifold Doors
It’s something so simple that we in privileged America don’t often think of. We have the Bible readily available at our fingertips in so many different ways! I, myself, own 3-5 copies, not even counting the ones my husband has been collecting. As well as (like you mentioned), the multitude of online Biblical resources we have available. It is heartbreaking to think of someone who does not know of God because they were simply never given the opportunity to know Him.
I pray that there are more people willing to help, as you are
I think you’re doing a wonderful thing helping out! May God bless you as you continue to bring others to Him.
Megan @ Here to Find Him recently posted..Faith
Convicting. And heart breaking to think of how hard it is to access the Word in other parts of the world. I love what you are doing in highlighting this poverty! I will be counting ours and praying for a heart that does not take the Word for granted.
Christina recently posted..Teach Me Jesus Thursdays: God Shaped Hole
So proud of you for doing this! I’m afraid that if I even tried to stack all of our Bibles … It would topple and crash! Lots of Bibles in this house. You’re right … We should recognize it as a treasure!
New topic … May I please have your physical mailing address? Thanks!
Beth recently posted..What are You Holding Onto?
Thank you Meredith for hosting OneVerse Bloggers today. I pray God works in all our lives, opening doors for us to reach more people with His life-changing Word.
Jenifer recently posted..32
Thanks for hosting, Meredith. I love what the OneVerse bloggers are doing. You’re right. We’re incredibly blessed to be able to choose which version of the Bible we read in the language we know best.
Tammie recently posted..When it all falls apart
This is great, but you MUST try the ESV!!! You can get a free one for your cell or apple products, or you can find them pretty cheap on Amazon. I have no less than 8 ESV versions at my house, not to mention our NKJV, NASV and KJV. We are very blessed.
Sam @ Sam’s Noggin recently posted..Something New
I just explained this very thing to my small group Bible study last week. A couple of people were debating which translation of the Bible was the best and it really irritated me. I gave them the statistics for how many people don’t even have ONE VERSE of the Bible in their language, much less the luxury of choosing from dozens of different translations.
Beth ~ Just a Mom Like You recently posted..Comment on What a Weekend by Beth
Thanks for hosting the group!
“My most sincere prayer is that I would remain affected by the reality of Bible poverty, and that I would not ever take the privilege of reading the Word of God in my own language for granted.”
Amen to that!
I love comparing across different translations, too, and it’s such a blessing we can do that.
Thanks for hosting today!
Amy recently posted..Wealthy indeed
Thanks for hosting all of us here Meredith!!!
Absolutely, thank you, Meredith, for hosting the OneVerse Bloggers!!
-Johanna Fenton, OneVerse social media coordinator, http://www.oneverse.org
Awesome, Meredith. Thank you so much for hosting this linky:)))
Amy@Make Me A Mary recently posted..Richer than I thought
Love this Meredith!! thanks for hosting us!!!
Kristi recently posted..Spreading the News…a OneVerse update