Scripture Engagement Essentials
"Praise God for this event where so many people from what Brazil calls the three waves of missions worked together. As one person reported, he heard expatriates, Portuguese MT Brazilians and indigenous people calling the event 'their forum'."
This is a report from the first Brazil Forum for the Use of the Scriptures in Indigenous Languages, which brought together 200 people, representing 59 ethnic groups and 32 organizations.
There were plenary sessions in the morning with group discussions following. In the afternoon there were workshops on topics such as Scripture Memorization, Use of Indigenous Scriptures in the family and eight other diverse topics. The evenings were for enjoying different ethnic music, hearing testimonies, and in general, having good fellowship. [more...]
"Clear, simple and readable - very practical, fully supported with further reading ... exactly the kind of thing that is needed."
Chris Wright, Langham Partnership
A tried and tested resource that encourages meaningful Bible use in multi-lingual contexts through both written and oral media. [more...]
This video gives a brief introduction to the work of Scripture Use.
It answers four frequently asked questions:
- What is Scripture Use?
- What is the end result of Scripture Use work?
- What does Scripture Use work look like?
- Is there a need for Scripture Use workers? [more...]
What’s the best way to read the Bible? Many people think it’s something like getting up real early every day and intensely reading the entire Bible every year... But is the pre-dawn snow plow routine really the best way for everyone to engage with God’s Word? Sure, it’s a good method, if you can keep it up. But what if you can’t? What if you aren’t a morning person? Or what if you’re new to the Bible? Or what if reading is difficult for you?
The Essential Bible Blog is written by Whitney Kuniholm, president of Scripture Union/USA. His blog entries are clear, positive and thought-provoking, motivating the reader to meet God in his Word. If the first few weeks of posts are anything to go by, this blog is one to follow for anyone involved in promoting Scripture Engagement. [more...]
"Bible poverty" is global and it is the result that occurs in any context or setting that blocks or hinders people from having access to the Scriptures in a language they understand well and engaging with them in ways that transform their lives.
This article considers barriers and bridges in response to three questions: (1) Why do the Scriptures not transform lives when they are available? (2) Why do more than one billion people not have the Scriptures in their language? (3) Why are the Scriptures that are available so often limited only to those that can read?
The paper is an overview of the Scripture in Mission topic to be discussed at the Lausanne Congress, Cape Town 2010. [more...]
The listing of these Eight Conditions or eight categories of factors used as a tool for evaluation can prevent surprises and help the church, missionaries, and Bible translators alike to focus on those activities that are likely to have maximum impact. It’s the great longing of my heart that the people groups of the world will not only have the Scriptures in their heart language, but that the Scriptures will have greatest spiritual effect.
Wayne Dye presents eight conditions affecting the use or non-use of the translated Scriptures:
- Appropriate Language, Dialect and Orthography
- Appropriate Translation
- Accessible Forms of Scripture
- Background Knowledge of the Hearer
- Availability
- Spiritual Hunger of Community Members
- Freedom to Commit to Christian Faith
- Partnership Between Translators and Other Stakeholders
Of this I am convinced: This side of heaven there is nothing more wonderful we could ever hold in our hands or engage with our minds than God’s Word as given to us in the Bible.
The author describes 25 ways of engaging with Scripture:
Survey the Word, Listen to the Word, Read the Word Silently, Read the Word Aloud (Privately), Read the Word Publicly, Discuss the Word, Hand-copy the Word, Study the Word, Cross-reference the Word, Stress the Word, Highlight the Word, Read the Word Responsively, Paraphrase the Word, Dramatize the Word, Sketch the Word, Read the Word Interpretively, Memorize the Word, Recite the Word Interpretively, Personalize the Word, Sing the Word, Hum the Word, Display the Word, Share the Word, Teach (or Preach) the Word, Do the Word! [more...]
"Are you stuck along the way of engaging with the Bible? If so, where? Why? If you're involved in ministry, are the people you work with stuck? If so, where? Why?"
Scripture Engagement can be seen as a process: Bible Availability, Bible Awareness, Bible Use, Bible Understanding, Bible Engagement. The process can be arrested at any step along the way.
This article presents some of the key challenges for ongoing discussion. Give your feedback in the comments here or in the Lausanne Global Conversation. [more...]
Common factors emerge that affect Scripture use: level of literacy, prestige of the language, and attitude of church leaders.
A wide variety of reasons account for published Scriptures not being used. They include a lack of literacy, a language that is dying or has low status, a translation rejected by church leaders, an inappropriate published format, a lack of distribution, a lack of contextualization when using Scriptures, and others. A summary of the conditions necessary for seeing Scripture used is also offered. [more...]
It is important for all of the local churches to be increasingly implicated in the translation project for the following reasons: It ensures that the translated Scriptures will be used after the New Testament’s publication, so that there will be a greater impact of the Holy Scriptures in the life of the Church.
The Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) has a Church Relations department which seeks to involve local churches in the translation task from the very start of the project. It is their belief that the more the churches are involved in supporting the work, the more the published Scriptures will be used.
The August 2006 edition of CABTAL's "Scriptures Alive" magazine focusses on this part of their ministry, describing the many ways in which they are sharing the vision for Bible translation and Scripture Engagement: banquets, Sunday morning presentations in churches, speaking at general assemblies, attending New Testament dedications, visiting a Bible translation project, seminars at a Bible Schools and seminaries... [more...]