At St John’s we are supporting the work of the Bible Society as part of our missional giving in 2026. Originally known as the British and Foreign Bible Society it was founded in 1804, with the aim of providing as many people as possible with affordable Bibles in their native language.
Today the Bible Society’s ministry reaches far and wide. Here are just a few ongoing projects, starting with Open the Book, which is very familiar to us at St John’s and around our Benefice. More than 3,000 churches use Open the Book, reaching over 2,000 schools and bringing Bible stories to life through drama and storytelling. Committed volunteers give their time and talents, supported by Bible Society’s OTB staff team.
A fundamental part of Bible Society’s ministry is Bible translation work. For example, six translation projects for minority language groups in China are currently in progress and this is made possible through the ongoing generous donations from supporters.
Bible work in the Gulf is a recent initiative. Many migrant workers, trapped in poor living and working conditions are finding love and hope in Jesus through a Bible storytelling programme developed by the Bible Society in the Gulf. A pastor has begun an outreach programme where people from the church go and play football with the migrant workers and then share a Bible story with them.
“God is using stories to restore dignity to the marginalised, proving that the Spirit speaks every language, regardless of a person’s education or status”
(quote from an article by Dr Hrayr Jebejian, General Secretary of the Bible Society in the Gulf)
Bible a Month is a popular Bible Society initiative. 20,000 supporters currently pray and donate each month to make the Bible’s message known around the world. Their support helps to ensure the following;
- Those living in crisis receive Bibles – like soldiers on the front line in Ukraine,
- Lay leaders in China receive training and resources – there’s only one ordained pastor for every 6,700 believers in China
- Women and children are taught to read using Bible – based tools in free accessible literacy classes in countries like Pakistan
There are many other areas of Bible Society’s ministry it’s not possible to include but there’s one story I want to share in closing. Wilson, a 15 yr old former gang member detained in the Etape ll prison in Guatemala City, found Jesus when the Bible Society team took the OTB programme into the prison.
“As soon as I heard Bible stories were being shared in the prison I wanted to come” Wilson said. Now he has hope for the future, “I want to be a doctor so I can save lives”.
Margaret Harris
Information in this article has been taken from the 2025 – ’26 Winter edition of the Bible Society ‘Word in Action’ magazine, also the Spring ‘26 edition of the ‘Bible a Month’ magazine and http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/
This article originally appeared in the St John’s Messenger. If you would like to discuss contributing a future article please contact news@valebenefice.org.uk.
