IBS-STL team gives impoverished Ugandan pastors study Bibles, reading glasses--and invaluable training

Contact: Lynn Waalkes, IBS-STL Global, 719-867-2626 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 16 /Standard Newswire/ -- Flying more than 30 hours to get to Uganda and traveling another day on pothole-filled roads, a small team of IBS-STL staff and volunteers brought Bibles, reading glasses, and Bible training to rural northern Uganda. More than 160 pastors and church leaders traveled for days by foot and bicycle to attend the 14-hour-a-day conference.

Pastors in the West Nile area of Uganda average $2 a month in pay. They serve in an area prone to insurgent raids and among a sometimes-hostile Muslim majority. In Yumbe and Arua districts, missionaries have been attacked and killed.

IBS-STL's Equipping Leaders training provides basic Bible reading, comprehension, and teaching skills for men and women who feel called to ministry, yet have no Bible training. Many have never owned a Bible, which can cost up to three times a pastor's annual salary.

Joshua Peebles, a pastor at Denver's Scum of the Earth Church, led some sessions. "These men and women, sustained so long solely on the power of their calling, began to gain much-needed resources in the form of sessions about how to use the Bible well. We taught them about learning from the context of a passage, understanding the original meaning of a text, how to determine the author's intent, and how to preach the Bible faithfully," Peebles said.

"These basic skills, so necessary to a pastor and so often taken for granted, were new life and hope to them."

Each pastor received an NIV Study Bible from IBS-STL. Because IBS-STL recognizes Bibles are of no use to people who cannot see to read them, more than 200 pairs of reading glasses were collected prior to the trip. They were snatched up eagerly by older participants and teachers from a nearby school. The reading glasses--an unattainable luxury--enabled them to see print clearly for the first time ever.

Most prized, however, were the study Bibles.

IBS-STL staff and volunteers prayed for pastors as they distributed the Bibles. "Their reactions ranged from smiles to tears and from singing to ... praying for several minutes," Peebles said. "We gave the gift of the Word of God to people who truly appreciated and needed it."

More Bibles are needed in this desperately poor region. Because royalties from the NIV family of Bible translations cover overhead, 100 percent of donations go to Scripture ministry. Visit www.ibsstl.org/ministry for more information.

Photos available upon request.

About IBS-STL
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. IBS-STL also holds the copyrights to the Today's New International Version® (TNIV), Nueva Versión Internacional® (NVI), and 45 international Bible translations. For more information on IBS-STL Global, visit www.ibsstl.org.