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September 2006

Read the Bible until you hear the music!

A great celebration to launch the Chuvash Children’s Bible took place in the National Library of Cheboksary, Chuvashia, on 4 September. With great expectation people began to gather long before the event as it had been announced several times on the radio. Many had called the library to ask: “May we attend?” Parents came with their children, teachers with their pupils; there were people interested in Bible translation, as well as all those specially invited by the Ministry of Culture. The event was covered by Chuvash press, radio and TV.

In his introduction Deputy Minister of Culture Michail Krasnov stated: “In order to make our country wealthy and to revive the economy, we need people who are spiritually and morally rich … Today with the help of the Institute for Bible Translation we have received the Children’s Bible in Chuvash. It is significant that this book has been published in this year that the Chuvash president declared “the year of spiritual revival”. Nothing is better for children than to read the laws of life in their own language … It is important that every child should read this book, and this will be a great task for our teachers and librarians. We have received this book free of charge for every library and school, thanks to IBT which has given us 5000 copies.”

“The Bible belongs to everyone, not just the Chuvash or the Tatars – it belongs to the whole human race,” one of the members of the translation team, Aristarch Dmitriev, remarked. “When you read it, you hear some kind of music. You should read it every day, two or three sentences, but you have to read until you hear the music. With this music you begin the day and with this music you go to bed. I was brought up as an atheist, and even today I cannot say that I am fully a believer, but I am a person who longs to believe, to believe in such a way that I can receive blessings on the earth. The publication of this book shows that you can start from absolutely nothing, trembling all over and wondering: ‘Is it really possible to translate such a book?’ Days and years go by and finally there is a result. Without the help of God it would not have been possible! There were moments of desperation when I wanted to give up. But then you say a prayer and things become clearer and you start to work again… This book is the book of life, it has begun to live and is bringing so much joy!”

This is an eternal book, which will be passed on from generation to generation,” said Svetlana Starikova, director of the National Library. “It is not a book which will stop being useful after a year. I hope that when the children read this book with their parents it will bring them to faith… It is a great gift not only to believers but also to those who are seeking. The book will greatly assist in preserving the Chuvash language and also spirituality, because there cannot be culture without spirituality.”

Project of the month

Inspired by these words of encouragement and the good reception of the Children's Bible, the IBT Chuvash translation team is now looking ahead to the next stage of the Chuvash Bible translation project. This is to complete the final checking and to arrange the external review of the New Testament, which is expected to be published in 2007-08. Please support this project with your gift this month!

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

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