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October 2007

“Where can I find this book?”

“When I got the New Testament in my language I was as happy as a child! I opened it and devoured book after book. It is a wonderful gift to my people! The translation is excellent. The Gospels which were printed earlier were not so easy to understand, but this book is very clear, we can understand everything!”

So said a woman from southern Russia who visited IBT’s office in Moscow at the beginning of October. Earlier this year the first ever New Testament was published for her people, who are mainly Muslim.

“After I had just picked up the books, I was sitting next to a woman in the bus, travelling through the city,” our visitor recalled. “She was very distressed and told me all about her illnesses. So I told her about God, that He cares for everybody and that He has the power to heal. The people in the bus became very quiet and were all listening. I told her that this is written in a book, the Bible. She asked: ‘Where can I find this book?’ I said: ‘I have one right here for you, and even in your own language!’ The woman was overjoyed and exclaimed: ‘May God bless the people who prepared this book. I need it so that God can heal me!’ When I gave her the New Testament she took it with both hands, held it with great reverence and beamed with joy.”

“I am distributing the New Testaments mainly in the city, through relatives and friends. People have been happy to receive the books. It is not possible to go as a stranger to the villages and distribute literature. But we are arranging events for children in the summer. The parents allow them to come even though they know we are Christians. The children have a happy time and we teach them about God. I showed the New Testament to the children, and they were amazed that there were people who cared so much for them that they had made this translation. One 16-year-old boy said: ‘May God bless every person who is working so that we will know the truth!’ Usually when we give a book to the children, they also ask for one for their parents, their grandparents, aunts and uncles – and those books are accepted by the families.”

“I think it is God’s plan that our people have been dispersed in Russia and abroad,” our visitor said. “People are more open to search for the truth when they are away from their homeland and their families. It is so wonderful that we have the New Testament in our language!

Project of the month

By 2010 IBT Russia is planning to publish four more New Testaments for ethnic groups in Russia – in Bashkir, Chuvash, Khakas and Nogai. Please support the translation work with your gift this month.

Here you can sign for the IBT Russia/CIS monthly English Newsletter

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