Thought for the Week - 30th October 2022

Dear Friends, 

Today is Bible Sunday and it is over 200 years since the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society which is now known simply today as the Bible Society. Three different individuals were instrumental in the founding of the society: firstly Mary Jones, a 15-year-old Welsh girl who was so determined to own her own Bible in her own language that she walked 26 long miles through the rugged terrain of north Wales to Bala to buy one having saved up for six long years. With the help of the local Methodist minister, Revd Thomas Charles, Mary Jones’ determination was rewarded, and she got her Bible in Welsh. Inspired by the story of Mary Jones, Revd Joseph Hughes, an English Baptist minister asked a daring question to other church leaders, ‘If for Wales, why not for the kingdom, and if for the kingdom, why not for the world?’ That question would echo around Wales and ultimately the world and in 1804 the Bible Society was formed. And it was William Wilberforce, the campaigning member of parliament for Yorkshire, who caught this vision of the written word of God being available for the people of the kingdom and wider world. Wilberforce was a member of the Clapham Sect, a group of social reformers who were motivated by their Christian faith and concern for social justice and fairness for all human beings. They set about turning this vision of the Bible freely available in many languages around the world into reality in the hope of inspiring people to value the Bible and its teaching which in turn would bring about goodness and holiness in people’s lives. Today the Bible Society’s international work focuses on three main areas where Christianity is growing fast – China, Africa, and the Middle East. In China, over 1 million new Christians are coming to faith each year; in Africa, the power of the Bible’s message brings hope and peace; and in the Middle East, despite the threat of violence, war and persecution, people are finding encouragement from the pages of the Bible. Both at home and abroad the message of the Bible Society is the belief that ‘when people engage with the Bible, lives can change, for good’. You can discover more about the work of the Bible Society by going to   https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/ 

Grace and peace,

Neil   

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