Weaving Tapestry of Life

This article was first published in the June 2013 issue of Word@Work.

The Bible may be common in a modern city like Singapore, and often taken for granted. But for many in the region, the Word of God is embraced dearly as a message of faith, hope and love (1 Cor 13:13) that saves lives.

Discover how the Bible Societies of Philippines, Pakistan and Singapore bring hope to disaster victims, share love with people of different beliefs, and build faith through the hearing of God’s Word.

Bring Hope through the Word of Life

Bayanihan is ‘the spirit of communal effort to achieve a common objective’ in the Philippines. In this spirit, the Philippine Bible Society distributed Scriptures to victims of the horrendous disaster last year. 

Heavy rains and flash floods are common in the Philippines. Yet, the nation was gripped in terror in the first two weeks of August 2012 when 66 people drowned.

In two short weeks, the number of people affected by torrential rains was 3.45 million, with 410, 729 people seeking refuge in evacuation centres due to risen rivers, clogged drainages, flooded streets and submerged homes.

19 staff members were also affected. Two had their homes totally washed out by the raging flood.

In spite of the difficult period for many at our sister Society, they placed their hope in God’s Word, and selflessly partnered with agencies doing relief distribution, to hand out Scripture resources such as Bibles, New Testaments and copies of the Calamity Portions. 

One of the fruits of their selfless giving is a powerful testimony by 24-year-old Arturo Calinao, a fishpond caretaker from Rizal.

“The Bible changed my life ever since it was given to us during the onslaught of Habagat (southwest monsoon)… I almost died in the fishpond where I work. The only thing I remembered from the Bible was to ask for forgiveness. As I was struggling in the water, I asked God to forgive me and a hand grabbed hold of me…”

Adapted from the selection (tract) produced by the American Bible Society after 9/11, the Calamity Portion is a 34-page booklet entitled Hope in the Midst of Tragedy. It is an easy-to-read collection of verses and brief reflections. It deals with questions asked by calamity victims to encourage them to turn to God for refuge, strength, hope and help.

In total, 120,900 Calamity Portions were distributed, with the potential to bring hope to 362,700 disaster victims.

Lives are powerfully changed when people apply the Word of God in their circumstances. Still, many Filipinos have not received the Word of hope...

Share Love through the Word of Truth

God is using the Bible Society in different places, even in difficult regions like Pakistan, a predominantly non-Christian country, to sow the seed of love with His Word.

Anthony Lamuel, General Secretary of Pakistan Bible Society, shared during his visit to The Bible Society of Singapore (BSS) in November 2012 that there has been a surge of interest in God’s Word of truth after the 9/11 disaster, with people from different faiths buying Bibles to learn more about Christianity.

Whilst it is challenging for Christians living in Pakistan, they are encouraged to see how God can spread His good news, even during turbulent times.

They hope to sow more seeds through the establishment of the first Bible museum on 9 February 2013, opened as part of the Society’s celebrations to mark its 150th anniversary.

“This museum has been our dream for many years… We have collected archaeological replicas and reproductions of Biblical manuscripts all over the world,” said Anthony Lamuel.

Rt Rev Dr Alexander John Malik, President of Pakistan Bible Society expressed that the “museum will be a very useful tool in helping many people… to develop good understanding of Biblical history and archaeology”.

A Muslim scholar who attended the opening said that the museum offered a fascinating insight into the Bible’s history and archaeology, and he would bring his students for a visit.

We believe that all who visit the Bible museum will be sanctified by the Word of truth (John 17:17) and be set free (John 8:32).

But more can be done to bring God’s Word of love to Pakistanis…

Build Faith by Hearing the Word

Engaging people with the Word is a key component at BSS. Our challenge is to make it relevant in our ever-changing society. Singapore may have 96.1% literacy rate (as of 2011), but many are preferred oral learners.

BSS encourages the reading of Scriptures through the Audio Bible. We visited All Saints Home in April 2013 to learn how the Audio Bible has been building faith.

The Chaplain, All Saints Home of Tampines, Pastor Larry Leong heard of the benefits of the Audio Bible, and met Richard Woo, our Head of Social Concerns, to obtain Audio Bibles for baptised Christians in the home.

“We currently have two sets of the Audio Bible (in English and Mandarin), donated by BSS. At the home, only 35-40% of the residents are Christians. It is my hope that everyone will receive salvation,” said Pastor Larry. “We hope to have one set in each ward so the entire ward will hear the Word of God together and be strengthened in faith.”

77-year-old Annie Lau has difficulty moving due to pain in her back. But her faith in God grows when she uses the Audio Bible.

“I am filled with joy when I hear the Word of God. I often pray for peace and for God to take away my pain after listening to the Bible.”

Koh Siew Eng, 60, has yet to receive Christ but she delights in hearing the Word of God.

“I find stories in the Bible very interesting, and I enjoy having the Word read out to me, loud and clear.”

The Audio Bible helps many grow in their faith and BSS strives to bring the Audio Bible to even more people.

Yet, we are limited in our resources to meet the many needs in our community…

Weaving Individual Threads

“It is only when we are able to stand back from the individual strands that connect Bible Societies that we can discern the whole picture of the remarkable work sustained through God’s grace and that reaches out to every corner of the world.” – Michael Perreau, General Secretary of United Bible Societies (UBS)

Bringing the Word of God to the nations and meeting the needs of our community is a tapestry of efforts.

As one of the 147 Bible Societies in more than 200 countries and territories, BSS connects Bible Societies in Asia and beyond. We may not experience the trying situations our sister Societies face, but we can support them through prayer, donation and voluntary services.

One such voluntary service is the Bible Mission Trips. We uphold countries in prayer, donate Bibles in their native languages and invite participants to join us in blessing the communities by giving the Word.


One year after Nepal earthquake ‘Christians have remained strong’

This article was originally written by United Bible Societies.

Nearly a year after three earthquakes devastated Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, and surrounding areas, Tej Jirel, General Secretary of the Nepal Bible Society, has been reflecting on how Christians have coped with the tragedy.

“I was in the middle of preaching at a church on April 25 when the first earthquake hit,” recalls Mr Jirel. “I stopped preaching, held onto the pulpit and prayed for the earthquake to stop. Some people dropped to their knees in prayer, and others stood to call out to God.

Shaking really violently 

“That first quake went on for a while. The pulpit fell over and hit the Communion table. The pillars in the church were shaking really violently. As soon as it was over we evacuated the whole congregation and made sure everyone was standing safely away from the building.”

The congregation joined hundreds of people who had come out onto the streets. Some were weeping as aftershocks continued. Mr Jirel and other church leaders reassured people as best they could.

“I felt that, in the midst of all this, we should honour God by going ahead with taking Holy Communion, as we had intended. Between aftershocks, some of us went into the church to bring out the Communion table. So there, outside the church and beside the river, we took Communion in remembrance of what our Lord did for us.”

Powerful and memorable moment

For those present it was a powerful and memorable moment, and typifies the reaction of many Christians to the tragedy caused by the earthquake. Scores of churches were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake, and there were around 500 Christians among the 9,000 people who died. Those who survived have remained strong in their faith, according to Mr Jirel and his team, who have travelled to many of the affected districts.

“Church services in all the affected districts resumed almost immediately, despite the fact that they had nothing to shelter under,” comments Mr Jirel. “A lot of them still haven’t yet been completely rebuilt, due to lack of funds, and services are held with no roof, using tarpaulins or roofing sheets to protect worshippers from the sun or rain.

“But people are holding onto their faith. I remember one elderly man I met, Padam Bahadur Bhujel, who had been buried alive, along with other worshippers, when their church building collapsed on them. They were all eventually rescued. Mr Bhujel told me he’d remained calm because he had complete faith that God would save them. He said, ‘If you have great faith in God, He will do great things for you.’ I felt very inspired by that.

“It was quite a shock to see that church reduced to rubble, along with the rest of the village. We’d run two programs there a few years back, one for leaders and another for youth and career development, and I remembered how nice the church building had been. When we visited after the earthquake we found the pastor and his family living in the middle of a field, with no proper food to eat.”

Having witnessed the urgent humanitarian needs of people in the various affected districts, the Bible Society began working to bring them the items they most needed. Over the past year, they have helped provide roofing, tarpaulins and other materials to hundreds of families who lost their homes, most of them non-Christians.

“We as a Bible Society are seen as a neutral platform, and we had excellent co-operation with all sorts of different churches, parachurch organisations and government officials,” notes Mr Jirel.

Much of this material was delivered to people living in remote areas that are hard to access, with Bible Society staff and volunteers walking up mountainsides with the materials on their backs, or transporting it across rivers on small rafts.

“So many people were thankful for the help we brought, because they hadn’t received any other relief materials like this,” says Mr Jirel. “I remember one widow in particular, who thanked us with tears in her eyes. We told them we were Christians. We pray that one day all these people will come to know and accept Christ.”

In addition to offering practical help to everyone who needs it, the Bible Society has also been helping Christians to replace the Scriptures that they lost in the earthquake. Many hundreds of Bibles, Children’s Bibles and Scripture booklets have been distributed to churches and individual Christians.

“We didn’t want Christians to be without their Scriptures as they came to terms with what had happened,” says Mr Jirel. “They greatly appreciated the Bibles and other materials we brought them, which helped them to hold onto hope in the midst of their grief and struggles.

“Without God there is no hope, and we continue to pray for the many people in Nepal who still don’t know Him. Please join us in praying that many good things will come out of this disaster, and that many more people will come to know the true God and Creator.”