Sower CommuniTech is an initiative by The Bible Society of Singapore that provides
Digitalisation and Media services to help meet the future needs of the Christian Community.

In the age of rapid technological advancement, The Bible Society of Singapore (BSS) has been gearing towards digitalisation to reach the hearts of the young with the Word of God. Aside from creating online platforms for community engagement, BSS also endeavours to help churches by streamlining their administrative processes and ministry through the use of technology. As such, BSS has launched Sower CommuniTech—Digitalisation and Media Services, to meet the future needs of the Christian Community.

Nationwide Church Procurement Platform

BSS has partnered with ThunderQuote to create a Nationwide Church Procurement Platform, which all local churches may utilise for their various ministries and other needs. Find reliable vendors or services, and get your 3 quotes easily with your FREE basic account today!

*Each church has been given a Master account. To begin using this platform, simply register with your official church email and phone number under an administrative staff from your church.

Nationwide Church Procurement Platform Webinar

Managing a church’s procurement efforts can be a daunting task. Between keeping track of church expenses while also enforcing transparency and accountability, many are left wondering if there’s an easier way.

Join us for the launch of the BSS-TQ National Church Procurement Platform with our introductory Webinar!

This FREE webinar will cover:

  • How to claim and use your church's National Church Procurement account for free.
  • Overcoming common challenges in setting up and implementing digital procurement in your organisation.
  • Procurement and purchasing key decisions and best practices to consider for your church procurement.
  • E-Procurement as a part of your church digital transformation roadmap.

 

Date: 10 Sep (Thurs), 22 Sep (Tues)

Time: 3 – 4pm (GMT +8)

SecureMeet

As part of our efforts to help the Christian community move towards digitalisation during this COVID-19 Pandemic, BSS collaborated with ThunderQuote to provide SecureMeet—An online booking system for churches and online AGM solution.

Online Booking System

In Phase 2, churches are allowed to gather to worship with a gradual increasing allowance.
This booking system will help facilitate safe online booking of appointments and the actual day registration too!

*Note: The basic tier account is free for Churches to use. Terms & Conditions apply.

AGM Online System

Thinking of how to hold your church AGM online? SecureMeet is the solution for you!
Together with Thunderquote, we have special promotions deals for your organisation (valid for churches only)
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*ThunderQuote is conducting webinars to introduce how the Online Booking System and AGM MeetUp works. Click the button below to find out more!

Church PayNow Custom QR Code Generator

Want to insert your church's/organisations’s logo into the PayNow QR code?
Instead of paying to create a customised QR code, here is a free customised generator for you to use!


SecureMeet AGM Meetup

Thinking of how to hold your church AGM online?
SecureMeet is the solution for you!
Together with Thunderquote, we have special promotions deals for your organisation

*valid for churches only

SecureMeet AGM Meetup Demo

For more information, you can contact ThunderQuote at +65 9189 6933 or hello@thunderquote.com


Secure Meetups

Planning to have a worship meeting in Church?
Wondering how to manage the registration?
We have the solution for you!

ThunderQuote has developed a FREE* Online Booking System for churches to use.

Upcoming Free Webinar!

Now that more churches are planning to gather for worship services with the latest additional allowances, how do we do our part in keeping our gatherings safe and accounted for?
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This FREE webinar will cover everything you need to know on setting up your own online booking system for your services, including:
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  • How to comply with the latest gathering regulations in light of COVID-19
  • Comparing the best online booking systems to find the right one for you
  • Best practices and key decisions when implementing a booking system
  • Live tutorial to set up your services & events online And more!
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Date: 15 Oct 2020 (Thurs)
Time: 3 – 4pm (GMT +8)

What are the features of Secure Meetups?

How does this work?

  1. You can set up a worship service timeslot on the Secure Meetup booking system.
  2. Church member can register hassle-free by using their SingPass Mobile app.
  3. On the event day, the Church member will scan the QR code or log in on-site for physical entry to the Church.

 

*Do take note the no of pax allowed to gather to worship is regulated in Phase 2 (Eg. 50pax limit).

 

Free Basic Tier and additional add-ons for you to select

For more information, you can contact ThunderQuote at +65 9189 6933 or hello@thunderquote.com


SecureMeet

A collaboration between Bible Society of Singapore and ThunderQuote

Want to meet securely online for your worship services and meetings?
We have the solution for you!

Online Booking System

In Phase 2, churches are allowed to gather to worship with a limit of 50pax.
This booking system will help facilitate online booking of appointments and the actual day registration too!

*Note: The basic tier account is free for Churches to use. Terms & Conditions apply.

AGM Online System

Thinking of how to hold your church AGM online? SecureMeet is the solution for you!
Together with Thunderquote, we have special promotions deals for your organisation (valid for churches only)
⠀

For more information, you can contact ThunderQuote at +65 9189 6933 or hello@thunderquote.com


Scripture Soothes a Hurting Teenager’s Heart in Cambodia

This article was adapted from one originally posted by the American Bible Society.

Excited to have her own Bible, a 15-year-old learns more about God...

Doeun Chin Lan has experienced a lot of loss.

"My mother died when I was little," explains the 15-year-old. "I don't even remember her face. All my older siblings left me to work in Thailand. My father is very elderly and poor.…I want to see my whole family together again."

When the message of God's love came to the small village where Doeun lives, her heart finally began to heal.

"I am very happy that God loves me," she says. "Whether I am in the countryside, in the forest or anywhere, God still loves me."

Doeun says she enjoys hearing stories about God at church. "But sometimes I don't understand," she admits. "When I heard they were going to give out Bibles, I was very happy."

"My Bible is small and easy to carry around and the writing is easy to understand. I believe this Bible will help me know God better. My father can't read so I want to read to him so that he can also put his faith in God."

For many Cambodians, especially poor farmers living in rural areas, obtaining a Bible requires much sacrifice. It takes months to save money for a Bible. But thanks to generous donors, Doeun and others have Bibles of their very own!

Please pray for others like Doeun who still need to know about God and engage in His Word in Cambodia. Ask that Scriptures will be made available in different media so that the entire population, especially the youth, will understand and experience the love of God.


What Happens When a Village Gets the Bible in its Heart Language?

This article was originally posted by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Though Christianity had been part of their culture for 100 years, there was no Bible in the Beembe language. It took 20 years of dedicated translation work for them to get a Beembe Bible – but when they did, they showed us how to party…

Imagine fumbling through a dense, tricky text in a second language. You can read it, but it’s hard. You understand in part, but you can't quite capture the meaning. This was the case for the Beembe people of Congo Brazzaville, who only had access to Bibles their second language: French.

Lost in translation

‘For me, the problem with the Bible in French was that I had trouble understanding certain concepts and words. So I didn’t read the Bible very often,’ 54-year-old farmer, Pierrette, explains.

Pierrette’s experience isn’t rare. For many people reading the Bible in a second language, the challenge of understanding is significant. But not only that, they’re not experiencing the message of the Bible in the words they can relate to; the words they use in their thoughts, their hearts.

A word in season

More than 1,000 people gathered for the ceremony to launch the first ever Beembe New Testament in early 2014. Elders banged drums and shook rattles. Young dance troupes performed energetic routines. People cheered.

Though Christianity has been part of the Beembe culture for 100 years, this was the first time the community had Scripture in their language. And the joy was palpable.

‘Now we have our own Beembe New Testament, I am very happy,’ Pierrette says.’ It will help us strengthen the faith of our children, who will discover a deeper relationship with God.’

Decades of dedication

Jacques Mberi is the man behind the Beembe Bible. He has spent decades poring over Hebrew and Greek, considering the best ways to convey the meaning of each verse  – especially when there’s not always a direct translation.

He smiled through tears as he said, ‘I am like Simeon, who waited years and years until he could see the Lord Jesus, and then once he did, he could die. I have worked hard to see this translation finished. It is my child, my pride and joy.’

Completing the task

Now the Beembe people have asked to have the Old Testament translated into their language and Jacques is already on the case.

But until then, we’re celebrating that this people group are now experiencing the New Testament in the language they most love and truly understand.

Find out more about funding similar projects around the world

62-year-old Mbambouloulu Evelyne clutched her Beembe New Testament and said, ‘I am delighted with this New Testament. It touches my soul. It allows me to feel closer to God, and I give thanks to God for this precious gift.’


A Day in the Life of a Bible Translator

This article was originally posted by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Oldi Morava is translating the Old Testament into Albanian. We asked him about his average day.

A typical day

On a translation day, I’ll try to work from home and not open any emails. With translation, you need to be in the mood. If you are bombarded by requests for something else you’re not really in an environment where you can be very productive.

I start by reading through the passage that I’m going to translate in the original language. Then I begin writing the translation, one verse at a time.

If it’s not a simple translation — for example, there isn’t a direct equivalent for the Hebrew word in Albanian or the original Hebrew is unclear —  then I do more research. I spend a lot of time reading commentaries and look at the Hebrew context, as well as how other translators have handled the same verse in other languages.

It can be very repetitive, especially when you’re translating building instructions

After hours and hours of collecting all this information, I come to a conclusion. And then I move on to the next verse! Depending on the difficulty of the text, I translate between 12-20 verses a day. It can be very repetitive, especially when you’re translating building instructions.

Poetry is always fun to translate. Not only are you trying to understand Hebrew poetry – which is very compressed – you’re also trying to generate something in your language that can sound like poetry. Being faithful to the text and generating something poetic can be quite difficult but you get more satisfaction out of it.

An atypical day

I meet with my translation team for one week five times a year. We all live in different countries so we meet somewhere we can all travel to. We’re all working on different books.

We’ll go over our work, reading it aloud verse by verse and making suggestions. We tend to have very fiery interaction but we’re good at coming to an agreement in the end. I learn so much from hearing how my colleagues view the Bible.  

The other part of my job…

I’m also part of Bible Society’s International team, where I look after our partnership with Bible Societies in the West Balkans — Albania and Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia — and also with Congo Brazzaville. This involves working with budgets, selecting projects and seeing how those projects are doing.

I love visiting these Bible Societies. They’re often very small — perhaps five or ten people in one office. You encounter their passion and see what they are trying to do in their country, with very few resources and yet great ideas. Trying to help them is a very satisfying part of my job.

Oldi’s career path

1994-1999 High school

Majored in Business and Finance, with hopes of becoming a banker. Volunteered with Bible Society in Albania.

1999-2002 University

Studied BA in Applied Theology at Redcliffe College, England.

2003-2006 Work and ministry

Worked with local churches in London.

2007-2008 Language study

Received an invitation from the Albanian Bible Society to join the Old Testament translation team of new Albanian Bible translation. Studied MSt in Classical Hebrew at Oxford University.

2010 Translation begins

Working as part of a three-person team from across Christian traditions, books are assigned and translation begins.