A Door to Ministry Closes

In 2014, Biblica began sending 25,000 Bibles to the country through a ministry associate partner in Miami, Florida. During 2015, Biblica led training seminars in the country. More than 12,000 people would gather to praise and worship Jesus with freedom at these seminars. Thankfully, these seminars were recorded and are still being used today.

But, sending Bibles changed when the open door closed.

Biblica’s Area Executive Director, Latin America Esteban Fernandez shares:

“So now we have a shipment of 17,000 Bibles ready here in Miami, and what happened is when we sent that back in 2016 to do another activity, the government didn’t allow the entrance to Cuba, so they returned it to Miami.”

This denied shipment would have been Biblica’s third to the country. It also would have brought the total number of Bibles that Biblica sent to Cuba to 50,000.

The NIV

Biblica is the steward of the NIV Bible, which tends to be easier for people to engage with than more dated translations. But, according to Fernandez, the Cuban government isn’t giving permission for the NIV Bible to enter the country.

Havana, Cuba (Photo Courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr)

Instead, the government prefers allowing an older version equivalent to the English King James Version. However, the Cuban language, like any other, is dynamic and has changed since this Bible version was first introduced, and it can be harder for individuals to interact with.

“We think that we need something really strong, easy to go from the head to the heart of the people,” Fernandez explains.

And while there is nothing wrong with this Bible version, the fact of the matter is that the audience reading these Bibles have changed. They need the same message these older Bibles give, but they need it in terms they understand.

A Bible Shortage

Furthermore, outside of the need for an updated Bible version, the people of Cuba simply need Bibles because there aren’t enough for every person to have one.

“Many in Cuba are sharing one Bible for every six people in the group. Can you imagine that—having one Bible? Comparing that with the U.S. where we have an average of two Bibles per household,” Fernandez shares. “When you share the Bible, if you can see their faces and their tears on their faces [when] receiving the Bible, it’s incredible.”

Please, pray for these Bibles to enter Cuba and for continued revival in the country. Also, pray for the necessary permissions to be given for Biblica to send in these Bibles. For many, it may be the key to learning about Christ for the first time, or to grow in their faith.

Ask God to encourage the believers in Cuba and give them creative ideas to reach their own people with the Gospel. And finally, pray for the Christianity in Cuba to not be one that bends to culture or one that is legalistic, but one where the people truly reflect Christ.

Biblica is currently looking into other methods of legally sending these Bibles to Cuba.

To donate to Biblica, click here!

“Only 10 percent of the Latino population in the U.S. are born-again Christians. And after reading the data, perhaps by 2050, this country could be a *majority Latino country,” shares **Esteban Fernandez, Biblica’s Area Executive Director of Latin America.

Latino Growth in the U.S.

Fernandez first discovered this data while working for Vida Publishers, the Spanish division of Zondervan, prior to joining Biblica. And since then, only 11 percent of Christians are Latinos according to the Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study.

But, Fernandez also says with the growing Latino population in the U.S. coupled with the low percentage of born-again believers, this could mean not so great things for the country in terms of morality. Not because Latinos are immoral, but because it’s another group of people living without Christ.

“So we have a big job in front of Biblica and all the churches that care for Latinos in the U.S. They’re 90 percent of a missionary field that needs to be reached,” Fernandez explains.

And the time to reach them with the Gospel is now. But, how and where does this work start? With Biblica helping direct the way.

The Church’s Role

Biblica is encouraging churches to step out from behind church walls and to go into their communities and reach the people, their Latino neighbors, in their time of both physical and spiritual need.

(Photo Courtesy of Biblica)

“Especially now that they are facing so many difficulties, go outside, and serve them, and show the Gospel in a practical manner. But to show, you also need to have a tool that can speak to their language,” Fernandez says.

This tool is the Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI), also known as the New International Version (NIV) Bible in the modern Spanish language.

The NVI was translated from original manuscripts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. And this translation wasn’t translated into the Spanish of Spain, but the Spanish language of Latin America.

“We the Latinos, have another great opportunity that is once you get one family, you have the whole family,” Fernandez explains. “Once you get the father or the mother or one son, you get the whole family because we are very family oriented.”

Be Prayerful, Be Active

So please, pray for the 56.5 million Latinos in the U.S. Pray for churches in the U.S. to be filled with a desire to reach these communities with the Gospel.

And pray that through the word of God, that there would be a healing between cultural divides. Ask for the provision of Bibles and appropriate materials for not just all Latinos in general, but for the various age groups as well.

Learn more about Bible access and Bible engagement here!

*The Pew Research Center’s more recent projections show the Latino/Hispanic population growth lower than earlier projections. It is the earlier projections Fernandez references.

**Fernandez is originally from Argentina and spent 5 years in Mexico City. 

***Earlier version said “numbers have risen only slightly”. It was changed to more accurately reflect “only 11 percent of Christians are Latinos according”.

Biblica has been part of the Bible App from practically the beginning. The NIV translation is one of the more popular versions out of over 600 available on YouVersion’s app.

Plus, the NIV is just one of around 30 translations Biblica offers. They also have the Bible in Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, Korean, Thai, and so on.

But for the last few years, these Bible translations have been accessible only when you’re connected to the Internet. If you’re sitting on an airplane or any place without a mobile signal, you’ve been out of luck. That has now changed, as of September 1, 2013.

From now on, if you use the Bible App, you’ll be able to download the full text of the NIV and other translations straight to your mobile device, free of charge. You’ll be able to keep them and read them, whether or not you’re online.

To be honest, offering this kind of access can feel a bit daunting when you’re in publishing. Biblica is a ministry, but they still depend (partly) on income generated from selling ministry-priced Bibles. And their commercial partners like Zondervan in North America and Hodder & Stoughton in Europe have touched millions of lives through their sales of the NIV.

Biblica’s friends at YouVersion haven’t just changed the way people access the Bible; they’ve changed the way people think about publishing the Bible.

But the truth is, Biblica doesn’t own the Bible. They’re merely stewards entrusted with the responsibility of reaching people with God’s Word.

Yes, they have a ministry to operate. Yes, they have projects to fund and bills to pay. But more than anything else, they have an obligation. A calling. An obsession, even: to get the Word of God into as many hands as possible and help people read the Bible well, so they can live it well.

That’s why Biblica is turning on the switch, letting you and 100 million of your fellow Bible readers download the NIV and 30 other translations completely free.

Will it affect Biblica’s bottom line? Maybe. Will the digital revolution change the way Bible publishers operate? Almost definitely. Is this the right thing to do? Absolutely.

If you agree, then you probably resonate with Biblica’s larger vision. The ministry wants to reach as many as 5 billion people with God’s Word. They have the Bible translations to do it. They’re actively digitizing these translations and publishing them in print, audio, and digital formats. They’re knocking down traditional barriers like the cost of print Bibles, illiteracy, etc. And with the help of amazing ministry partners like YouVersion, they’re reaching more people than ever.

If you believe in this mission, if you think that everyone should have access to a world-class Bible translation in their heart language, if you believe that price should never, ever be a barrier to being able to engage God’s Word, then there’s something you can do to help.

Support Biblica’s cause here. Make it possible for them to continue providing free access to the Bible through YouVersion and other ministry endeavors.

Biblica has been part of the Bible App from practically the beginning. The NIV translation is one of the more popular versions out of over 600 available on YouVersion's app.

Plus, the NIV is just one of around 30 translations Biblica offers. They also have the Bible in Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian, Korean, Thai, and so on.

But for the last few years, these Bible translations have been accessible only when you're connected to the Internet. If you're sitting on an airplane or any place without a mobile signal, you've been out of luck. That has now changed, as of September 1, 2013.

From now on, if you use the Bible App, you'll be able to download the full text of the NIV and other translations straight to your mobile device, free of charge. You'll be able to keep them and read them, whether or not you're online.

To be honest, offering this kind of access can feel a bit daunting when you're in publishing. Biblica is a ministry, but they still depend (partly) on income generated from selling ministry-priced Bibles. And their commercial partners like Zondervan in North America and Hodder & Stoughton in Europe have touched millions of lives through their sales of the NIV.

Biblica's friends at YouVersion haven't just changed the way people access the Bible; they've changed the way people think about publishing the Bible.

But the truth is, Biblica doesn't own the Bible. They're merely stewards entrusted with the responsibility of reaching people with God's Word.

Yes, they have a ministry to operate. Yes, they have projects to fund and bills to pay. But more than anything else, they have an obligation. A calling. An obsession, even: to get the Word of God into as many hands as possible and help people read the Bible well, so they can live it well.

That's why Biblica is turning on the switch, letting you and 100 million of your fellow Bible readers download the NIV and 30 other translations completely free.

Will it affect Biblica's bottom line? Maybe. Will the digital revolution change the way Bible publishers operate? Almost definitely. Is this the right thing to do? Absolutely.

If you agree, then you probably resonate with Biblica's larger vision. The ministry wants to reach as many as 5 billion people with God's Word. They have the Bible translations to do it. They're actively digitizing these translations and publishing them in print, audio, and digital formats. They're knocking down traditional barriers like the cost of print Bibles, illiteracy, etc. And with the help of amazing ministry partners like YouVersion, they're reaching more people than ever.

If you believe in this mission, if you think that everyone should have access to a world-class Bible translation in their heart language, if you believe that price should never, ever be a barrier to being able to engage God's Word, then there's something you can do to help.

Support Biblica's cause here. Make it possible for them to continue providing free access to the Bible through YouVersion and other ministry endeavors.

The announcement was made at the Third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa by CEO of Biblica, Keith Danby, and CEO of Zondervan, Moe Girkins.

"It seemed especially fitting for us to share this news from the Lausanne Congress here in Cape Town because the shared purpose of this gathering, and of the NIV, is to reach more people with God's Word," stated Moe Girkins.

According to Steve Johnson, Vice President of Communication & Integrated Media with Biblica, updates include thousands of small things such as punctuation, sentence structure, and the overall updates and reviews of the text to make sure it is accurate for this generation of readers.

On Biblica.com, people can watch for the newly updated NIV that will launch November 1st online and in print this upcoming spring. The excitement of the version is spreading.

The New International Version of the Bible, or NIV, is the most widely-read and trusted contemporary English translation. People around the world rely on this edition of Scripture to understand and grow in their Christian walk.

The NIV has always had a high impact with missions and missionary use, and Johnson said that it seemed especially appropriate and fitting to present this at Lausanne this year. He also addressed the fact that the ministry's focus was to reach the next generation with the online version. The big question that came up was, "How do you reach the next generation with the Bible, and how do you equip them with the necessary tools as Christians?" The electronic format of the NIV was chosen to answer these essential questions.

The organizations that were involved in the process of updating the NIV were Biblica, Zondervan, Hodder & Stoughton, and the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). Zondervan plans to release the print translation in March of 2011. Hodder & Stoughton will publish the NIV Bible in the UK and the European Union. CBT works with the existing text and makes the periodic updates to the NIV.

Biblica and Zondervan released the New
International Version of the Bible (NIV) online version this month.  

The
release of the text comes after years of rigorous translation work by the
Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). But
since the NIV was last updated in 1984, it begs the question, ‘Why fix it if it
isn't broken?'   

"Our
desire as a committee is that God would touch the lives of people through His Words as they are translated in the NIV," answers CBT Chair, Professor Douglas
Moo, adding, "We're eager for people to
begin engaging with the text."

"It
has been a monumental undertaking to update the NIV, as well as a true honor to
follow in the footsteps of the NIV founders who decades ago first defined the
vision for a Bible translation that brings Bible readers as close as possible
to the experience of the original audience."

Moo
says, "With this update, we believe the NIV continues to represent the optimum
combination of transparency to the original documents and comprehensibility for
the broad audience we serve."  

In
1965, the CBT formed to create a modern English Bible translation from the
oldest and best-attested biblical manuscripts. Since the last update 26 years ago, the CBT
has continued to meet every year in accordance with the NIV charter, which
requires constant monitoring of developments in biblical scholarship and
English usage and the reflection of these developments in periodic updates to
the text.

The
release of the text online follows CBT's recent completion of the translation
update and is in advance of the March 2011 print publication date. 

Biblica,
as the worldwide publisher of the NIV, is the translation sponsor and copyright
holder of the NIV.  It is also a global Bible translation and resource
ministry. Zondervan serves as the North American commercial publisher of
the NIV Bible.

The updated text is available for viewing at both www.BibleGateway.com and www.Biblica.com along with an overview of
the translation methods and approach used by the Committee on Bible Translation
(CBT).

Bible Across America features an
RV piloted by a four-person team, traveling across the continental
United States, making stops at churches, universities, retail stores and
special events where people are invited to contribute a verse to complete a
handwritten Bible — America's NIV.

Participants are invited to
handwrite a verse of a new Bible. The
project will reach 90 cities in 44 states during the five-month tour to celebrate
the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.

More than 31,000 Americans, one
for every verse in the Bible, will have a hand in publishing America's
NIV–the first NIV Bible ever written "one-verse, one-person" at a time. 

The final America's NIV will be
reproduced and published by Zondervan and then distributed nationwide. The original manuscripts will be bound and
offered to the Smithsonian Institution.

The NIV has become the most-read modern English Bible translation,
with more than 300 million copies in print worldwide.

IBS-STL Global is one of the largest Bible and Christian literature
ministries worldwide, translating the Bible into major languages and
distributing Christian resources to engage people with the
life-transforming message of Jesus Christ. It is the translation
sponsor and copyright holder of the New International Version^® (NIV) of the Bible, the world's most -widely read contemporary English translation. 

More details can be found here.

Ron Youngblood with
International Bible Society-Send The Light
says the NIV translation came about because of language shifts and
readability. "The English language
has undergone quite a number of changes, and in order to keep it current,
especially for younger readers in the 18-34 year range, we have felt it
necessary to continue to update the language." 

The original impetus for the translation came in 1953 when
Howard Long, a layman, was trying to witness to a business associate and used
the King James Version. The language in
the KJV was difficult for his friend to understand because of the 17^th
century language. 

That got Long to thinking about the effectiveness of
communicating the Gospel. An exploratory
study on the need for a new English translation was completed by committees
from the Christian Reformed Church and the National Association of
Evangelicals.

Then in 1965, an "Interdenominational Bible Translation
Conference" was held at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights,
Illinois. The scholars attending this conference agreed on the need for such a
new translation, and the Committee On Bible Translation was appointed. This
committee consisted of 15 scholars from different denominations and religious
affiliations. The Committee On Bible Translation was entrusted with planning
the entire project.

In 1967, the New York Bible Society (now the International
Bible Society) agreed to sponsor and finance the work on the new
translation. The New Testament was
released in September of 1973, and the completed Bible was finally published in
October of 1978.

Youngblood describes the ABCs of why the NIV engages so many
readers. "A translation must have
the kind of dignity that can be read in any context so that little children can
read it, and in mixed groups it can be read, and so forth. So accuracy,
beauty, clarity and dignity: these four characteristics, among others, I think,
characterize the NIV."