Last year at our banquets, I talked about the Chichewa Bible printing and our plan to distribute the Bibles to pastor fraternities. The Bibles were printed and delivered. And they have almost all been distributed. The pastor fraternities have worked very well; there are people involved, so it wasn’t perfect. But we thank God for how it has gone and are looking forward to more Chichewa Bibles being printed.
I am excited about the Potential. Potential for what could be.
Guinea Bissau has almost no Bibles. we are working on a Portuguese translation for this small country. It is in partnership with another organization that has contacts in the country.
In 2021, we had Swahili Bibles printed; we are again working on another printing. Looks like some will go to Tanzania and some to Kenya.
I spoke with a few of the men involved with Open Hands, nothing has happened, but we are having fun imagining what could happen if we would combine that idea with Bibles. We want your good ideas. Continue to pray for us as we think about the future, and pray for us in the present, that we could find the right people for our immediate needs.
Chichewa Bibles
Last year when Heralds of Hope was in Malawi, we felt God leading us to work with pastor fraternities. It has been exciting to see that plan come to fruition and see Bibles get into the hands of more people. This update is about the Chichewa Bibles and how things have gone in Malawi.
After what seemed a long time, the Chichewa Bibles finally arrived in Malawi near the beginning of July. By that time, many fraternities had given us their information and were just waiting for the Bibles to arrive. We divided the shipment between three cities in Malawi, one city in the south, central, and northern parts of Malawi.
We contacted the fraternities who were ready, and they went to the nearest city for their Bibles. Each fraternity got about 300 Bibles, and they could choose Chichewa or English Bibles. Word spread quickly, and other leaders contacted us on behalf of their fraternities. It was exciting to see a project we had worked on for almost a year come to fruition.
We like the accountability and structure provided by the fraternities and thank God for a more effective way to get His word into the hands of more people. However, as good as this system is, it wasn’t perfect. (I am afraid the perfect plan will elude us as long as there are people involved.) Learning from the imperfections, we plan to improve in areas we can and continue using this method.
Here we are, four months later, and our supply of Chichewa Bibles is almost depleted. We have a few remaining; however, we plan to save those for some other requests and needs. We have begun working on another Chichewa printing; however, we have not heard any dates. We have much to be thankful for and we thank God for His leading. Pray for, and with us as we continue to seek His heart in this work.
Thank you very much for your support.
-Arlin Horst