Mission and Impact 2016-2017
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The Bible: changing lives, for good
From the Chair
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I look back on the year with a deep sense of humility and gratitude to God for all that has been accomplished. As ever, I am grateful to you, our supporters and volunteers, for your partnership in the Gospel, and for your prayers, sacrificial work and financial support. This has been a year of change and transition, in which we have welcomed our new Chief Executive, Paul Williams, and considered a new, emerging strategic vision. We appreciate Paul’s open and inclusive leadership style, and we look forward to engaging with his ideas in the months ahead. Another change came in February, when our President, Right Revd and Right Hon Dr Richard Chartres, retired as Bishop of London. Bishop Richard remains our President until the autumn, but I want to pay tribute now to his energy and commitment. We could not have had a more engaged, encouraging or active President. I remain inspired by the creativity and commitment of our staff. I’m grateful for all their hard work and dedication. I am as excited as ever about the importance of our mission to offer the Bible, as we continue to play our significant part in the ongoing story of God and the world. James Featherby Chair of the Board of Trustees
‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.’ Psalm 118.1 (ESV)
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From the Chief Executive
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This is an extraordinary organisation with an amazing history, and it’s a privilege to be involved in leading this work of God. Since joining Bible Society in September, I’ve visited Africa, the Middle East and China. It has been humbling and uplifting to see the courage, faithfulness and joy of Christians in these contexts. The challenges are immense, but the opportunities for global Bible mission are greater still. My conviction is that God is mobilising the Church in Britain for a new wave of mission, and there is a call to bold action because Christians have to some extent lost confidence in the Bible. This is an exciting opportunity as we seek to respond to God’s leading in our generation. We must take the ‘sword of the Spirit’ (Ephesians 6.17) out of the cupboard, clean it off, sharpen it up and learn again how to deploy it – so that it can bring healing and wholeness to people, and open up a whole-life sustaining encounter with God. Please join us as we seek earnestly to reach the potential God has for us, in this generation, at home and abroad. Paul Williams Chief Executive Page 4 6 8 10 12 14
Contents A global snapshot Bible Mission in Africa Bible Mission in the Middle East Bible Mission in China Bible Mission in England and Wales Financial information
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The Bible changing lives, for good More than
15,000
Sarab* fled Syria with her three children when their house was destroyed by a bomb. The children were traumatised; fearful and suffering violent nightmares. But our team started caring for them and opened up God’s word. Now, the family goes to church and the children are being filled with love, not anger. ‘We didn’t want our kids to grow up like extremists. Now we know they can grow up in peace and love,’ said Sarab.
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*names changed to protect identities
Photography by Layton Thompson
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people volunteered with us, most as Open the Book storytellers
Farmer Li Guangen can’t stop smiling. This 69-year-old Christian has just received the Bible in his language for the first time. The translation into Black Yi, an ethnic minority language in China, was completed in 2016 and a box of Bibles was delivered to his village. ‘Now, we can understand the Bible!’ he said. ‘I hope more people will now come to know Jesus as the way, the truth and life.’
Supporters like you donated more than
received Scripture for the first time in 2016
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globally in 2016
to make the Bible available, accessible and credible
Photography by Howard Wilkinson
34 million Bibles distributed
£11million
Emmanuel was nine when he entered an orphanage and fell in with the wrong crowd. He was lured into a gang, taught witchcraft and encouraged to steal and fight. But our team visited the orphanage and told the story of the Good Samaritan. It touched Emmanuel deeply. Today, aged 16, his life has been transformed. ‘I started praying and reading the Bible,’ he said. ‘I have done bad things. But now I respect people because of Jesus.’
Eleven-year-old Balteerath has been struck by the meaning behind the Bible stories she’s seen during school assemblies. She’s not from a Christian family, she says, but she loves to learn about other faiths. ‘Noah’s Ark tells you to always trust God, and God can do anything,’ said Balteerath. ‘David and Goliath teaches that no matter how small you are, don’t feel under-estimated. And the Good Samaritan teaches that not everyone in the world is what they seem.’
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Bible Mission in Africa
More than
6.5
million full Bibles were distributed in Africa in 2016 This year, thanks to your support, we’ve invested more than ever in the toughest, hardest areas of sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve concentrated on six countries facing big challenges: South Sudan, Swaziland, Malawi, Congo Brazzaville, Mozambique and the Central African Republic.
We know the Bible can bring hope to communities in Africa – we’re already seeing the fruits. God’s word can build bridges where there is conflict, and can speak into issues of governance, justice and peace.
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Partnerships with some of these countries are still in the early stages, but we believe making the Bible more available and helping people to engage fully with it is crucial.
2020,
By half of all Africans are expected to be
Chris ians
More than
80,000
people have learnt to read through our literacy projects Swaziland: Here, we focus on sharing God’s love and word with marginalised, overlooked communities. Last year we provided Bibles alongside practical help to 180 vulnerable children who’ve lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses. We’ve translated 25 Bible stories into sign language for the deaf community. And we’re standing alongside people with albinism, who live in fear following a series of brutal killings by those who believe albino body parts have special powers. In 2016, we provided 450 large print Bibles to people with albinism, who often struggle with poor eyesight. Congo Brazzaville: More than 5,000 children and parents attended our Good Samaritan programme, which teaches health, hygiene and citizenship using Jesus’ parable as the inspiration. Meanwhile, Biblebased literacy classes got underway for indigenous, marginalised people.
Bibles for Alpha: The unique partnership between Bible Society and Alpha continues to be one of our strongest programmes in Africa. In 2016 more than 14,000 Bibles were provided to Alpha course participants in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. Governance: Around 1,200 political, business, civic and church leaders attended our three-day conference in Kenya, in September 2016, to consider the Bible’s wisdom on leadership and governance. Corruption and the urgent need for peace in South Sudan were high on the agenda. Three MPs from war torn South Sudan, representing different parts of the transitional coalition, addressed the conference.
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Bible Mission in the Middle East In Lebanon One in five people is a refugee
Nearly 900,000 people received Bibles and Scripture material last year Despite the terror and violence in the Middle East, there are more and more opportunities for strengthening and growing the Christian faith. We have a strong presence in this region, and we’ve been working here for decades. Our focus now is to strengthen the Church – but we’ve also discovered an unprecedented demand for the Bible. Christians are relying on God more than ever, and many Muslims are looking for an alternative to the extreme expression of Islam around them.
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Bible distribution: Thanks to your partnership, we have been able to provide Bibles and Scripture booklets to refugees in Jordan, Iraq and Syria. 28,000 Scripture items were distributed in Jordan in 2016. In Syria, we’ve imported more than 200 tonnes of Bibles and Christian books since the conflict began. Christian counselling: So many people have lost loved ones and witnessed unimaginable horror. Now there’s a vital need to address their trauma. In 2016, 47 people were trained to run our Bible-based trauma healing workshops in Lebanon and Jordan. They’re supporting refugee families, helping them find healing and restoration through God’s word. This project is profoundly impactful, transforming people’s lives as they release their anger, hate and fear.
15,300 people left traumatised or homeless by war received Christian counselling in 2016
10,000 people have explored the Bible’s messages of love and forgiveness through our projects Bible engagement: Fear of persecution and social unrest is causing many Christians to leave the Middle East. So our staff are using creative Bible presentations to build up the next generation of Christians. In Lebanon, our team visited 28 schools and churches and reached more than 5,000 children with their interactive song, puppet and drama show.
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Standing alongside our staff: Our people work out of 14 offices around the region, and live alongside the millions of displaced and traumatised families. In 2016, we helped build capacity within these local teams, funding new staff and paying for the running costs of our Bible centre in Erbil, northern Iraq.
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Bible Mission China
Three new Bible translations were launched in 2016
Thanks to the generosity of Bible Society supporters, we have been working in China for decades. Bible distribution remains our number one priority. We’re also seeking to strengthen the Church, translate the Bible for communities which still don’t have it, and advocate for God’s word in government.
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The Church in China just keeps on growing. Today, you find churches so full their congregations spill out onto the pavement. And copies of the Bible – once a banned book – and now within reach through local churches and licensed bookshops.
Translation: Three full Bibles were placed into the hands of ethnic minority communities last year. These were the first Bibles for the East Lisu, Black Yi and Wa communities. It meant that more than 100,000 Christians received access to God’s word in their heart language. Progress was made on providing Scripture in five further languages.
There’s only one trained pastor for every 6,700 Christians in China
Strengthening the Church: We taught more than 17,000 people to read using our Bible-based literacy programme, and each person received a Bible. Bible distribution: Almost 731,000 people received a free or subsidised Bible in 2016.
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We ran 228 literacy classes, teaching more than 17,000 to read
Advocating: Our sixth annual ‘Bible in China’ seminar, for government and business leaders and academics, took place in Shanghai. The discussion on ‘the Bible and Values’ was a unique opportunity to robustly debate the Bible in a demanding academic forum.
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Bible Mission in England and Wales
Around 700,000 children are now regularly hearing the Bible at school
But through politics, art, creative campaigns and our Bible storytelling project, Open the Book, we are bringing the Bible to life for hundreds of thousands of people across England and Wales.
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While global demand for the Bible has never been higher, at home the Bible is viewed by many people as insignificant and irrelevant. Nine out of 10 people in the UK have no regular engagement with the Bible. Even among churchgoers, confidence in the Bible is often low.
Open the Book: Almost 15,000 volunteer storytellers are now reaching an estimated 700,000 children in over 600 schools with the Bible’s stories. Research in 2016 showed that Open the Book assemblies improved children’s biblical literacy, and developed children’s sense of spirituality.
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15,000
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Almost storytellers regularly visiting local primary schools
World’s largest nativity: In 2016 we became the only Bible Society to hold a Guinness World Record – for ‘the most living figures in a nativity scene’. The event involved 1,254 men, women and children from the town of Calne, Wiltshire. Live coverage and subsequent media coverage meant the nativity story was brought to life for thousands of people.
5,000 people visited Mary Jones World in 2016 Work in Wales: Our visitor centre in Bala, North Wales, welcomed 5,000 visitors in 2016, including 63 groups and 18 schools. We’ve also launched a new drama about the story of Mary Jones and her Bible, which has played to 40 schools and nearly 2,500 children around Wales. Our Welsh Bible, beibl.net, had sold out its second print run by the end of 2016. We’ve also been promoting Beibl Byw (Bible Alive), a campaign to encourage people to read the Bible in Welsh. Going digital: Resources like our Bible Book Club have proved popular online. This tool to help people engage with Scripture has been downloaded almost 4,000 times in 2016. Influencing culture and politics: Our team have written for or spoken to all major newspapers and on most major radio stations. Meanwhile our Parliamentary Officer continues to meet with MPs, lead Bible studies and host lectures and panel discussions to explore the political relevance of Scripture.
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Financial information
Our income We’re so grateful for the faithful generosity of our many supporters. Despite the difficult financial climate, our donated income has increased by 6% over the past year, which means the Bible can be brought to life for more people around the world. Thank you! Our donation and legacy income rose from £11.4m in 2016 to £11.8m in 2017. This was due to a growth in individual donor income, and in particular the generosity of our major donors. Income from publishing and exhibitions rose from £5.7m in 2016 to £6.6m in 2016. This was a result of completing a full year of our new sales programme, which is designed to build capacity in Bible Societies experiencing cash flow problems.
From other trading activities (2%)
From investment income (4%)
From publishing and exhibitions (34%)
From donations and legacies From (61%) donations (49%)
Total income £19.5 million 14
‘We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you! We proclaim how great you are and tell of the wonderful things you have done.’ Psalm 75.1 (GNB)
Fundraising (14%)
Our expenditure A key way we offer the Bible to the world is by making grants to Bible Society teams based on the ground in more than 140 countries. We made 365 grants to projects around the world; 236 international projects and 129 national projects benefited from £4.2m. We employed 118 full-time equivalent staff (compared to 119 staff in the previous year). Our full accounts can be found at biblesociety.org.uk/annualreport
Mission to offer the Bible to the world, at home and internationally (86%)
Total expenditure £18.9 million 15
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Together, we change lives, for good, through the Bible – thank you. We would like to thank every individual and organisation who supported our work in the past year. We would particularly like to thank all those who support us regularly, enabling us to plan ahead with confidence. We also remember with gratitude the generosity of donors who left gifts to us in their wills.
Bible Society, Stonehill Green, Westlea, Swindon SN5 7DG, Tel: 01793 418100 Fax: 01793 418118 biblesociety.org.uk Registered charity 232759 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen