Middle East (MN) ― U.S. President Barack Obama is making friendly overtures to the Muslim world, to mixed reviews.
On Thursday, Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims," hoping to come together in order to confront violent extremism and move toward peace in the Middle East.
Dale Randolph and Eric Fellman with World Bible Translation Center mirrored that goodwill with a trip to two cities in the Middle East and the release of the Easy-to-Read Arabic Bible. Despite tensions among the politicians, Fellman noted an enthusiastic reception to their presence: "You will have many Arabs that will say, 'If we could just get our governments out of the way, we wouldn't have all these problems.' It's on that level that I think there's a tremendous opportunity for the Gospel to spread."
People are very interested. Fellman says that an Arabic Bible is not a new thing, however, their version is more user-friendly. The translation of the Arabic Bible began in the 1800's with Reverend Eli Smith's burden for the millions of Arabic-speaking people. With the help of prominent Arabic scholars, Smith undertook translating the Bible into Arabic.
When Rev. Smith died before the completion of the translation, Dr. Cornelius Van Dyke finished the work. A Mohammedan scholar, Sheikh Uysef el Asir assisted, and in 1860, the translation of the Arabic Bible was completed. There hasn't been another similar undertaking since 1860, (although there are other non-scholar translations available) which means that the Van Dyke translation is read in antiquated Arabic.
Arabic is the 7th most-spoken language in the world. But outdated vocabulary and grammar make reading the Bible a challenge. WBTC decided it was time to update the language of the Scriptures for this people group.
After almost 10 years of work, WBTC has finally released the Easy-to-Read Arabic Bible. The ERV Arabic Bible is a great tool because "it's going to allow the person on the street who's not familiar with Christianity to read and understand the Scriptures with the purpose of coming to know Jesus Christ."
People are finding the Easy-to-Read Arabic Scriptures throughout the Middle East in bookshops, inside correctional facilities, in orphanages, and throughout the network of underground churches.
It also helps dispel a lot of misconceptions. Arabs have a deep-seated respect for Jesus. Framed that way, you can say, "We understand that you think this is a Christian book, but think of this as a book about Jesus and see what you think about that. We've already got a demand for 50,000 copies."
There's a harvest coming. Please pray for everyone who will be involved with distributing the Arabic Bible. Ask God to provide many opportunities to spread His Word throughout the Middle East. If you can help, click here for details.
