Middle East (MNN) — It only took about six months, but 50,000 Arabic New Testaments made it to the Middle East thanks to the World Bible Translation Center . An additional 50,000 Arabic New Testaments will be printed and distributed in Sudan, Egypt and Jordan. WBTC’s ‘easy to read’ Arabic New Testament was introduced at the Cairo Book Fair in January and has experienced a wonderful reception from the Arabic-speakers in North Africa.
Many Christians throughout the Middle East are forced to meet in underground house churches similar to the situation in China. These Christians risk their safety every time they gather and many are forced to meet in secure sites and in underground facilities, chancing economic and even physical retribution.
Letters have been received from ministry leaders in Sudan requesting more because the simple Arabic text makes it easier to minister to people in these regions who are not native speakers. The Sudanese government has been putting pressure on its citizens to learn Arabic despite the fact that many of the people are native African tribals.
Nearly 87-percent of the Egyptian population is Muslim and have never heard the Good New of Jesus. The popular slogan of “Islam is the solution” pushing for an all Islamic state as the answer to Egypt’s economic and social problems is losing its credibility because of terrorism propagated by Muslim followers.
John Anderson, WBTC’s Director of Distribution John Anderson says, “We are only hindered from printing and distributing thousands of texts by the money it takes to do the job.” After the next 50,000 are printed, another 150,000 are in the planning stages. It only takes $1.50 to print and distribute a New Testament. WBTC also wants to put the Bible on CD-Rom for distribution in Arabic-speaking countries.
