One of the largest global Bible campaigns has chosen to launch in New Zealand this January. Bible 2020 aims to encourage ‘everyone, everywhere’ to engage with the Bible in their own context and in their own language. It is anticipated that the Bible 2020 app will be used across the world as individuals speak aloud a different Bible passage each day of the year.
The brainchild of the Scottish Bible Society, the concept for Bible 2020 was to create a mechanism to help Christians in Scotland regain a sense of confidence in the Bible by reading it out loud. Using technology, the aim was to make the campaign as accessible as possible. What wasn’t anticipated was the response from countries around the world to this simple concept. The result is the idea, originally designed just for Scotland, has now grown into a global movement set to kick off at sunrise on January 1st, on a Gisborne beach in New Zealand.
Fiona McDonald, Director of National Ministries for the Sottish Bible Society says “There’s something about speaking words out loud – it becomes a truth. Things become more real when they’re spoken out loud. The Bible traditionally was passed down orally, but this tradition has been lost in the church. It’s like a Mexican wave of Bible reading spreading across the whole world. It starts with New Zealand at sunrise and goes right round the world and comes back again. Just like a Mexican wave in a stadium requires strong start, so Bible 2020 will benefit from a strong start in the first city in the world to see the sun.”
Bible Societies from more than 70 countries are now behind the movement, and it is anticipated this number growing to 100 countries by the time the campaign launches. This Bible Society network will allow the Bible 2020 movement to stretch across the globe from India to Argentina to South Africa. The network also includes partners such as YouVersion, giving millions of users around the world access to the campaign.
“Already many New Zealanders have joined the movement and are ready to start the global wave of Bible reading,” says Neels Janse van Rensburg, CEO of Bible Society New Zealand. “We are very excited about the important role we have in kicking this whole movement off on New Year’s Day. Imagine the impact of hundreds of thousands of people reading the same passages across God’s world every day!”
Participants will be able to film themselves reading the daily passage and upload it to a video wall where they’ll be able to see others from all over the world reading the same passage in their language.
“The app will have access to over 1,000 languages thanks to the United Bible Societies’ Digital Bible Library. That means Māori speakers will be able to read in te Reo,” Neels says.
The Bible 2020 app will be available from late November in the app stores. Go to www.bible2020.nz to find out how to join the global movement.
For more information, interviews or comments, please contact Stephen Opie at Bible Society New Zealand via: email: stephen.opie@biblesociety.org.nz
The Bible Society New Zealand was founded in Auckland in 1846, Bible Society New Zealand’s mission to help make the Bible accessible to everyone and encourage interaction with it. Bible Society New Zealand will celebrate 175 years in 2021.
Hailing from North Auckland, Blake Gardiner sounds American, looks Swedish, but grew up in Laos. As an introvert, Blake lives life on the edge by socialising. When he isn’t putting his life at such risk, he enjoys reading theology and debating whether Interstellar is truly the greatest movie of all time. He writes New Zealand Christian News as well as being a Christian Today New Zealand ‘Comment’ writer.