Aid to the Church in Need: The Child's Bible campaign that continues to grow worldwide

The Child's Bible campaign that continues to grow worldwide

Posted by Project description on 21/5/2009, 3:18 pm
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The Child's Bible campaign that continues to grow worldwide

"The Bible belongs in every home“ says Nigerian Archbishop

By Reinhard Backes

The Bible is the most often printed and most widely read book on earth. But few perhaps realise how popular it is among children and young people. Parents who wish to give a Christian education to their children know that there are Bible versions that appeal greatly to young people.

One particular version has proved especially popular – and successful. It is the book 'God speaks to His Children', the Child's Bible published by the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). First published just 30 years ago, it is now available in 157 different languages with a total print run of over 47 million copies.

This 112-page book contains key passages from the Holy Scriptures in a language that is simple and accessible to children. The text was originally written by the German theologian Eleonore Beck, and the colourful illustrations in it are the work of the Spanish artist Miren Sorne.

The Child's Bible is an initiative that goes back to the founder of ACN, Father Werenfried van Straaten. In 1979, the year the United Nations promulgated the Year of the Child, he offered the first copies of the book to the Latin American bishops who had gathered for their assembly with Pope John Paul II in Puebla, Mexico. In doing so Father Werenfried was responding to the wish expressed by the Pope, to bring the word of God to the weakest, to the children suffering poverty and need in many countries, children "so poor that they cannot afford any book", as Werenfried, who died in 2003, once put it.

The Child's Bible is meant to encourage children in their Faith, particularly in those countries where Christians are a beleaguered minority, as is the case in some Islamic countries. Pakistan is one such example, where Christians of all denominations are treated as second-class citizens. Although in theory they are equal before the law with their Muslim compatriots, they are at best tolerated in their own country.

There is also violence against Christians in Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa. Though here some Christians have also taken up arms against those of other faiths. As Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos declared in October 2008, "When it comes to ethnic or political conflict, then even people who share the Word and the Eucharist can sometimes take up arms against one another. This is shameful."

The Archbishop called on Christians to live lives that are consistent with their Faith – in other words to strive to learn more about their neighbour, to deepen their own faith and read the Holy Scriptures daily. Anyone acting in this way would find himself guided by the Bible values and thus be able to contribute to the political, social and economic advancement of society, he added. "The Bible belongs in every home", said Archbishop Kaigama.

Children with the Child´s bible "God speaks to his children" in a classroom in Nigeria.

It is a view also shared by Bishop Deng Majak Rudolf of Wau, in Sudan. And for him the Child's Bible plays an important role in this: "This book is a great help in our pastoral work. The people, our children, are literally thirsting for the saving Word of God – above all in this time of oppression."

The success of this publication was also endorsed by Archbishop Boutros Mouallem, the former Archbishop of Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee, in a letter to ACN: "Barely 3 months since we received the 1,000 Child's Bibles in Arabic, almost half have already been distributed. What is especially remarkable is that the adults and parents are just as interested in this little book as the children, if not indeed more so, since they often do not know the Bible and are thus coming in contact with it for the first time."

For many young people and adults, 'God speaks to His Children' is the first book they have ever held in their hands – and for the some the only book written in their own mother tongue – the language in which as children they first learnt to pray. The vivid, colourful illustrations of the stories used in the Bible are also a powerful attraction to the young readers.

In order to make the Bible accessible to as many people as possible, ACN continues to translate 'God speaks to His Children' into more and more new languages. These include Arabic and the other current major languages in Islam-dominated states or countries with a high percentage of Muslims – for example Sindhi and Urdu in Pakistan; Hausa, Igbo, Tiv and Yoruba in Nigeria, and Toposa in Sudan.

In recent years some 2.6 million Child's Bibles have been distributed to Catholics in various majority Muslim countries. In Sudan and Pakistan there have even been instances of Muslims helping to spread this little book – an encouraging sign.

Copies of the Child´s bible "God speaks to his children" in several langauages (from left to right): Toposa, Yoruba, Hausa, Arabic
and Urdu

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org